Drawing Close to Christ

hey everyone! So sorry it's been two weeks since I have updated! Last tuesday we went to a cricket game with a group of people from church so we only had internet for about 20 minutes. It was a wonderful day, but I'm sorry I didn't get to update you all on what's been going on! The last two weeks have been so amazing, but there have been some trying moments. The kids at the school and orphanage are continuing to capture my heart every time I get to hang out with them! Last Wednesday I unfortunately wasn't feeling the best and since the kids are already sick, I can't really be around them when I'm not feeling great--I missed them so much, I can't wait til tomorrow when I get to hang out with them again! Aurora, the school we work with, is on break until next week..so we also didn't get to see them last week. It was weird not getting to go work with them and I definitely missed them, but the Lord used that spare time for me to really spend some intimate time with Him. With the business over the past few weeks I haven't got to spend the amount of time with Him that I needed to. It's so awesome to see His sovereignty in every situation--He knows exactly when I need to just sit and spend time in His word--He knows when I need encouragement from the people around me--He knows exactly when I need to be refreshed and He gives according to that. It was beyond amazing in the last week to get to spend some intentional time with my Father and see His plan for the nations and how I get the opportunity to play a part in that. I also am in the middle of reading radical--my awesome mom sent it to me! God is continuing to blow my mind with each page that I read--the scripture in that book is so challenging! God is definitely using it to open my eyes to His true plan!

We have had the opportunity to do some really cool things in the past few weeks though--we got to walk and feed full grown tigers and we got to go to a cricket game! Both of these were such cool experiences. Getting to spend time with the sweet girls the Lord has given me the opportunity to serve alongside over the next few months, as well as with the friends He has given us here was so refreshing and fun! Thank you all so much for your prayers and encouragement! I love and miss you all so very much!The Lord is doing amazing things here, as I'm sure He is at home! What a mighty God we serve--He deserves everything I have to give--I am being challenged to start living like that everyday! Almost to the halfway point--keep lifting us up in prayer!!!

In All I Do--

It's been another great week!! The kids at the orphanage and at the school are great-we are starting to feel like a part of the family there and it is great! They are so much fun-they have been trying to get us to say their names, which trust me is quite the task! They just laugh at us when we try to say them!

Game night tuesday night was tons of fun! We had about 12 people from church attend and one neighbor! We were so excited that someone showed up! Her name is Alex and we actually spent a few hours at her place with her and her boyfriend just talking and getting to know them. A relationship is truly starting to build there. They are interested in visiting the church with us. Continue to pray that relationship as well as others will start and continue to grow. At the orphanage on Wednesday, the little 9 year old boy I worked with last week was doing much better-he was sitting up on his own and looked much stronger. He still is very sick and has quite a long way to go to get better but is doing some better. The school was such a fun day--the kids are starting to really get comfortable around us which is so great. We are starting to build relationships with them which is great.

The Lord has been teaching me so many things since I've been here--this week in a book I'm reading the author was talking about how we need the Lord to get us through even the tasks we see as "everyday"--He challeneged me with whether or not I am doing everything as Jesus did when He was on the earth. From getting dressed in the morning, to ordering at a restraunt, to just the thoughts that go through my mind when something happens. My focus should always be on Christ and what His response would have been to a situation.

Please continue to pray for us as we build relationships--pray for the kids at the orphanage and the school and that we would know how best to serve--pray that my focus will be completely on Him and that I will be content in every situation. I love and miss you all! Thanks so much for checking my blog--thank you for your prayers and encouragement!

By His Strength

Well--I have officially been in Africa for over 5 weeks--that just seems beyond crazy to me! It is really beginning to feel like real life-which is great and a little scary at the same time. It has truly been an amazing and challenging week. I went to the orphanage and school for the first time last week--it was an experience that really can't be described in words. I had to depend on the strength of the Holy Spirit otherwise I would have fallen apart. Seeing those sweet kids faces at the orphanage was heartwarming, but saddening at the same. Knowing that they have a disease that they did nothing to get and that their life will be cut short. I held a 9 year old boy for the first two hours we were there. He weighed a little over 20 pounds--He is so sick and in so much pain. It was such a privilege to be able to give him some love and attention, but more than that he blessed my heart so much. It was difficult to see, but it is truly in moments like that the Lord reminds me that He is sovereign. Often times I don't understand the ways He works, but that is exactly why He is God and I am not. He is teaching me to find rest and peace in His Sovereignty--to truly accept it and be content in it. We live in such a fallen world and it is our responsibility as believers to shine the light of Christ everywhere we go and in everything we do.

The school was such a fun experience. Dawn and I helped out with the grade 1 and 2 classes--there are about 60 kids and 1 teacher. It was crazy to say the least! It was so fun just to be able to interact with these children and just play with them! The Lord is continuing to open my eyes to His plan for my life and where He wants me to be serving--He is showing me more and more everyday that as believers He has such a huge calling on our lives--we are called to serve the people around us--Missions is not just a trip or a job--but a lifestyle that the Lord has called us all to!

Please continue to be in prayer for these outreach opportunities the Lord has given us--Pray for outreach in our complex, we are having a game night tonight so pray that it would help us continue to build relationships! Pray that I would be open to where the Lord wants me to serve and in what ways! I love all of you so very much! It means so much to me that you read this and that you are praying for me! Please continue!!