Everything here is good but hard.
Living in the bush is alot like living in the middle of another dimension, a dimension where you pee on a slab of concrete that is also the area that you "shower" in, (or take a bucket bath). A dimension where you poop in a hole in the ground but you have to greet the owners of the poop hole for ten minutes before you can use it, a dimension where you eat on the floor with your hands alongside Africans as their chickens try to steal the food and the goats are eating the fence next to you. Aside from bush living, which is very different, we feel like we are being sent out like "sheep among wolves." (Read Mthw 10).
I don't have alot of time to post very much, but just know that your yarps are encouraging me greatly, and that to hear what the King is doing in the states is encouraging me enough to go back to the bush for another two weeks. It is hard to see His fruit here, but to know that He is working for the good keeps me going. Please continue to yarp because I am affected by your yarps, and thank you all so much for your support.
I am looking at each day as an adventure, and I am excited to see what He has in store. Hopefully I can type out a more detailed update next time! Know that all is well here, we are all in good health and happy, and we are being stretched every second!
Friday, June 19
Monday, June 8
The night before THE BUSH!!!!!
Wow, the support and comments that you all have left me have given me so much strength. Thank you all so much, I can never communicate the amount of encouragement that I have received from you all. Thank you so much for your love and support and encouragement.
Tomorrow our team will move out into K town, or "the bush." We are separated into teams of twos, and I will be staying with a girl from Ohio who I like very much. We get along well and I'm excited to spend the summer with her!
Being here is hard because it is so foreign, but it is so good because in everything I do, I am using His strength. I mean it- from the moment I wake up, to when I take my nap, to when I go to sleep at night-- it is all by His strength that I am moving forward into what He has. Seeking Him is not hard, because He is already there. When you get to a place where you can't do anything without Him, it becomes easy and wonderful to live in the Spirit. I am thankful that I am in such stretching circumstances that I do not have to worry about myself all the time.
We have been staying in the city for a week now, but tonight is our last night! We ate lunch with our hands yesterday. We sat on the floor, tucking our long skirts between our sweating legs and leaning down to scoop up soggy rice, beans, onions and peppers with our RIGHT hand (if you use your left hand then that is just not acceptable--people wipe with their left hands..and I'm left handed so changes have quickly been made). People in Africa not only eat with their hand, but they all scoop out of the same bowl! The people here are incredibly friendly, and in African culture, people are the first priority. People always have time to spend time with people--"things" just don't matter here. It's all about community and people.
Things in Africa are becoming normal here, but I will try to continue to keep my updates vivid. I am getting used to the culture, but I'm sure that once we move to the bush we will experience culture shock. As a team, we have mainly just been interacting together, but as of tomorrow, we will be surrounded by a foreign people group constantly.
The people group that we will be living with are very friendly, dramatic and loud. They are very excited that we are coming to stay in their village, and this eases my nerves greatly because I was afraid that they would not want us there. But they are already fighting over who gets to do our laundry!
My appetite has been increasing greatly, and every night at 11 o'clock I start starving. I think my body schedule was just messed up, but I am eating well now, so no worries mom.
We saw our first African roach yesterday. D woke me up screaming, and I went to kill it, but I freaked out when I saw how big it was (it was on our shower curtain), so we got K to kill it. She is so hard core...
Thank you for your prayers and encouragement, they have given me supernatural strength and even joy that has uplifted myself and those around me. He has done more than just provided for me here, He is giving me extra joy!
We will get back to the city on June 17-19 and that is when I will be able to update again. We will come to the city for two days every two weeks to take a break from the village. Thank you again for supporting me and I will continue to stay strong through Him!
Also- one more thing-
Today we ate lunch with a group of University African students (they were all young African men in their 20s). They spoke English, and we were able to really connect and share with them. They were all believers, but they told us that they were the only 5 believers in their university of 500.
Their joy was beautiful, and even though our language prevented us from communicating flawlessly, I received life from their vivid facial expressions, their loud talking and laughter, and their joy. The people in Africa are so expressive and energetic that it's almost impossible NOT to communicate with them, even if you speak different languages. It brings me to tears to see the energy inside of these people. It's contagious and so beautiful.
Please yarp for our interactions with the village people, yarp for divine appointments and for supernatural communication of His word. The people here (esp the women) are very oppressed for various reasons, so please yarp for a breaking of the chains that they live under daily.
Know that yours yarps are being heard, and that I am having an amazing time. I love all of you and will report back soon!!!
Tomorrow our team will move out into K town, or "the bush." We are separated into teams of twos, and I will be staying with a girl from Ohio who I like very much. We get along well and I'm excited to spend the summer with her!
Being here is hard because it is so foreign, but it is so good because in everything I do, I am using His strength. I mean it- from the moment I wake up, to when I take my nap, to when I go to sleep at night-- it is all by His strength that I am moving forward into what He has. Seeking Him is not hard, because He is already there. When you get to a place where you can't do anything without Him, it becomes easy and wonderful to live in the Spirit. I am thankful that I am in such stretching circumstances that I do not have to worry about myself all the time.
We have been staying in the city for a week now, but tonight is our last night! We ate lunch with our hands yesterday. We sat on the floor, tucking our long skirts between our sweating legs and leaning down to scoop up soggy rice, beans, onions and peppers with our RIGHT hand (if you use your left hand then that is just not acceptable--people wipe with their left hands..and I'm left handed so changes have quickly been made). People in Africa not only eat with their hand, but they all scoop out of the same bowl! The people here are incredibly friendly, and in African culture, people are the first priority. People always have time to spend time with people--"things" just don't matter here. It's all about community and people.
Things in Africa are becoming normal here, but I will try to continue to keep my updates vivid. I am getting used to the culture, but I'm sure that once we move to the bush we will experience culture shock. As a team, we have mainly just been interacting together, but as of tomorrow, we will be surrounded by a foreign people group constantly.
The people group that we will be living with are very friendly, dramatic and loud. They are very excited that we are coming to stay in their village, and this eases my nerves greatly because I was afraid that they would not want us there. But they are already fighting over who gets to do our laundry!
My appetite has been increasing greatly, and every night at 11 o'clock I start starving. I think my body schedule was just messed up, but I am eating well now, so no worries mom.
We saw our first African roach yesterday. D woke me up screaming, and I went to kill it, but I freaked out when I saw how big it was (it was on our shower curtain), so we got K to kill it. She is so hard core...
Thank you for your prayers and encouragement, they have given me supernatural strength and even joy that has uplifted myself and those around me. He has done more than just provided for me here, He is giving me extra joy!
We will get back to the city on June 17-19 and that is when I will be able to update again. We will come to the city for two days every two weeks to take a break from the village. Thank you again for supporting me and I will continue to stay strong through Him!
Also- one more thing-
Today we ate lunch with a group of University African students (they were all young African men in their 20s). They spoke English, and we were able to really connect and share with them. They were all believers, but they told us that they were the only 5 believers in their university of 500.
Their joy was beautiful, and even though our language prevented us from communicating flawlessly, I received life from their vivid facial expressions, their loud talking and laughter, and their joy. The people in Africa are so expressive and energetic that it's almost impossible NOT to communicate with them, even if you speak different languages. It brings me to tears to see the energy inside of these people. It's contagious and so beautiful.
Please yarp for our interactions with the village people, yarp for divine appointments and for supernatural communication of His word. The people here (esp the women) are very oppressed for various reasons, so please yarp for a breaking of the chains that they live under daily.
Know that yours yarps are being heard, and that I am having an amazing time. I love all of you and will report back soon!!!
Thursday, June 4
Fo-Fo!
Hello to all! I am in Africa at the current moment and it is about 10 pm. This is our 3rd day in Niger and it has been amazing so far.
When we got off the plane, everything was orange and brownish like a dessert (since it is), and the air was hot and dry. When I say hot, remember that I live in a hot climate and I know what hot is. I like the heat and I enjoy the weather when it is 90 degrees. Well, here is gets up to 120. It was probably about 110 or more when we stepped off the plane.
The airport was interesting, there is really no way to describe anything here effectively which is frustrating because I want to share my exact experience so far. I will do my best to describe as much as I can! The airport was more like an open dusty building, and we walked off the plane into the doors to stand in a line and have our passports stamped by sweating African men in linen and cotton suits, tired and French speaking. We walked into a joining room (it was like an old abandoned department store with open windows and doors) and we waited by a multi colored ancient conveyer belt for our trunks. "Number 10" helped us with our trunks and we carried them out to meet our host ladies. They greeted us and handed us each 1.5 liter bottles of water. Many African men were friendly with us and were standing around greeting us and talking to us in French as our host ladies loaded their old trucks with our trunks. The second that I stepped off the plane was also the second that my body entered a constant state of sweating, and I have never sweated so much in my life. It is actually kind of nice, because sweat cools your body off, and everyone here is contantly glistening and glowing in the African heat. (everyone here glows and the people are so beautiful!) Every part of my body was sweating, even the skin in between my toes. I am actually enjoying this experience of sweating in this new way. I feel very clean somehow.
Africa has a smell, I can't really describe it. It's strong, maybe like a strong sweaty and musty smell. Maybe it's like the way an African smells when they sweat when all they eat is corn and mangos. It's a smell that I've never smelled before, and it's overpowering, and it made me naucious at first, but I like it now. All of my things smell this way now.
We arrived at our house that we are staying at for one week, and we were all able to hike up a hill to a tiny house in a closet like room where we called home through headsets connected to computers that were brought by those here.
There are rainbow colored lizards here the size of iguanas. They are EVERYWHERE and they run really fast, up trees and across your feet. They fascinate me! They are like the African squirrel!
So far we have had intense language training, a visit to the market, seen camels, walked over the Niger river bridge, experienced our first African rain and dust storm and met some amazing workers here who are preaching so much raw truth and supernatural mystery that I am in tears while they speak.
I love it here, but every night so far I have woken up in the middle of the night very upset. The enemy is trying to discourage me, so please yarp that I can stay strong in Him. It makes it easier to be surrounded by a wonderful team who I get along with so well, they are very encouraging.
I am a bit homesick but there is no time to think about that. There is no time to do anything here, only time to submit to Him. If you wallow in anything or let your thoughts run, it will kill you. ( not to be to dramatic haha..but seriously).
We are going to the bush on Monday and I am ready to go. I'm getting more and more adjusted to the heat, and we all took our temperatures today and our natural body temperatures here are over 99. It heats everything up in you, it's almost to the point where you wonder how people can survive here. But actually, they don't usually come out in the hot part of the day- they nap, and so do we!
We are staying in the orientation house and so we have electricity now, and american food. It's hard for me to eat because it's so hot, so please pray for my appetite to increase.
I am having so much fun and I feel very alive and joyful.
You don't really appreciate the way water tastes until you feel like you will die without it, you don't appreciate sleep until you feel like you will collapse in exhaustion, and you don't appreciate rain until you live 48 hours in 110+ degree heat. When it rained last night we stood in it and rejoiced in it.
There will be struggles here but I am not using my own strength, but His. He has me on a crazy ride.
Please yarp that we will all be prepared to live in the bush, that we will stay in good health, and that the enemy will not get into our heads. We have to stay strong and I know we will. He wants us all here for a specific purpose. We have already seen an impact in the people we have contacted, and we know that nothing goes wasted when it is aimed at His glory.
I will post again as soon as I can, but I have no clue when that will be. I try hard not to think about home and my boyfriend and family, because it prevents me from being here and makes me very homesick. Contacting home and posting will be minimal so I can stay focused!
Peace be with you lovely readers, thank you for all that you give and support with :)
When we got off the plane, everything was orange and brownish like a dessert (since it is), and the air was hot and dry. When I say hot, remember that I live in a hot climate and I know what hot is. I like the heat and I enjoy the weather when it is 90 degrees. Well, here is gets up to 120. It was probably about 110 or more when we stepped off the plane.
The airport was interesting, there is really no way to describe anything here effectively which is frustrating because I want to share my exact experience so far. I will do my best to describe as much as I can! The airport was more like an open dusty building, and we walked off the plane into the doors to stand in a line and have our passports stamped by sweating African men in linen and cotton suits, tired and French speaking. We walked into a joining room (it was like an old abandoned department store with open windows and doors) and we waited by a multi colored ancient conveyer belt for our trunks. "Number 10" helped us with our trunks and we carried them out to meet our host ladies. They greeted us and handed us each 1.5 liter bottles of water. Many African men were friendly with us and were standing around greeting us and talking to us in French as our host ladies loaded their old trucks with our trunks. The second that I stepped off the plane was also the second that my body entered a constant state of sweating, and I have never sweated so much in my life. It is actually kind of nice, because sweat cools your body off, and everyone here is contantly glistening and glowing in the African heat. (everyone here glows and the people are so beautiful!) Every part of my body was sweating, even the skin in between my toes. I am actually enjoying this experience of sweating in this new way. I feel very clean somehow.
Africa has a smell, I can't really describe it. It's strong, maybe like a strong sweaty and musty smell. Maybe it's like the way an African smells when they sweat when all they eat is corn and mangos. It's a smell that I've never smelled before, and it's overpowering, and it made me naucious at first, but I like it now. All of my things smell this way now.
We arrived at our house that we are staying at for one week, and we were all able to hike up a hill to a tiny house in a closet like room where we called home through headsets connected to computers that were brought by those here.
There are rainbow colored lizards here the size of iguanas. They are EVERYWHERE and they run really fast, up trees and across your feet. They fascinate me! They are like the African squirrel!
So far we have had intense language training, a visit to the market, seen camels, walked over the Niger river bridge, experienced our first African rain and dust storm and met some amazing workers here who are preaching so much raw truth and supernatural mystery that I am in tears while they speak.
I love it here, but every night so far I have woken up in the middle of the night very upset. The enemy is trying to discourage me, so please yarp that I can stay strong in Him. It makes it easier to be surrounded by a wonderful team who I get along with so well, they are very encouraging.
I am a bit homesick but there is no time to think about that. There is no time to do anything here, only time to submit to Him. If you wallow in anything or let your thoughts run, it will kill you. ( not to be to dramatic haha..but seriously).
We are going to the bush on Monday and I am ready to go. I'm getting more and more adjusted to the heat, and we all took our temperatures today and our natural body temperatures here are over 99. It heats everything up in you, it's almost to the point where you wonder how people can survive here. But actually, they don't usually come out in the hot part of the day- they nap, and so do we!
We are staying in the orientation house and so we have electricity now, and american food. It's hard for me to eat because it's so hot, so please pray for my appetite to increase.
I am having so much fun and I feel very alive and joyful.
You don't really appreciate the way water tastes until you feel like you will die without it, you don't appreciate sleep until you feel like you will collapse in exhaustion, and you don't appreciate rain until you live 48 hours in 110+ degree heat. When it rained last night we stood in it and rejoiced in it.
There will be struggles here but I am not using my own strength, but His. He has me on a crazy ride.
Please yarp that we will all be prepared to live in the bush, that we will stay in good health, and that the enemy will not get into our heads. We have to stay strong and I know we will. He wants us all here for a specific purpose. We have already seen an impact in the people we have contacted, and we know that nothing goes wasted when it is aimed at His glory.
I will post again as soon as I can, but I have no clue when that will be. I try hard not to think about home and my boyfriend and family, because it prevents me from being here and makes me very homesick. Contacting home and posting will be minimal so I can stay focused!
Peace be with you lovely readers, thank you for all that you give and support with :)
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