Thanksgiving and Bush Sketti

When I look back on the time I spent in Africa, I can safely say that one of my fondest memories occurred on the 28th of November.  Some of you may recognize that lovely day as the one and only Thanksgiving!  Let me give you a little back story before I tell you why it was such a marvelous day.

It has occurred to me that most of you might not know what a typical day at the Harvest School of Missions would look like, and that is very sad indeed.  So let me enlighten you a bit!  We had class from 8-1 Monday-Thursday every week, and practical mission every Friday.  Monday's were known as village day because we would get out of class at about 11, meet up with our Mozambican pastors, and go out into the village to pray for people.  Wednesday's were known as cross-cultural class days because the Mozambican pastors would join us in the mornings and we would learn and worship together.  So needless to say, they kept us pretty busy throughout the week.

I got to be a part of the Friday practical mission in which a small group of us would go and build houses for widows.  I became especially good friends with Mama Julia, a 30 year old woman with 4 kids and no husband.  It was such a joy to sit around and laugh with her (mostly she laughed at me because Americans seem very silly and weak to African women).  She taught me how to grind up certain kinds of roots for cooking and also how to carry a bucket of water on my head from the well (mind you, it was extremely painful!).  I wish so badly that my camera was not stolen because I had so many wonderful pictures of me and Mama Julia together, but you will just have to imagine with me.

The staff of the school gave us every afternoon off to go and visit the villagers and get to know the kids and people of Pemba.  Then every weekend, different outreach groups would go out into various villages throughout Mozambique where we would live out of tents and minister to the people.

Towards the end of school, there were optional outreach teams that we could sign up for and I jumped at the opportunity.  So on Thanksgiving day, I was all packed and ready to leave with my team immediately after class let out at 1.  We got into the back of the camion truck and headed out to the village!  I am happy to say that this particular outreach team was full of some really amazing people.

I have trouble smiling for pictures...or even knowing when they're being taken!
Here is a lot of our outreach team.

Some of my absolute favorite people I met in Mozambique.  Miss them!

Once we got to the village we set up camp and immediately headed out to do our ministry time.  Here is a picture of my friend Jess and I after arriving at the village.

After a very moving time of prayer and witnessing to the Mozambicans, we headed back to our camp and had a late dinner of bush-sketti (African bush-bush spaghetti).  If you've never had bush-sketti then you can't really understand how wonderfully delicious it is!  After 2 months of nothing but rice and beans, it was a very welcome change. It consisted of spaghetti with bits of tuna and tangy mayonnaise (and the mayonnaise really was tangy).  So that has definitely gone down in the memory books as my favorite Thanksgiving of all time.  I spent it in the "billion-star hotel" eating bush-sketti surrounded by sweet Mozambican kids and some of my best friends from all over the world.  It really doesn't get any better than that.  

Here are some more pictures from the rest of the weekend.  Thankfully my friends have put these on Facebook and I have very gratefully borrowed them!

We spent part of the next day painting the Mozambican pastor's house
who had hosted us.

My friends and I resting after a hard day's work in the hot African sun!

Making breakfast!  It was a treat to have jelly with our breakfast rolls.

Here is the whole outreach team!
Along with some adorable kids who wanted to get in on the fun. :)

Thanks for reading and God bless!

Speak Life

Happy middle of January!  Lately there is something that has been on my mind and, strangely enough, it has to do with the children's book Inkheart by Cornelia Funke (nerdy librarian side of me coming out...).  If you have read the book or seen the movie, you will know what it means to be a Silvertongue.  In the story, Silvertongues were very rare and powerful people. To be a Silvertongue meant that you had a very unique gift in which your words have special power.  Power to bring the written word to life.  For example...if the silvertongue were reading a story about a fire-breathing unicorn eating oats, you could be certain that when you turn around that is exactly what you would see.  As you can imagine, this gift could either be extremely useful, or extremely dangerous (depending on what story you were reading).  I personally wouldn't want to be around while a Silvertongue was reading anything by Stephen King...maybe something more like Karen Kingsbury?  Anyway...the point is, their words have power and there is no denying it.

I believe this story can easily be translated into our Christian walk (at least, it should).  As believers, I think we often forget the pure, raw power that our words can carry.  Every single thing that comes out of our mouth has the potential to encourage or tear down, to create or destroy.  In fact, the Bible is pretty clear on this topic.

• "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits."
  
  -Proverbs 18:21                   
• "But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken.  For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."        
  
  -Matthew 12:36-37              
• "Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear."
  
  -Ephesians 4:29                    

The Apostles, with the help of the Holy Spirit, used their words to do AMAZING things.  Guess what?  We too have that same Spirit!  If only we would use our words as we have been commanded to in the New Testament, I am certain we would see a major change in our every day life.  The song Speak Life by Toby Mac has been a sort of anthem to me the past few weeks.  It says:

"So speak Life, speak Life.

To the deadest darkest night.

Speak life, speak Life.

When the sun won't shine and you don't know why.

Look into the eyes of the brokenhearted;

Watch them come alive as soon as you speak hope,

You speak love, you speak...life!"

WOW!  Another part of the song says "we can turn a heart with the words we say, mountains crumble with every syllable."  This is serious business.  Our words really do carry much more power than we realize, and we need to be speaking words that bring JOY, not sadness.  UNITY, not discord.  LIFE, not death.

In Africa, I encountered people who knew the power their words carried, because they see good and evil very tangibly in conflict with one another every day.  Witch doctors use their words to bid evil spirits to do their will, and it really does happen.  But I also saw confident sons and daughters of the King use their words to break through the darkness.  Let me give you an example.

The house I lived in on the missionary compound just so happened to be right next to the 10-foot wall surrounding the base.  And just on the other side of this wall was the witch doctor's house.  There were many nights when my housemates and I were kept awake by the loud rituals and chants of the people just on the other side of the wall.  One night in particular I was lying in bed, and the darkness coming from the witch doctor's house was so heavy that I was trembling with fear.  There was a lot of shouting and I could hear eerie music that sounded as evil as it really was.  Then I heard my house mom jump up out of bed and begin pacing around the house, praying for the Spirit of the Lord to break through the darkness.  She SPOKE LIFE into our house and I instantly felt the atmosphere change.  The fear that had gripped me before was suddenly gone, and I felt an overwhelming peace settle over our house.

The bottom line?  Our words have power.  I have made a commitment to God in the year of 2014 to only use my words to bring hope, love, and life into the different situations I find myself in and the people I come into contact with, and I would like to encourage y'all (I'm in Kentucky now...haha) to do the same.  Let's all dedicate ourselves to only building up those around us.

"Look into the eyes of the brokenhearted, watch 'em come alive as soon as you speak hope, you speak love, you speak life."

I found this picture on tribute.ca's website at
http://www.tribute.ca/galleries/inkheart/16231/ . I added the Bible verse.

My Life, His Canvas

Happy New Year!  I almost cannot believe that it has been an entire year since I have graduated college (really starting to feel old!).  When you stop and really think, it is almost scary how quickly 2013 came and went, and how easily this next year can slip through our fingers if we aren't careful.  As we usher in 2014, I would like to make a challenge for each of you as opposed to the usual "New Year's Resolution".  I challenge you to ask God for a new set of spiritual contacts.  You may think that sounds a little funny, but let me explain myself.

While in Mozambique, I lived on the Iris missionary base in the city of Pemba.  Here is a picture of a VERY small portion of the village lying just outside of the city.

As you can see, the village goes right up to the edge of one of the most beautiful oceans.  The Iris base was even closer.  The house I lived in was a mere football field from the beach...which is enough to spoil any true Ohio girl. ;)  Here is another picture of just how gorgeous the Indian Ocean really is. (And how beautiful the children of Africa are.)

Right smack dab in the middle of the Iris base was a beautiful African-style hut that we used as a prayer hut.  It was elevated on a hill so that you had a perfect view of the rest of the base, and most importantly, the ocean.  The prayer hut was one of the only good pieces of shade to be found, which is the closest thing you'll ever get to air-conditioning in Africa, but that was not the reason I loved it.  Since the sun rises at about 4:30 every day, I would wake up around 5:30 and head right on up to the prayer hut for some quiet time with Jesus.  My mornings with the Lord quickly became my favorite part of every day.  One particular morning I decided I wanted to see the sunrise from the prayer hut, so I set my alarm for 3:50 and walked up in the cool morning. 

I sat down on the stairs of the prayer hut and waited.  As the sun began to rise, I noticed a huge wall of clouds blocking the sun from my view.  So the sky got lighter and lighter but there was still no sun to be seen.  I was instantly upset, thinking that the clouds were blocking my view of the sun on this morning I had gotten up so early.  Then slowly God began to change the way I was thinking.  He opened my eyes to something I had never thought of before.  Here is a little section from my journal that sums it up pretty well:

"The sunrise this morning is beautiful Jesus.  Unfortunately, much of its splendor and beauty is blocked by the clouds.  Something I noticed, however, was how the clouds served as a kind of canvas to display the beauty of the sunrise.  While I can't see the sun, I know it's there because I can see how it shines in, around, and through the clouds.  And the sun's rays reflect beautifully off the clouds in hues of gold, orange, pink, red, and yellow.  It is the same with me God.  It is the clouds in my life that truly show Your goodness, love, and mercy.  You shine on the parts of me that are impure and broken, and You are glorified in my weakness.

That comparison is so encouraging to me God because I have a LOT of weaknesses.  Please take them from me and shine through them that You may have ALL the glory.  Take my strengths too.  Just take it all..."

So let me ask you: what would a sunrise be without the clouds to display the many beautiful colors of the sun?  Similarly, what would a life be without the trials (clouds) to display the many glories of our God and King!  Thank you God that we go through both good and bad times that sharpen us and shape us to Your will, and thank you that you make us beautiful through it all. 

Now back to the challenge...I pray that God gives each of you new spiritual contacts, or a new perspective so that you may see your life as He sees it: cloudy, but so beautifully reflecting His son! You see just as the clouds are there to show the sun's beauty, so also our lives are to serve as a canvas for the Creator of the Universe.  And in case you didn't know, God is a Master Artist who loves to create masterpieces.  WOW!  What a cool thought.  I hope that this has made sense to you in some way, because it was one of the biggest ways in which God worked on my heart during my time in Africa.  God bless you and I pray you have a year of fruitful harvest! 

Picture of a beautiful African sunrise.