I don’t know why I am always surprised at the faithfulness of God. I guess I just know that sometimes, often, his faithfulness doesn’t always fit into what I thought his faithfulness would look like.
I will be honest. When I heard Marsha (my colleague) was not going to be in country when I moved to Africa I was less than thrilled. My initial thought was “This is not what I signed up for! I wasn’t supposed to move to this continent by myself, I wasn’t supposed to start learning Arabic or meet all new people by myself. This is not what it was supposed to look like.”
And then, through the prayers of the multitudes, my eyes were taken off of me, myself, and I. It is amazing the miracles that happen when I look to His face. I don’t mean my eyes are healed and I don’t have to use contacts anymore- I am talking about a peace that surpasses all understanding. I am talking about utter helplessness being acknowledged and dependence on the One who created everything guiding my life.
This is no small thing.
And then I arrive in Africa. It’s time to put my money where my mouth is. Kenya was filled with meetings and while in Uganda my task was to get my visa and supplies that I needed to take up North. By myself. In Africa. Honestly, it didn’t take me too long to get over that and was taking the matatus and using the boda bodas and giving men the evil eye. I stayed at a hostel where in my free time I had the opportunity to go to gardens with some Swedes, have coffee with some Pakistani soldiers, have a photo shoot on the wing of an airplane with a German, go for a morning run in the rain with an Indian, and spend time with local Ugandans. I still can’t quite believe it all – but it is amazing to reach out to people! I had to spend that week in Uganda because I was waiting for my supervisor to arrive and accompany me to the North (which was a change from the original plan).
But I was not by myself. Not by a long shot. It is amazing the doors that will open and the people you will meet when we stop looking at ourselves. He is faithful.
Soon I will share the surprises that awaited me in North Africa…..
