Boy its been a long time since my last update. Getting this school has been a pretty busy ordeal, and the times that I do have free time I usually just have little desire to type away on my computer. BUT, I guess this once I can cast my laziness aside and throw out a little update.
So, weve just entered our fith week of Harvest School 15. That means that by the weekend the school will be half over. Wow. Time here is a bit of an interesting phenomenon. The days usually feel like they take forever to end, but before I know it its already Sunday of the next week, and I have to stop and think, how did that week blow by so fast. The same is true for the months. Only being half way through the school feels like I still have an eternity left in Mozambique, not to mention the three weeks that I have planned in Mississippi, or wherever God decides to send me. But then I think about the fact that Ive been here since May, and I just have no idea how the months flew by so quickly. Quite often I think about all that Ive done in this last year. By the end of 2011 Ill have spent more of my year in Africa than the US. Ill have spent more nights in Mississippi than I slept in my own house. Ill have spent more time with the mangy dog that lives with us on the base than I have spent with my mother. This is all an exciting and scary idea at the same time. I love the fact that God is calling me to be here and across the world as a missionary for Him, but at the same time Im having to give up all these things that Ive been used to for all my life. Some of it is quite easy to give up. I don’t miss the lifestyle that says I have to be working or busy 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Life here is just so simple, and I have such fewer distractions that I can really focus on being in God’s presence as much as possible, if not all the time. I don’t miss money, or having the desire to buy every little gadget that comes out week after week. I think in the last 5 months Ive lived on something like 500 dollars. Money has become so much less an idol and worry for me while Ive been here, its great. Then there are the things that are becoming harder and harder to go without, the main one being my family. I get quite jealous (the good jealous) that I haven’t been able to be in their lives for the last few months, or even the few years that I was at school. I want nothing more right now than to give my mom the biggest hug in the world, or to speak to my dad about being a father, husband, and other manly things, or to talk to my brother about his relationships and desires, or ask my sister what God has been telling her to pursue with her life, and how excited she is to do it. They are all just so genuine, unique, and awesome. They have each been a special blessing in my life, teaching me about unique pieces of God’s character and helping me to develop mine. I know you guys are reading right now, so I want you to know, as God continues to call me out from my home and into the places He has for me, you guys will always be my biggest sacrifice, my sweetest offering that I have to offer Him. Nothing has ever nor ever will be as hard to lay down as time spent with you. Its only for Him that I could ever stand to make that sacrifice. I love all of you so much.
Well, that all went a completely different way that I originally planned, as tends to happen when we leave things in the hands of God. That’s another thing that I love so much being here, its so much easier to let the Holy Spirit lead when Im not planning every little detain of my life. Our last outreach was a pretty good example of that. If this is your first time hearing about the harvest school, one of its requirements is that students attend outreaches to the bush villages of Mozambique. These are the villages that are exactly what you imagine when someone says ‘African village.’ Everything is dirt, nearly all the huts are made out of bamboo, rocks, and mud, no one wears shoes, and what little clothing they have is tattered and worn, and many kids have probably never seen a white person in their lives. And so each weekend students drive hours on the back of flatbed trucks, along with Mozambican bible school students, to bring the love of Jesus to these remote villages. It is on these outreaches that students gain an understanding on the true dependency on God. We in western culture have such easy access to proper water, nutrition, and medical care, but here in the bush there is little infrastructure to handle these needs. Most people suffer from malnutrition, dehydration, and constant medical emergencies that are left to heal by time and time alone. And even though we have little to no way of communicating with these people, we simply pray and have faith that God will show up and meet their needs, and he always does so in astounding ways. From what I could decipher out of the chaos of our prayer meeting, our team saw God heal headaches, backaches, torn or strained muscles, blind or deteriorating eyes, and more. He also did many spiritual miracles, bringing several people into His kingdom, including a man who had followed Islam for all of his very long life, who felt the love of God and decided to commit his life to Jesus. Had we acted without the Holy Spirit, it would have taken several medical teams, evangelism classes, money, and months more time to meet the need that God can meet in mere seconds. He also showed His protection as we drove home last Saturday. In one bit of our journey, a nut came lose on the steering rod under one of our trucks, causing the passenger wheel to rotate freely and out of control. Our truck nearly flipped as our speeding camion swayed back and forth across the dirt road. That itself was a miracle, but then we were able to find the lost nut up the road, lift up the truck without a jack, and then fix the problem with a tent peg that a Mozambican just happened to be playing with since we left our camp. We were able to survive and then fix a major vehicle malfunction in the middle of the Mozambican wilderness in 15 minutes, with a two dollar piece of metal. He just continues to remind me that He is a faithful God that we can put our trust and desperation in.
The other way that He has been showing me how to follow Him is in worship times. It feels like Ive been taken to a whole new level in being able to lead people into intimate encounters with Him. And its nothing that I do, but only when I follow the leading of Holy Spirit, playing the chords or notes he tells me to play, singing the words I feel him putting on my heart, trusting him to create the atmosphere that he wants that people have received encounters and break through. That explanation doesn’t really do justice to what I really want to convey, but its really the best I can do through words on a page. I just have this desire to be able to lead people more and more into His presence, it’s a privilege that I love doing, and I cant wait where else He takes my music.
So, that seems like as good an update as I can give right now. Ill make sure to try and keep you guys updated about the things that will be happening here the next few weeks. If you guys could keep me in your prayers I would really appreciate it. I went through a pretty intense spiritual attack last Thursday as I was leading worship, like an intense aggravation and anger, but God has been teaching me not to fear the works and plans of the enemy, but to constantly remember that, even as Im on the frontlines of the battle as a worshiper, He has me in his hand, and He wont let me fall. Ask Him to give me a greater revelation on of the fear of the Lord, of his wisdom and understanding. I want to have more and more of His presence, listen to his voice, and cease to worry about the world, trusting Him with my every moment.
Miss you guys, only eight more weeks till Im back with you, ciao!
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