Jason and I both really like to be involved in physical activities. What I mean is we are good at assessing an area and finding out the need and then putting into action what steps to take to fix that need. Then their are other times where there is not a need but an opportunity to show a person or group of people that we care about and immediately we brainstorm with the Bethany interns and Jaco and set up a function. Always the function involved food! It is amazing how much time and effort goes into preparing meals here bc there is no grocery store to go to buy packaged food where you just have to heat up and serve. We really like to always have meat in the meals bc it is a rare luxury that most people dont get to partake in because of how expensive it is. Last Christmas we grilled meat for 80 orphan children where I am positive that there were those that have never eaten meat before that day. If we are going to eat meat that means there is slaughtering, removing skin, cutting through bones, and then the actual grilling all invovled.
We recently cooked a lunch for all the class 8 Students at a school here. We slaughtered 3 goats, washed and sliced 40 Kgs (88 pounds) of potatos, 20 pounds of tomatoes, 20 pounds of green peppers and 20 pounds of onions were all chopped to make kachunbari. There are days that I am here in Africa and I just feel blah. It is amazing when you do an act of kindness for someone all the focus gets off of yourself and you feel good and satisfied at the end of the day. As we thanked God for the food before eating with the class 8 boys and girls I quickly looked around the room and noticed all the muslims staring straight ahead at the wall. I talked to one of the students after and she told me the muslims are respectful when christians pray before eating and remain quiet even if they don't agree. It was interesting for me to observe.
Now even though showing people God's love through serving and helping is a great thing, there is times that God might have a different plan. This sounds so strange because I can think to myself of course God would always want me to help, serve, love right? The answer is maybe yes but I won't know for sure unless I ask Him. Here on the missionfield it is so essential to go to the Lord with everything. It can be a tempatation to recieve glory and the thanks of doing an act when God deserves that. People will look up to us and verbally say praise to us and that is precisly why I need to be spending time with God to not become prideful. It easy to slowly get the mentality that I have all this to offer and I am this great person when truth is I am a sinner and deserve death. The only reason why I am here in Africa is because of Jesus. The only reason why I have life and breath is because I am God's creation and child. Even though the days when their is a lot of productivity and service it cannot even compare to the time spent in prayer and learning from my Savior. I do not take it for granted that although I am surrounded in an Islamic city I am free to worship and pray with other believers. This is when we go before the father and remember our purpose. And It is not about doing good stuff
Jason and I both really like to be involved in physical activities. What I mean is we are good at assessing an area and finding out the need and then putting into action what steps to take to fix that need. Then their are other times where there is not a need but an opportunity to show a person or group of people that we care about and immediately we brainstorm with the Bethany interns and Jaco and set up a function. Always the function involved food! It is amazing how much time and effort goes into preparing meals here bc there is no grocery store to go to buy packaged food where you just have to heat up and serve. We really like to always have meat in the meals bc it is a rare luxury that most people dont get to partake in because of how expensive it is. Last Christmas we grilled meat for 80 orphan children where I am positive that there were those that have never eaten meat before that day. If we are going to eat meat that means there is slaughtering, removing skin, cutting through bones, and then the actual grilling all invovled.
We recently cooked a lunch for all the class 8 Students at a school here. We slaughtered 3 goats, washed and sliced 40 Kgs (88 pounds) of potatos, 20 pounds of tomatoes, 20 pounds of green peppers and 20 pounds of onions were all chopped to make kachunbari. There are days that I am here in Africa and I just feel blah. It is amazing when you do an act of kindness for someone all the focus gets off of yourself and you feel good and satisfied at the end of the day. As we thanked God for the food before eating with the class 8 boys and girls I quickly looked around the room and noticed all the muslims staring straight ahead at the wall. I talked to one of the students after and she told me the muslims are respectful when christians pray before eating and remain quiet even if they don't agree. It was interesting for me to observe.
Now even though showing people God's love through serving and helping is a great thing, there is times that God might have a different plan. This sounds so strange because I can think to myself of course God would always want me to help, serve, love right? The answer is maybe yes but I won't know for sure unless I ask Him. Here on the missionfield it is so essential to go to the Lord with everything. It can be a tempatation to recieve glory and the thanks of doing an act when God deserves that. People will look up to us and verbally say praise to us and that is precisly why I need to be spending time with God to not become prideful. It easy to slowly get the mentality that I have all this to offer and I am this great person when truth is I am a sinner and deserve death. The only reason why I am here in Africa is because of Jesus. The only reason why I have life and breath is because I am God's creation and child. Even though the days when their is a lot of productivity and service it cannot even compare to the time spent in prayer and learning from my Savior. I do not take it for granted that although I am surrounded in an Islamic city I am free to worship and pray with other believers. This is when we go before the father and remember our purpose. And It is not about doing good stuff
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