African Calling

As I sit in my room here at college, I find my heart wandering to the people and places whose photos fill the otherwise bare walls.  Moments that captured my breath away as I reflect on things like flying around Mount Everest, watching sunsets on the shores of beautiful Thai beaches or that sense of ‘being home’ that unexpectedly went through my body as my feet once again, took their first step back on the red African Soil.  

Greater still, my heart is drawn to the faces of those in the photos.  People who have, and continue to, inspire my own life simply by living theirs.  From photos of my parents and I at my last college grad, to the birth announcement welcoming my, now 7 month old, nephew into the world.  From friends that I have grown up with, to those I met in college and who have walked with me since, regardless of where they are in the world.  A group photo of friends I went to visit in St. Louis 2 years ago, two of whom I literally traveled the world with together, remind me of a friendship bond that is not easily broken.  R squad on the World Race at the start of our month three in Romania, surrounded by faces of kids that I met while on the race itself, along with a photo of myself and two of my best buds during our evening of bar ministry Christmas Eve 2013 in Thailand.

I find my eyes looking at the photo next to it.  In it, is a group of local girls.  In the span of 6 months, they have totally changed my life.  Who are they? If you look past the silly glasses and dollar store props, you will see.  You will see that they are my Sr. Youth small group.  This is the group who I get the honour (and joy) of seeing every week during youth nights and sometimes, on the weekends for coffee.  As they’ve opened up and have shared with me, God has done something in my heart in the last 6 months that I never thought possible.  Instead of praying “God break my heart for what breaks yours when I travel overseas”, I find myself daily praying, “Thank you Lord, for ‘breaking my heart’ in the here and now. Thank you for allowing my eyes to be opened in which they (my eyes) have been closed to for so very long. May they see YOU and not me and may they see YOUR Truth and experience YOUR Freedom”.    

Finally, my eyes rest on a photo of me next to a young girl.  The smiles on our faces, speak to the amount of joy I felt (and still feel) within my heart when that photo was taken nearly 3 years ago.    It was at the end of my first mission’s trip to Seeds of Hope Children’s Ministry in Zambia, Africa.  It was my first trip to Grace Academy and I knew as soon as I arrived there, that it would not be my last and that this was only the start of an incredible chapter that God was writing within my life.  Words seem to escape me, as my heart BEAMS with excitement and anticipation as I am trying to properly figure out how to best describe the journey that God has laid before me.  It is a journey I thought would never happen and it came in a point in my life that cannot be described as anything but God’s GOOD and PERFECT timing.  That, when scripture talks about Him knowing our hearts and desires, He truly does.  He truly answers them and provides beyond our (my) expectations each and every time.

God is calling me back to Seeds of Hope Children’s Ministry, a Canadian organization based out of British Colombia.  They run two children homes for HIV/AID affected/infected children (orphans), one in Thailand and one in Zambia, Africa.  It is the one in Zambia that captured my heart in 2011 and opened up a world of possibilities before me.

This May, I will be returning to these children and young teens in Zambia, Africa for three months.  I have said “yes” to a temporary teaching position that allows me (by the Grace of God) to also complete a much needed, international practicum for my TESOL (Teaching English as a Second Language) B.A at Providence University College. Along with teaching 15 hours of English a week, I will also be teaching 10 hours of Computer skills to the older students.  Through teaching English and computer skills, my hope (and prayer) is that I am able to help ‘equip’ these young people for a better chance at getting into and excelling at, post-secondary education.  Like many developing countries, being born with HIV or losing both parents to death in Africa, is a ‘death sentence’.  Seeds of Hope Children’s Ministry has given/continues to give the children they take in, a fighting chance in this world, through providing basic health needs, a safe place to live, medical treatment and a North American education.  I am honoured to join in the amazing work that God is doing through them, in Zambia.

Join with me?

(continue to watch/follow this blog as I will be updating ways in which you can help donate financially-since what I am doing is all support raised (tax charitable), and through your prayers.  I need your help and I know I cannot do this alone).