Others simply smile, but are thinking it.
Why are we going to Africa?
Why would we leave this life and all of the people that we love, even for a year, to go to Africa?
I asked the kids this question last week, and I planned to have a wonderful blog post with videos of each of them sharing why we were going and a little of their thoughts on the journey. As I recorded them though, it became obvious that they were misguided. They have heard us share about our trip last summer, and we have talked all about Africa in the months since, but we had missed a critical issue.
Our kids, each in their own way think that we are going to Africa to save people, not save souls for Jesus or anything, but to physically save people. Though on some level, we pray that we will be used to help save lives through education, prevention and treatment of malaria, that is not why we are going.
We thought it was cute when Brice was telling people that he was "skipping 3rd grade to be a doctor in Uganda," but until I listened to each of the kids separately tell me that they thought we would be rescuing Ugandans from themselves, from the lives that they are living, I didn't realize how self-centered and egocentric that viewpoint is.
Never once have I felt that the people of Uganda...or our homeless ministry...or any other stereotypical "least of these" groups...need to be saved. Even if they did, I would NOT be qualified, nor would Brice, although he may beg to differ.
We are going to Africa, to Uganda, to Healing Faith specifically, because that is where we were led. We are going to Uganda to see. We are going to learn. We are going because we don't know what lies in front of us in life, but we are confident in the One who does know.
We did not just decide one day that this is where life was going to take us. This couldn't have been farther from where I thought we were headed.
In all honesty, I thought we would get our finances in order, focus our lives on our marriage and our children and finally get to take family vacations every summer. That was the extent of my American dream. I dreamt of having a "family place", somewhere that we would go each year, maybe in Michigan, on the beach. Maybe we would throw in a trip to Disney every few years with friends to mix things up a bit. That is what I thought was in store.
Instead, God had plans to grow us into different people, into a different family.
So, when the call came several weeks ago about serving with Healing Faith, I had no idea if this was going to actually happen or if this was a conversation that wouldn't actually bear any fruit.
As the conversations gained momentum and this did actually seem like it was a real possibility, we were shown just how perfectly God had been planning this. The Segner Family (Directors of Healing Faith) planned to go on furlough a year ago, and it didn't work out at that time. It did lead to several individuals praying for a family to come alongside the Segners in ministry. Before we even knew that they existed, they were praying for us.
Then I was confronted with the same obstacle that I have battled my whole life. Finances. That right there could have put a halt to this whole thing, but again, as we prayed and talked and shared with friends, everyone was so confident that this was exactly the path we were to walk. Before our letter was even written asking for the financial support needed for this period of our life, people were asking if they could send us money. It blew me away. You see, God had been at work in their hearts and in their lives, too. Before we even knew this opportunity existed, before they knew that we would be asking them to surround us as the Body of Christ, God was preparing the way.
We sent out letters to about 200 people. One arrived the day after some friends received an unexpected tax return. God was at work. They asked to be one of our cornerstone sponsors.
"The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." Deuteronomy 31:8
We are going to Africa to see what God is doing. We are going to learn about the people and the culture. We pray to do good while we are there, but more than anything, we pray to be molded and shaped by our experiences. We walk in obedience where He leads because He has proven to us over and over again that the paths we walk in life are preparation for what is to come.
Tonight we will begin a special time with the kids where we can talk about Africa and prepare our hearts and minds as a family for the journey ahead. We are hoping that this can become an intentional, weekly gathering and that we have the opportunity to teach the kids about all the ways that Uganda may actually save us.
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