Hello Friends,
This will be my last blog of the summer. I felt it only appropriate to end with a blog of what I learned while in South Africa and what that means for me now in the United States.
For those of you that don’t know, I made it back to the States. So I apologize if you have tried to call me and it goes to my voicemail which says that I am still in South Africa. I have failed to change it since I have been back! Now that I’ve been back for a few weeks and have had a lot of time to process what happened in South Africa and transition back into my life here in Irvine, California, USA, here is a taste of things that I’ve been thinking about…
First off, when someone asks me how my trip was or for me tell about it, I am literally speechless! All that I can say is “Amazing” or “Incredible” or “The coolest thing I’ve ever done”, all of those adjectives are understatements. For me to sum up in a short amount of words what I experienced in South Africa is almost impossible. I am apologizing in advance, I may use some of these adjectives but they do not come to close what I actually experienced. I will do my best to explain just how phenomenal my trip actually was!
One question I’ve gotten a lot is, “What did you learn about God?” My response: I’ve learned a lot about God’s sovereignty and His power over all things, all nations, all situations, and all lives. This is demonstrated in my meeting with Storm (please see previous update). But as a whole, I was in awe every Sunday at Word of Life Church. The way that students worship the same Lord from all backgrounds, all nations and all languages was absolutely beautiful. I think that so often we (all people) forget that we serve and we follow the God of the Universe. The Creator! He is the Lord of all nations. Wow! I am in awe just reflecting on that now. If you have seen pictures (soon to be posted on facebook) you will notice that I took a lot of pictures of the beach, the sky and the clouds. This is due to what I recently learned about God’s beauty, which doesn’t need much of an explanation once you’ve seen pictures of South Africa, although a lot of the photos don’t do justice for actually being there.
Another question: “How did you grow from your experience in South Africa?” My response: To be honest, I’m not sure! I think that is something that I am still processing through and figuring out myself. There is one thing though that I will share. One of the last times we were on campus, my friend Jessica and I decided to spend the day praying for various things. It was wonderful. While praying, I got this sense of peace and joy. It was like nothing that I had ever experienced before. We were getting ready to leave a place that I grew to love, and I loved the people and the friends that I had met, and the way of life that I had there with my team. It was sad, to say the least. But praise God that I had a sense of joy, in the midst of the sadness. I was joyous! This came from my trust in the Lord that He has all things under control and that I had been so incredibly blessed to be a part of His Kingdom in ways that I never thought possible! There was also peace in my heart; because even though I felt like we could do so much more, surrendering my worries and my fears to God about any anxieties I had, there was a feeling of peace and hope that greater things have yet to come in the city of Port Elizabeth.
So what does all this mean for me now? Good question. Once again, this is something that I am still figuring out. My prayer while in South Africa had always been that I would never forget the message of the Gospel- that Christ died for my sins, and that I would fall even more in love with the Savior of the world. My prayer now, is that that prayer would continue to be in my heart. Additionally, I know that with my college years coming to an end, almost, I have lots of decisions to make about my future. Decisions that can seem overwhelming and even scary at times, but I pray that my feelings of peace and joy would continue in me by the power of the Holy Spirit. I pray that even in the midst of chaos and unknown and fear, that the hope of the promises that are in Christ would carry me through the darkness. Lastly, I pray that my testimony of the great things God is doing in South Africa would inspire more students, or anyone for that matter, to go. Not necessarily to South Africa, although I am biased for that country, but anywhere. Get of your town, get out of your state, your country, your comfort zone and serve the God that called you to be a part of something bigger than yourself- His Kingdom. That is my prayer for you. That you would seriously pray about serving abroad for some amount of time- 2 weeks, 6 weeks, 4 months, a year. However long, do not say no yet. God has great plans for you, plans to prosper you, not harm you, and plans to play a part in the greatest story of all time. So in closing, I thank you so much for being a part of this journey with me, for praying with me, and taking time to read. I pray that you may know Jesus Christ more with every sunrise. ~E
“As the rain and snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
So is my word that goes out from mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” ~Isaiah 55:10-11
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