Lord, I know that you called me to this place / Where your eyes are teaching me grace /
I can’t see where I’m going / But I will believe / That you’re never gonna leave /
You are always holding me

… “Let Go,” Holly Starr … 

2012 has been a year of new experiences and physical hardship, but the great thing about living for Christ is knowing that, in everything that happens, God is always there. In one of the Grade 3 Literature PACEs in the ACE curriculum, the underlying concept is that God sees everything. The PACE content speaks of how God sees the students in their offices, and some of the exercises force the students to apply the idea to their personal life. One of the questions is, “What would God like to see me doing in my office?” Of course, the answer should be something like, “God would like to see me finishing my goals” or “God would like to see me working.” The concept seems strange to some of the kids. Why would God be interested in what I do in my office? Why does He care if I finish my PACE work for the day?

The students need to be asking these questions. One of the reasons I support the ACE system is because of the lessons they teach in each PACE which encourage the students to ask questions such as these. Those questions are then passed on to us, their supervisors and monitors. Sometimes we can answer the questions easily, and other times we are forced to think before we answer because, in many circumstances, we are learning right alongside our students. Whenever I find myself doubting or questioning, I find myself recalling various PACEs that dealt with those issues, and I am reassured.

These last two weeks I have been incredibly ill. During that time, the literature PACE on God seeing everything came to mind. God knew what was going on. He saw me lying in my bed unable to stand without collapsing due to dehydration and an intense case of dizziness. He saw me in every pitiful instance that plagued my daily life for that two-week span of time, and He never left. Instead, He sent friends who came to my rescue. They brought medicine, drinks, and broth when I could finally stomach any form of food. They helped me bathe, did my laundry, changed my bed sheets almost every day. They drove 45 minute to the nearest town just to get me to a doctor. They did all of this for no other reason than that they loved me and chose to let God love me through them.

I have never been so ill in all of my twenty-four years, and I have never seen such love shown by people who are not family by blood. Just shows that God will always provide you with a family so long as you are living where He placed you and doing what He told you to do. With my family miles away on a different continent, God stepped into the picture and called in reinforcements.

We still are not 100% sure what illness I had and am still recovering from, but the general census claims cholera or a form of it. Cholera does not kill, but the dehydration that results from it can. Fortunately, my friends got me to the doctor in time. The doctor told us I needed to be in a hospital, but being an American complicated matters. Instead, this doctor went beyond general protocol and immediately put me on an IV drip. Because of that doctor, I am doing much better today.

I can now function normally, though I am still regaining strength. I still suffer from intense headaches and a few other minor issues, but I continue to regain my health with each passing day. We can only assume the bacteria that caused the illness came from the water I drank in Mozambique a few weeks back. The malaria tablets I was taking must have kept it at bay for a while, but once the doxycycline fully left my system, the bacteria had free reign. Still, the illness has passed, and I am on the road to recovery.

Since returning from Mozambique, I have been plagued with various health issues, all of which have helped to contribute to the long stint of time between this and my last blog post. Apart from that, general busyness is a major contributor, but I am now here to recall the Mozambique trip and all that happened on it. Despite all the physical trauma that stemmed from the trip, I can still look back on those 12 days and be glad that I was a part of it.

The three days spent traveling on the road were fairly uneventful. We did sleep out in the bush for one of those nights, and I faired well. I shared a tent with my friend Julie, and the two of us wound up in a fit of hysterical laughter that night. We still have no idea what was so darn funny, but we simply could not stop. The random comments from friends in other tents did not help matters, of course, but it made for a fun night.

We stayed with a family throughout our stay in Mozambique who lived just outside Vilanculous, which is a small beach town on the Indian Ocean coastline. We set up our tents on their property across from a beautiful view of a dam. Or maybe it was just a lake. I am not entirely certain, but it made for some gorgeous shots at sunset. Julie and I put our tent facing it, so we had a nice view every morning.

We spent two or so days on a stretch of beach owned by a resort that kindly let us use their facilities without actually staying there. As such, I got to sit on a shaded deck with a stunning view of the Indian Ocean for two days writing in my journal and reading. Having those days of relaxation was a nice reprieve, because the other days were spent doing missions work.

We did various things during our stay. We spent a few hours evangelizing in the markets and streets on separate days, and we also spent a day driving through the poor neighbourhoods passing out clothing and food packets. That was my favourite day of the whole trip.

I will never forget seeing the excitement on the faces of those men, women, and children as we gave them shirts and shoes. Many of them could not believe white people were just giving them stuff for free, especially shoes. One lady we gave a pair of shoes to started grinning and jumping up and down with excitement. She kept showing the shoes to her friend, constantly jumping with pure joy. All of us smiled as we drove away.

Many times we had to be firm, because some of the people were not content with just a shirt. They kept asking for more. One man even reached through the window to where I was sitting in the middle with a pair of shoes on my lap trying to grab the shoes. My friend Corinne sitting next to me reached over and slapped his hand away. Still, we could not necessarily blame them. Many of the people were clearly wearing shirts they wore every day with all manner of holes in them. Most did not wear shoes at all. As we drove by later, we got to see some of the people we had helped walking around wearing their new shirts and shoes. They waved when they saw us.

One of the saddest observations we made came about through the other vehicles that drove past us as we handed out clothing and food. Other white people would drive by and glare at us for no other reasons than that we were helping the poorer Black population. Sadly, racism is still a major problem in some of those areas.

We ended up befriending the pastor of a church we visited, and he took us around to the different schools he helped set up. We sang songs with the kids and handed out shirts, colouring pages, and sweets to the students at the end. The three Global Year girls did most of it while the rest of us jumped in to help when needed. Many of those kids had never been given anything before, and they stared at us in awe. So many of the students were clearly poor. Corinne and I could not help but notice that many of them brought their school supplies in binders made of duct tape or old rice sacks. Some did not have shoes, and others looked as if they had not bathed in days. The teachers in those schools do what they can, but they clearly have so few resources.

I compare those schools we visited to the ones in the States, and I am amazed at how blessed Americans are. School supplies are so easy to come by, and we waste so much of those supplies simply because we know it is easy to get more. Those schools in Mozambique do not have that luxury. Every item is treasured and re-used repeatedly. Every item is of value.

My previous trips to Botswana and Zimbabwe were great, but Mozambique truly opened my eyes to how blessed I am in comparison to the rest of the world. Not to say every other country is like Mozambique. Mozambique is one of the poorest African countries. It simply served as the eye-opener I needed to see just how much needs to be done in this world.

God has called us to serve the people around us, locally and globally. I am one of those lucky few God sent into the world. Not everyone is sent on a similar mission, but you can still be a major part of it. Any time one of you prays for me or aids me financially, you are helping God’s people here in Africa. Every life I touch, you have touched because of your prayers and support.

As I continue to serve God here in Africa and other places in this world in the years to come, I hope you will continue to pray for me. I still need prayers regarding financial support, along with prayers for Mr. Palmer’s book. All of these needs are still there, and God continues to provide for those with each passing month. Thank you to those of you who are praying and supporting me. All of you contribute to keeping God’s love alive here in Africa.

Disclaimer: I apologize that this post is not up to my usual standards. I am still recovering from my illness and my mind is still a bit fuzzy. As such, the flow in paragraphs may be off or some of my sentences may sound odd. My next post should be back to usual.