What I want to be doing...this blog has some of my frustrations in it
Let’s start out by saying that I am tired and I have no idea why. I am not building anything, my days aren’t as jam packed as they have been. I think the answer is in the fact that this is month eight of traveling. We have just spent four months in Asia and now we are in Africa. This is such a different culture. They have no concept of time, which is actually nice in the morning because we get to take our time. The problem with this occurs when you are ready to go home because when we say we want to be home at 2 we aren’t home until 4. Their concept of distance is also different. I ask them if the house we are going to walk to is far because I hurt my foot and they say no it is just over there…over where, the rainbow? Thanks for making me want to break my foot off!
A day adventure we had, but we walk to see the people, look how far apart the houses are
I am just exhausted because of the many changes here. We are in Kenya, the people are so relational…relational to the point of inviting themselves into your house to sit for hours when all you want to do is be alone or sleep…I am writing about my current situation, three African friends (actually I don’t know one of them) invited themselves in and are just sitting with us (talking amongst themselves) and all I want to do is not have to feel like a host and REFUEL my heart, mind, and strength.
These kids no longer invite themselves in, but were loud company at one point. Now we get their parents
The food here is new (carb overload) and they love to make sure that you eat more than you want. They say ‘the journey is long’ or ‘it is just an addition’ (an addition to my thighs). Ministry is new since we are constantly encouraging and praying for people, which is so draining. My freedom this month feels almost non-existent. I cannot go anywhere without another person, preferably a male. There is NO WHERE to escape to for some real alone time (you always hear people and music), and our days are not our own. I always thought I knew what being a servant of God was like; well I have a new idea of it.
It is doing things you don’t want to do, pushing yourself outside of your comfort, giving when you have nothing to give, smiling and saying you will do something when you just want to scream and run home, dying to yourself to the point of tears. It is not fun, but being a servant is all about serving and pleasing your master, and my Master is AWESOME! He would not give me what I cannot handle and He even rewards us and blesses us throughout the day to encourage us forward. An example was the day with my foot. I came to a woman’s home (who I didn’t want to talk to) and she encouraged me, I was given an orange by one of the pastors, God took the tears from my eyes, strengthened me, and put a smile on my face by the end of it all! It is now one of my most memorable days becauseI literally felt God carry me through the day.
I was carried down this road by Poppa God
Prayer requests: complete healing of my left foot (I did something to it and it hurts to walk on so I am teaching at a school while my team walks around the villages). Also for daily encouragement to help me press in and keep giving, for a new sense of freedom, and to feel refreshed and so clean clean!
So I am still living it up in Kenya, eating my fair share of ugali, fried dough, chapatti, and rice. I am going to gain a little weight I think, but luckily they also give us a lot of fruit (HUGE blessing). I have seen and experienced quite a few things here. For instance, I have seen a woman healed who had been sick for three years, I have woken up to see small children eating the gross bugs from an infestation we had one night, I have seen and led people to Christ, I have seen a guy cut off the head of a chicken and we then ate it two hours later for dinner, I have seen the most beautiful skies and scenery, I have come to finally say I that I have a brother, and the list goes on!!!!
The sky in Africa! It is so fake looking, I love it so much!!!
yes that is a head of a chicken. They don't waste their meat!
one of the churches we are working with this month. they are praying for land, this place is a rental. it is made of mud, like many of the houses around Bukembe.
Kenya has been really awesome and really hard. We have been encouraging and praying for people so much that we have no energy by the end of the day. That is tough, but it is even tougher trying to figure out how to help. The people see us and see hope. How do we help all these people? We can’t, but we can pray for God to meet them (he is a better helper than we are). The most common situations that I have seen are widows, orphans, families trying to get money to send their kids to school, and people with illnesses that they cannot afford treatments for. These people literally live off of money they make from the fields and small businesses they may have…to say the least they are all praying for customers. The need is great in Africa, but the way they live I envy!
These people are the most joyous, grateful, laid back (they have no concept of time), generous people I have ever met. Yes, I get the guys who want to marry me, but most people are so friendly and just invite you into their house! Oh, how I have something to learn from them!!!!!
Bukembe, Kenya……duhhhh………..but really, where the heck am I? We pulled up to a bunch of shops and they said this is it…oh, ok…We look around and see dirt, people wearing donated clothes, a GIANT coke bottle. The best description I can give is this: imagine an old poor western town with black people instead of cowboys.
SO…
We walk between a blue shop and a green shop and come to a little community area of about four houses where we walk into our new home for the month. We open the sky blue door and see some wooden furniture, a plastic carpet, curtains, and another room with who knows what inside. They take all our bags in the questionable room and we soon find out that there are bedrooms back there. On one side there is Dan and Wade’s room and on the other side of the bookcase wall covered with tarps, wood, and lace is my room. Paul and Katrina sleep behind a curtain in the living area/dining area. Can I say humility smacked me across the face?!
The view from outside our door. These people take care of us! I will post a video sometime soon so you get the real scoop!
Kenya also has been a month of many firsts…
-My first time calling a hole in the ground a toilet
-My first time not having running water
-My first time outside of camping having water heated over a fire to wash myself
-My first time sleeping under a mosquito net
-My first time having a pair of inside and outside shoes to keep my feet semi clean
-My first time going to a 2 year olds funeral (most awkward first day of Kenya EVER)
-My first time waking up to reggae music, cows, and people speaking Swahili
-My first time having people cater to my every need…preparing and serving food, washing our hands, preparing our “baths”, hand washing our clothes
-My first time seeing wild zebras and giraffes
-My first time doing door to door evangelism and open air crusades
-It will be my first time preaching…one of these days…gulp
Kenya is event oriented, time plays no role. They say we will leave at 9 but we might leave at 9:30 or 11. They also are very Spirit led and do not seem to have expectations. We have to be very specific in our questions so we won’t be called up to preach out of the blue. We have come to be lightly prepared and are beginning to trust in the Spirit more. We are simply telling people good news! Who doesn’t want to hear good news?
Some kids that flocked to us while doing door to door evangelism. I had so much fun with them, they are like parrots who would mock my every move and noise...I had them jumping and dancing and singing...too fun!
So it is month 7 of the race and I am currently sooooo exhausted, sitting in a Starbucks, drinking someone else’s cold coffee, trying to keep my eyes open, and attempting to be comprehensible. Why am I so tired? Well our team worked over 12 hours yesterday completely transforming the girl’s house. We had a very unique opportunity this month with our budget. Our contact is allowing us to stay for free and give a donation if we please. We decided to put money aside for the donation and use the rest to help fix up the house.
We woke up and were hard at work starting at 7am. I literally painted the entire day. It was exhausting and I was probably high off paint, but the house is so fresh. We wanted to bring life into the house and God’s hand was ALL over this day. How we painted an entire house with murals, hung curtains and photos, fixed some floor pieces, scrubbed the floors and bathrooms, and had some PHD (Pizza Hut Delivery) in 13 hours is beyond me.
Somehow everything came together so perfectly. The house looks a million times better than we expected it would and we did not think that our prayers for restoration in the house would be so intense. It is a great example of how God transforms us in ways we cannot explain. Miracles were performed that day and only God could have given us the energy to work that hard for so long without passing out. It was so worth it to see the girls come in and jump for joy, come to tears, and model in front of the murals.
Words cannot explain this day, what happened, the transformation, the excitement, the sweat, the glory. I hope this video shows you a little bit of what happened.
I am trying to condense a million thoughts into one blog…here we go!
This month we stayed in Rumah Shalom, a foster home for girls. I befriended some awesome beauties; but, one I got along with well because we both burp a lot, are easy going, and LOVE to have any part of our body rubbed (we drool like dogs)…she is only 15 and her name is May Li, I love her so much!
This month was really tough, but was so wonderful. We were bucket bathing, sweating as we slept on plastic covered mattresses where we would pour water on ourselves to create temporary A/C when the fan hit us, ate fish curry…correction, they ate fish curry while I ate oatmeal and peanut butter bread or spicy ramen. Our diet consisted of carbs, curry, and fluorescent veggies. Ants became our friends. That wasn’t the really tough part though.
You ask if something has fish in it, sometimes they say no...and to your surprise you find this
What was tough was hearing these girl’s stories; how many weren’t wanted, how many have never experienced love. These girls care for each other; it is literally babies taking care of babies. Seven year olds do their own laundry, they study for hours, and they constantly are in fear of scoldings from Auntie (the house mom). The girls do not like where they live, are longing for love and attention, are waiting for a place to call home, and someone to call mother and father. They want to be wanted and to KNOW that they are secure and cared for.
Just hanging out in ALL of our bedroom
I had tough talks with girls who wanted to end their lives, who were cutting their wrists, who didn’t believe that they were beautiful or loved. It was so hard to leave this month, to leave these girls. We brought so much hope and I felt that as we left so did the love. But as I was praying for them God told me that we were not a solution for them. He is the solution, He has been working in their lives since they were born and He used us to bring HIS love to these girls. He used us to instill some hope in them and show them that there is someone out there who will love them unconditionally. He shook me and told me not to worry, that He took care of them before we met them and He will continue to take care of them. He brought us to them for a month, and I know he will bring more hope to that house!
The night before we left we prayed over all the girls and God showed up and we were all in tears
Love breaks down walls, it heals, it restores. It is so hard, but is always worth it. Love the unlovable. Bite your tongue. Keep patience. You will never regret loving, you will only regret withholding it.
This month has not only been a month of waiting for things (food, transportation, for the girls to come home, for the girls to go to bed, for the girls to stop walking on your mattress so you can fall back asleep, for time we know we can be alone…) it has also been a month of love.
Yes, I have been loving people every month, but I feel like the role it is playing this month is soooo important. We are in a house with a bunch of girls ranging all throughout the teenage years and younger. We do not know much about their past or why they are here. They share about their family but not why they are here. Maybe they don’t even know?
Well, I want to share with you about a girl named Reetha (pronounced Rita). She is a young girl who lost both of her parents and is now living here with her sister. Reetha is very aggressive and uses actions more than words to get you to do something. She does not use manners and craves attention. She usually just stomps somewhere or hides in her bed very dramatically so that you will go to her. I have a really hard time loving her at times and God told me to be patient with her, so I have been.
This is Reetha and I...this is the best picture I have of her, ignore my face
Reetha is someone who tells us she loves us and when we say we love her she says “NO, I hate you!” She is someone who when you tell her she is beautiful says “NO! I am not beautiful you are beautiful”. I always respond with “You can hate me, but I still love you” and “I think that you are very beautiful, stop saying that you are not pretty”. I make her use manners if she wants something, I tell her that if she wants my attention to stop yanking my arm and ask me to come politely, I tell her that hiding and not talking is not going to make her feel better and when she wants to talk to come find me. (Is God preparing me to be a mother or what?)
After all of us constantly pouring love and truth on her she is shifting!!!!! She is beginning to receive the words I love you, she doesn’t fight back when you tell her she is pretty, she is beginning to say “sister please come here” instead of pulling you, she is not hitting your hand as hard when playing hand games, she is giving hugs instead of pounds where your knuckles hurt. She knows that she can trust us, that we are not going to stop loving her, that she needs to treat us with respect. God is changing her heart and softening her up. This young girl just needs love, needs people to treat her like the child she is, needs people praying for her.
My favorite moment with her is one night I was lying on my mattress and she rolled off her bed to be next to me. She took my arm and wrapped it around herself so that her head was on my shoulder and was using my arm as a teddy bear. We were singing worship songs together and I asked her if she believed the words that she is loved and she said no. I then was able to tell her how much God loves her and how he views her as his child and his princess. We then sang some more worship songs until she got too tired.
I am on my mattress that she rolled onto from her bed which is under the person on the top of this bunk taking the picture. My bed is also the isle to get out of the room, I love the morning...
This girl drove me crazy at first and had no idea how I was going to be able to do a month with her, but I have been humbled and I see the changes in her just by listening to God and being patient with her. Please be praying for her she is still really struggling and acts on and thinks of the evil before the good. She needs freedom and restoration in her life and soul.
Sorry there are 2 blogs this week, I am making up for the ones I didn't write in the past...
I am actually beginning this blog on Easter and will finish is after we are done celebrating. Right now is nap time, I already took one though so I am writing blogs. Easter here is celebrated like in the States. We are with an Emerging Church called Tabernacle of Shalom so we have been attending multiple services there for this wonderful holiday.
Our first service was on Thursday night. We always get there WAY early (like an hour early), this service was only about 2 hours though. The service on Good Friday was over 4 hours long, and the one this morning was over 2 hours long. We do not understand their language so we just read the Bible and journal to stay entertained/not fall asleep/get some truth from God. This morning was the earliest I have EVER woken up for church…5am…the Easter bunny didn’t even come because we were awake when he hopped by!
The culture of the church is awesome though, many Indian people wearing beautiful traditional outfits. We have tried various porridges after one of the services and today they even ordered food for breakfast. In America you would expect to find donuts or muffins afterwards, maybe pancakes for a special occasion. In this church they ordered pancake like bread and this puff of dough made out of the same batter, a curry, and two coconut based sauces…all very delicious, but is something I am used to eating for lunch or dinner.
During the service on Easter I was journaling to Jesus and praising him. I wrote mostly about his blood. Strange to those who do not understand the sacrifice he made for us. He came to this earth for the purpose of dying, taking on our sins (which separated him from God), and to rise again showing that he has conquered death…has conquered the devil. The blood that poured out of his body was for us, to cover us. Once I accepted Jesus into my life I was made pure because of his blood. When God sees me now he does not see my sin or smell my fleshy odor…God sees Jesus when he sees me because I am covered and stained by his blood. His blood makes me pure and covers up any mark or stench that is of satan. His blood allows me to walk confidently in this world knowing that I am going to enter Heaven when I die. That is why Jesus’ blood is so good! It is even better because it is still covering us day by day, and it is still available to you!
Eggs we got after church
So after nap time at the house we all hung out until we went to a church BBQ! It was delicious and the food never stopped coming out. I tried so many dishes, the BBQ chicken was awesome, they has a rice dessert that tasted like honey and coconut (so good), we talked to the members, I was told an AMAZING testimony from a guy named William (he told me about how he used to fight and drink, how he was in jail, and how Jesus came into his room in the form of a little light that created a cross on his wall and told him that he was the way, the truth, and the life. Then the light disappeared. His whole family accepted Jesus because of his encounter), and the fun part of the party is always where the kids are…DANCE PARTY! Well I should say that they tried to get us to dance the whole time so they could watch.
I am in Malaysia safe and sound living in a calmer part of the city Kuala Lumpur. It is beautiful here, the city is clean and could easily be mistaken for America. Their malls are ENOROUS! If you think the King of Prussia Plaza is a big mall, which it is, these ones blow it out of the water. Inside you will find bowling alleys, movie theaters, grocery stores, laser tag, merry-go-rounds, day care centers…get my drift, they are big. We have even stumbled across a few Starbucks.
The staircase in one of the malls
This month is womanistry month. This means we are with ALL women!!!!! WHAT WHAT!!!!! The girls from The Plunge are with the team Talitha Koum (a normally all girls team) creating a team of eight. We literally have a slumber party every night because we are living with 10-12 Malaysian girls as well. We are at a girl’s home that the church provides for, and this is just our living quarters not our “ministry”…but in reality it is our ministry.
We are living in their house, they invited us in and have been generously supplying EVERYTHING! (they got upset that we brought stuff home and didn’t ask them to buy it…strange ay?) I am still speechless with their generosity and feel weird accepting these gifts so freely. They do so much for us and all we can do is receive to show our gratitude (they are allowing us to stay here for free and if we want to donate to the church we can, but they are not expecting anything…how nuts!). I have something to learn from this culture!
The girls and us in their shirts they let us wear to church
The girls are letting us sleep in their room and have given us sheets and mattresses for the floor. In the room I am in there are four Americans on the floor and eight Malaysian girls in bunks. Ear plugs are definitely needed, especially with their 5:30 wakeup call that makes me want to punch somebody (not literally, but at times literally).
So in Malaysia the people are generally a mix of Malay, Chinese, and Indian. Muslim is the dominant religion, but there is also Hinduism and others I do not know. Christianity can be practiced freely, but there are not many Christians.
I am staying in a house with many people who are Indian…lots of curry!
As a team we have all adopted the same name…sister…it is polite in their culture to call girls our age that I think…I now call the girls here my little sisters in return. I truly am falling in love with these young teen girls!
My “real ministry” will be with a home schooling program with refugee kids. I have only been with them one day, but my teammate, Kenra, and I will be doing crafts and drawing with pre-school/kindergarten aged kids. There are only four of them in our class, but I already had to pull a kid away from drawing on the walls and running rampant through the room. They sound nuts, but for a good 15 minutes they just stared at us and didn’t talk or move…they were afraid of us…I would be afraid of tall, happy, white people who speak English too!
This is how we got the kids to like us...we let them break the rules...woops
Ok so Vietnam has been so sweet! I do not know much about the culture since I have been in little America helping out with some work with expats (internationals). So here are some super random thoughts of the month:
..........Revelation I got when worshipping on the guitar: Jesus is my Prince! He left His kingdom to find me, He fought the fire breathing dragon, climbed up thousands of steps to reach the tallest tower where I was imprisoned, picked me up since I was too weak to save myself, and brought me to His kingdom! I am a princess, I fit into the glass slipper, I am now trying to fight for the kingdom of perfection with my Prince!!!!! I am sooooooooo LOVED! I can’t get enough
Vung Tao...or however you spell it. I am on Jesus' shoulders here (literally)
....Bike update: Well…hahahaha…the handle bars had to be fixed for the third time, the brakes still don’t work, and the chain fell off a handful of times when riding. Funny story…The handlebars came loose so I tried to fix them while riding…bad idea…I began swerving and couldn’t figure out how to go straight and I saw I was heading towards the corner of a curb and tried to use my non-existent brakes…CRASH!!!!! The chain fell off again…I broke my arm…just kidding I didn’t even get a scratch. I am no longer using that bike, for the last week here I got to use a fully functional vehicle! I do miss going slow though because I got to take in so much…I took photos for people, got my bike used in a wedding photo shoot, had more time to just lift up requests to Poppa…
Taken on a bridge we cross everyday. A local in the water working, but you cant see all the giant apartment buildings around him. It is easy to look past the poverty here
.............This month has been a refueling month. Our contacts have poured so much into us, we have been living in an older woman’s apartment with HARDWOOD FLOORS (very rare to not be tile), we cook our own food, have more normal responsibilities. This month has been more like home! Katrina and I even got cupcakes!!!!!!!!!!! Yummy ones, at a hole in the wall cupcake shop!
Drug rehab center we went to one day
............Here is a little laugh for ya (Doodle you’ll appreciate this one): Being the finance person that I am I had to go to the bank to get smaller bills…their currency is called dong…So I walk into the nicest bank where I get directed to a few people just to get to the teller…felt like I was in Willy Wonka bank land…I get to desk number 7 where a nice lady asks how she can help me. I said I needed smaller bills…she responded, appearing to know what Americans think of when they hear the word dong…So you have big dong? I give you small dong…I was trying not to spit in her face from laughing and said yes while Katrina is next to me cracking up until I couldn’t hold in my laughter...So you have big dong?
Bible day camp we helped out at
.............Self Esteem: In America people would consider me tiny because I am thin…I am thin until I come to Asia. The past three months have been so interesting when trying to find clothes. A small here could be found in Baby Gap and a large could possibly fit me on a day I don’t eat rice…So when you are shopping and picking up shirts you will hear these common phrases: “You need bigger size” “This won’t fit you” “We don’t have your size” or my personal favorite that I got in Thailand “I don’t know about your body”. I never felt big before, but now I feel like the jolly white giant roaming around who cannot fit into some larges and people aren’t sure about my body. How these people eat fried food and rice all day and stay in infant sized clothing is beyond me. I eat fried food and rice and it goes straight to the thighs!
Mekong Delta tour
.........Prayer is the most powerful thing you can do in any situation. Poppa is listening and he hears every word that you speak to him or don’t speak to him. He wants to give his children good gifts, even if it is not what you are expecting. He is a keeper of promises and a fulfiller of desires!
Our canoe captain in the Mekong, seriously played bumber boats
.........Stares: I never have really felt like a celebrity, I still wouldn't classify the feeling as a celebrity...but Vietnamese people LOVE to stare at us. A Vietnamese lady sat next to me on the bus and Katrina watched her look me up and down three times head to toe in slow motion. They love white skin and even use whitening lotion...I am darker than some of them since I don't wear a winter coat to protect my skin from the furnace of a sun...I don't know why they think we are so cool, but they love to say hello then giggle when we respond back....and did I mention they LOVE to just stare at you, all the time...I just want them to realize that they are worth the million stares as well. They are like America when it was cool to be pasty white and fat because that meant you lived a more luxurious life...except most are thin (chubby kids are popping up though, like the chunkster from the movie UP).
..........So I leave on Sunday morning, America's Saturday night, and am off to Malaysia! I have absolutely no idea what to expect. Please be praying for openness, safety, health (I am feeling kind of blah lately), and joy in saying more hellos and goodbyes...in a way you get used to saying them every month...it has been getting easier, but I sure love the people I have met here!
AND I AM FULLY FUNDED!!!! with monthly pledges that is!! PRAISE!!!!!!!!!
This month has been so different than all the other months we have had so far. Mostly because we cannot openly talk about what we are doing because this country does not allow religion and the building we are at is not licensed yet. All we can really do is pray and trust Poppa to move. It is hard because we do not do work where we can see results…most of the time. We are doing the work that no one notices, but everyone benefits from in the future. Every day we go to a different area to pray for the people and things we see. We have been doing a lot of walks in a huge tourist district where lots of human trafficking occurs. We have been praying for the women enslaved or selling their bodies to pay for their children to eat and also for the men who are buying them. They all need fulfillment of desires and I keep praying for them to find dissatisfaction in what they are doing and turn to Poppa.
Yes that is the ocean you see, free day to the beach/Jesus statue
As I walk I just imagine my footsteps leaving a holy mark, that people who walk in them will encounter the Holy Spirit in their lives…for them to begin to be convicted of their current lifestyle, be free from distractions, and hear Poppa’s voice speaking to them telling them how much they are loved. I also imagine His presence in the ground moving throughout the city. He is here, but the devil has such a stronghold on this country. As we pray I imagine the earth shaking. We are tilling the soil so that things will be able to grow. No one notices the work that goes into prepping the soil, people only notice the fruit. Well, we are the ones doing the hard work that goes unnoticed so that one day things can begin to flourish for the kingdom!!!!
To say the least I am really beginning to see how powerful prayer is! He listens, He answers, He works, He can do what He says He can do! It all comes down to our trust and faith…and both are increasing in my life.
Picture of a piece of the skyline from our balcony. This city is HUGE!
...Miracle of the Week...
If you read my last blog you know that I am riding a busted bike. I am driving a lemon fo sho and if Mr. Lemon were here he would take me off the road. My brakes don’t work and my handle bars broke AGAIN so I had a guy tighten them so I wasn’t banging my knee/fixing them while moving. So the day after I got them fixed I was riding on a bumpy/rocky part of the road near our apartment and I heard a big clank and right after I was no longer able to peddle...go figure…My teammate and I just laughed and tried to fix it, but we are no bike mechanics. We were about to brainstorm ideas of how to get to our next scheduled thing and before we were able a guy stopped on his motorbike and asked if he could help! Wow!!! Lots of bikes passed us, but the one who stopped wasn’t even an international. It was a Vietnamese man who spoke English, since he is from this country he came out of the womb riding a bike, and he was a civil engineer! He was an angel sent right to me that day, he even had an awesome helmet with a smiley face and had some saying about smiling on it…The helmet was the sign to me that this was a divine appointment from my King! The guy told me my bike was dangerous, that it needed oil, and to go slow. We said goodbye and I said maybe we will see you around and he said ‘absolutely not’ (rude, right?), and then his bike floated up into the clouds like Grease Lightening…ok the Grease part I made up, but he was an angel sent to me who I will absolutely never see again…
…If you really want to keep reading…
Then on the ride to our destination a family of 4 or 5 rode up alongside of us on a motorbike (yes all on one) and the kids kept saying HELLO! HELLO! HELLO! So we kept responding with hellos thinking they would continue to keep driving. Well Vietnamese people love to stare (LOVE IT) and the father decided to allow their kids to observe how white people ride bikes, like we are zoo animals, and rode next to us for a nice long block length. Awkward! Luckily we turned before it started getting really weird and all we could say was ‘WELCOME TO VIETNAM!’
My prayer request at the moment is for my financial deadline in April. I am still in need of 200 buckaroos so if you would join me in prayer for the amount that is still needed that would be great. If you or someone you know would like to help a sista out by donating so I can continue bringing the good news to the remaining 5 countries that would be super wonderful as well. You all have been so magnificent to me thus far!
