So I sat here trying to think of a word to best describe God's love and nothing I came up with even began to scratch the surface. God is moving in my heart so much that I don't even know what to do with myself. He has taken my heart captive this past month in ways I couldn't even begin to imagine before arriving in Africa. I thought I knew the meaning of being in love with Christ before I came here, but now I'm fully aware that I honestly had no idea. He has been revealing to me exactly who I am to Him, and exactly what He sees when He looks at me. He keeps telling me that He wants me to finally step into that and through that, to step up. I'm still not quite sure what exactly He means by that last part, but I have a few ideas…I'm just waiting for His voice to tell me exactly what He wants me to do next.
I often find myself forgetting that I'm even in Africa. There are times when I have to force myself to step back and soak it in. I have been dreaming about going to Africa for so long that even after being here for a month, it still seems so surreal. How good is He that He blessed me with making that dream come true.
This week we switched up our usual ministry and started what we call ATL (ask the Lord). Basically what we've been doing is praying to God and doing exactly what He's been telling us to do. The first day all He told me was soccer field, which was funny because that's the exact same thing He told Kelsey. So, we went with Michelle to the soccer field. While we were walking there He showed me a picture of a guy about our age wearing red. Since I had no idea what He meant by that yet, we decided to try and talk to people in the mosque that happened to be right next to the field. We weren't sure if we were even allowed to visit during the day so Kelsey had the idea of going to the nearby market, which happened to be run by Muslims, and ask them about it. As we were walking through the market, we came across two guys reading the Quran. One of them started talking to us so we stopped…and guess what. He was wearing red. We ended up talking to him and a few other men about Christ for over an hour. They even told us to come back so we could talk some more.
The next day I went to the orphanage and I've been back almost every day since. I am so in love with the kids there. I get so excited to see them, and miss them as soon as I leave. The orphanage is called Mama Orphans and the story of how Mama started it is so amazing and inspirational. She has over 100 kids, but the sad thing is that they don't have the funds that they need and they are in danger of being closed down. They don't even have the money to buy soap, so the only way the kids can bathe is with water alone. The babies don't have diapers because they can't afford them and they are low on food. The kids there are the sweetest children I have ever met. I feel so blessed to be able to spend my days loving on them. Through spending so much time with kids, God has really showed me how He loves His children. I am beginning to understand, through my heart for these children, how my Father looks at me. How excited and delighted He is when I come to Him. How much His heart aches for me and How jealous of me He actually is. I can't imagine leaving the kids when I go back home. I know my heart is going to break. I can't tell you how much it already breaks just thinking about how these kids are so deprived of love. They are so eager to be held…more eager than I am to hold them.
Sunday was my 21st birthday. I never thought I'd be spending it in Kenya, but I'm so glad that I was able to. My team made me feel so special and I love them so much for it. They surprised me at church with my favorite doughnuts and cake for breakfast as they sang to me. After church I made and served lunch to the street kids. The rest of my day was pretty relaxing until dinner. You know how they celebrate birthdays in Africa? They blindfold you, spin you around and proceed to dump buckets of cold water on you. Thank you to my dear African friends for soaking me to the bone (don't worry, I have pictures and a video). I got to choose what I wanted for dinner that night. I chose beef burgers with guacamole and fruit salad. It was definitely the best meal I've had since I've gotten here. When I got home my team gave me my present and surprised me by decorating our room with streams and balloons. Needless to say, it was a pretty great African birthday. I am truly blessed by the people God has placed in my life here.
p.s. I had KETCHUP the other day. REAL ketchup.
