Home

My first week in Tanzania was actually harder and full of a lot more transitions than I imagined it would be (I think I wasn't really expecting that since I'd already been in Africa and away from home for a month).... the new food was constantly upsetting my stomach, the heat was making me dehydrated/keeping me from sleeping at night/giving me constant headaches, the traffic outside my window was so loud (ugh, and still is! :)) that I could never seem to find rest, I was lonely in a new place where no one really "knew" me, I didn't even know the language of the people.... the new EVERYTHING just hit me and I started having all sorts of "Why did God have to call me to Africa where everything is so HARD?!" thoughts and "I miss my friends and family and dog! I belong in Dallas where I can watch the Cowboys and get Mexican food whenever I want it!" feelings. As I was trying to adjust to everything in my life being new, I needed- was craving, was yearning for- something familiar, something that wasn't foreign to me, something that didn't make me feel like a total fish out of water in a totally foreign and unknown land. I knew that God had called me here- and that He had just said "Go" (i.e. for an unknown/indefinite time period)- but in that first week as I was having such difficulty adjusting I couldn't help but question Him and wonder why He would bring me here to such a hard place when my life had been really pretty good in Dallas.

I cried out to Him, even whined. I wanted Him to come through "on His end" since I felt like I'd done my part in coming. :) .... And then He showed up. Of course. He had allowed me to need- to desire desperately, to cry out to Him- so that He could answer me.

That Sunday (day 8 in TZ for me) I went to church service (an international church) with my new Young Life friends here, and the moment we walked in and started singing songs of praise- people from Africa, America, England, from all over the world- praising Him together.... the Holy Spirit filled that place and filled my soul to the brim....! To overflowing! And I was HOME. The Lord reminded me that He is the Lord of ALL tribes, tongues, people, and nations (Rev. 5:9)..... He is the same yesterday, today, and FOREVER (Hebrews 13:8). While anything and everything can separate us from each other on this earth- and we can feel like total strangers and foreigners in unknown (or even familiar) places- His Holy Spirit never changes.... it unites people of all races, nations, and tongues.... and it brings us to HIM- right where we are- wherever we are.... and gives us a glimpse of Heaven on earth while we await our perfect future with Him forever.

One of the most profound experiences in my spiritual life was in college on a mission trip to Reynosa, Mexico. Witnessing the people and children there worship MY same God with the same love and passion (and so much more!) and in the same Spirit and truth as I did..... I knew that only the Holy Spirit of God could bring together people of such different backgrounds, cultures, and locations to worship Him in unity. No teaching, no traditions, no human "examples" can do this.... only the Spirit of God can bring together people of all tribes and nations to WORSHIP together. To worship with joy and life. To worship with passion and praise.

This same lesson that I learned in Mexico is what also brought me to a place where I can now be at Home in Tanzania. I've adjusted to a lot of the crazy ways of life here (like geckos on the wall and grocery shopping being an all-day scavenger hunt) but it was this moment in church- where His Spirit brought me together with the people in this country (and from all over the world)- that He reminded me that Home is where HE is- where His SPIRIT is- and where He has called me. When I am abiding in Him, He fills my cup to overflowing- in any country and in any circumstance. And He will never leave me or forsake me (Joshua 1:5). His Spirit lives in me (1 Cor. 6:19) and when I am abiding in Him, I never feel more at HOME.


p.s. Thank you for your prayers!! Day 1 and Week 1 at school have been wonderful!! The children are just wonderful, and I am so looking forward to the year ahead in which I can focus on art with them and be a witness of Christ to them! Thank you also for your prayers re: adjusting to the heat.... b/c oh my gosh, the heat is NOTHING to me now! Ha! It's so much hotter in Texas right now than it is in Tanzania and this TZ heat feels like nothing now.... I think the problem was just that I had come from "real" (as opposed to Tanzania's) winter in South Africa and Zimbabwe (where it really is cold!) so my body was used to cold for so long that the sudden heat shocked it and was hard to get used to at first. I'm still not really looking forward to "summer" here, but I know I'll be able to handle it b/c I'm used to Texas summers! And I've been adjusting to all those other crazy things I mentioned up above, too.... :) (and loving it! I love my Africa, just makes for some difficulties in transition when I came from the most opposite place in the WORLD- Dallas, TX) :) So, thank you again for your prayers!!