Now in Dar!

I arrived safely in Dar es Salaam almost a week ago. I can't believe I've been here for a week. The trip here was pretty long and I was very thankful to get off the plane and go to my new home. I had an 8 hour layover in London and did not get to see much of the city but oh well. It was a dreary, cold day in London and I was not prepared. So this is what I saw of it...

I had a day of rest after I got here and the next day I hit the ground running. A volunteer team came in the night that I arrived and I've been spending a lot of time with them on campus. We've been walking around campus each day and meeting some of the students there. There have been some great conversations about the Lord with some of the students. And I have gotten some digits so that I can contact them and begin a relationship with them. Pray that God would help me discern who to pour into. Yesterday I was able to go with one of my roommates to some Bible studies she has and it was so good. We met with this one Muslim girl that she has been storying with. Currently they are going through Acts and we were talking about Saul and his conversion. It was great to be able to share this story with her. Then we shared our stories and our encounter with Christ. She's on the brink of accepting the Lord! She's asked us to pray that God would help her to believe! So be praying that for her. And the volunteer team is so awesome. I've had so much fun spending time with them! So much fun that saying goodbye to them is going to be hard. I thought I was done with goodbyes for a while when I left, but I guess not. Oh well, part of my life. God is faithful through it all!
(So two top left ones are of campus, the top right is a band in a truck for a wedding, the middle right and bottom left are the volunteer team and the bottom right is one of my housemates)

Packing...

I tried to put off packing as long as I could. And to do this I played...spent time with friends, shopped (although it was for things that I needed to get for Africa), etc. I even went and spent some time with some crazy youth. It was so much fun to see my kids again. We cooked out and just laughed. And a concert was even put on for me. Then we just took a lot of fun pictures...good times. I'm going to miss those silly kids. When I get back they will all be driving and I can't believe it.


Then I woke up on Friday morning and freaked out a bit because my room had exploded (evidence below). But my mom and I went to get a massage and that was an absolute beautiful thing! Came back shortly after very relaxed and started working on it. And so the craziness of packing is pretty much over (many thanks to an INCREDIBLE friend), which is a good thing since I'm leaving on Sunday and I have no other time to get it done. And now my life is crammed into 4 suitcases, hopefully I'm not missing anything.

Back in Houston

As usual it has been a whirlwind of a couple of weeks. I continue to be going at a mile a minute and I have no idea when it's going to slow down. Last week was a very rough week, but also good in a sense. I hadn't planned on meeting some awesome people in Virginia that I would have to turn around and say goodbye to. I think I cried constantly for the last five days that I was there. But it's a testimony to how much God blessed me over the past two months. I learned so much from them and was continually changed because of God working through them. Thank you so much for pouring into me, I miss you gals!
Before we had to do all the goodbyes we had a chance to go out to Virginia Beach for the day. It was so much fun and relaxing! All we did was lay there in the sand and rest. And reflect on the fact that as many as are the grains of sand on the shore is how many thoughts God has of us! Isn't that incredible?!? He thinks of us that much...why do we ever doubt His love?!? He is so faithful too...the God who is faithful to cause the earth to spin so that the sun will rise and set at the perfect time is faithful to provide in every way.

Then on Thursday I headed to the homestead. And as soon as I got off the plane I hit the ground runnin'. We went straight to eat...Mexican food, mmmmm good! Then I came home dropped off my stuff sort of unpacked just to get my dirty clothes out and then left to surprise some friends from church. It was so awesome to be there and share all that God did over the last two months. I felt like I was running my mouth at a mile a minute but I was just so excited and I couldn't stop smiling because I was around these great people talking about our Lord. I came home after that really unpacked only to repack for the beach. We left Friday and then I was able to relax. But it has all picked up again because now I only have 6 days before I get on a plane to leave this country for two years. How in the world am I going to pack for that? I have no idea but it will all work out...moving one step at a time and eventually it will get done.

Crazy, Crazy, Crazy

That's what it has been the last few weeks. Classes have lasted all day everyday the past two weeks and that has been exhausting. And it has all been things that are difficult topics, like security training, the persecuted church, etc. And as always it opens your eyes to the truth...this world is a rough place to live in, but praise the Lord that He has called me to Himself! This of course doesn't mean that nothing will happen to me, but it does mean that He will receive the glory no matter what happens.

This morning we were discussing Romans 5. The passage talks about suffering among many things. And I don't know, call me crazy or weird or whatever, but I now look forward to it. God has just shown me a lot about Himself and about who I am and I welcome the fact that during times of suffering His glory will be made known and when that specific trial I am going through ends, it will have produced perseverance and character and more hope in the glory of God. And I rejoice in that. This led to talking about home and being comfortable and how we do want that. Call me crazy again, but I look excitedly forward to being uncomfortable. God is going to stretch me like crazy and I am so ecstatic about that. He is refining me and creating me into a precious jewel. How much more beautiful am I going to be in Christ because of that process. It's unfathomable to think that He wants to pour that much into me and that He wants to keep chiseling me away until I am no longer, but He is all! It makes me crazy happy!

But in the midst of all that I've had a lot of fun (trust me it took a while for me to get excited about suffering, but God is awesome). We went to D.C. a couple of weekends ago and I had so much fun getting away and spending time in the city. It was a shock to my system to be around sooo many people. My senses went on overload especially because I love to people watch. And yesterday was amazing because it was the first day we've had the option of being off in a while. So I bummed around all morning and then spent the afternoon outside because it was so beautiful. It was a needed refreshment and thanks be to God for providing that for me!

Excerpts from Psalm 18

"I love you, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. (1-3)

He sent from on high, he took me; he drew me out of many waters. He rescued me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me. They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the LORD was my support. He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me." (16-19)

The Lord is my strength in everything. I am so grateful for that, that He takes care of everything. He will give me strength when I need it, He will give me power to endure, He will give me wisdom to open my mouth or to keep it shut. He is the only reason that I live and He is the only reason that I can be. In everything I give Him thanks, for all that I have and all that I am is because of Him. He is the wellspring of life. And I love this Psalm (thanks Amber!) for it reminds me that He brought me out of the depths and set me upon the rock. He did it all, I have done nothing. And all He wants me to do is stand for the battle has been fought and the Lord claims victory. I am to stand firm and allow Him to work in it. SO STAND and allow the Lord of Lords, the King of Kings to change you!

Oh the Famous...

The other night we all got to spend time with some people considered famous around our campus. We got to eat some ice cream (very unusual for many unless you can get off campus) and enjoy socializing. Then we shared some funny stories of the happenings at training. One would be that some people may need to learn how to kill a chicken, sounds like fun, eh? Well,one day at lunch we were all talking about it and one of the girls was thinking
about how some would need to learn how to prepare it halal. Well, she was adamant about making sure we knew that it had to be killed while it was alive. And we were like yes, it does need to be killed while it's alive, how else would you kill it, while it's dead?!? She meant something completely different which we all knew but it was funny because she kept repeating it over and over. But while there we got to hear some stories about being overseas and that was just cool. To hear all that is going on in another place and how alive it is, is such a joy! To know that I get to be a part of that is exciting. That's what keeps me going each day...to know that God wants to use me in that capacity is amazing!

Everything IS bigger in Texas

Last Friday night, we decided to get off of the secluded campus and go out to dinner. So we went to Chili's, oh the memories from home, the many nights we went to Chili's for dinner or even just dessert. It was so nice to make some new memories there. But to my surprise it was a bit different from home. I decided to order some good ol' chicken crispers and when they came out they were about the size of a pea (I should've taken a picture just to prove it, but I didn't think about that until today, a little bit late)! That was my first inclination that things in Texas are definitely bigger. I always knew that but to actually experience it was weird. It was like the chicken shrunk at some point in the cooking process! And for this to happen at Chili's was very disappointing. Then of all things, our little town has a McAllisters, home of the best sweet tea and awesome Chicken Tortilla soup. I was so happy when we decided to go there for lunch Saturday and I could enjoy some great soup, especially on a cold, dreary day. And when it came out, I was wondering where my bread bowl was. I thought I may have made a mistake and said to give me a bread cup, not a bowl! It was very unfortunate, still good, but saddening. I guess I better get use to it since I doubt I will have great big portions when I get to Africa. At least I got to spend time with fun people!

Definitely Not in the City

Time has seemed to slow down these days. I guess that happens when you are out in the middle of nowhere. Man, I am such a city girl! I miss the sights and sounds of the busy city life. And I especially miss having a car and being able to just go and do things. It's really weird when you step outside and everybody seems to have cleared out. But in spite all of that things are going pretty well. I'm completely out of my comfort zone and that has been a huge stretch. You know, I just found comfort in Houston and then I had to leave. But I trust that God is going to use this time of such uncomfortableness to draw me closer to Him and prepare me for what's to come when I leave for Africa. God does things in strange ways sometimes, well actually most of the time. I was reading through Joshua today and in the chapter when the walls of Jericho fell down. What a weird way to bring a city down! Why couldn't God just have immediately sent the army on attack and given them strength to break through the walls? I suppose it's because He wanted to show His strength and power and make it to where the Israelites could not take the credit for it. The other thing the Lord was teaching me as I read through Joshua is that He had commanded them earlier to destroy the city, every living thing there, every idol there, everything. And they followed through this time. But later down the road they don't destroy all, but leave a few things here and there and that brought about their downfall. I realized that their are probably things in my life that I need to completely destroy so that nothing will hinder me in my relationship with the Father. What is it that you need to destroy so that you can fully come before our Lord and walk in victory?