the back story (africa part 1)

I had been on several mission trips and had wonderful experiences and really saw the Lord moving and working but I always had Africa in the back of my mind.  Several friends who had been there joked about 'getting bitten by the Africa bug' :-)  Many years ago when I was in a much different place in my relationship with the Lord and going through an extremely selfish phase, I was afraid to totally surrender to Him in fear that He would make me go to Africa and be a missionary and single for the rest of my life.  So I think in my closer, less-selfish relationship with Jesus going to Africa became a deep desire and not a scary thought. And so, 2 summers ago I had the opportunity to go to Zimbabwe with my old church to do a building project for a church there that we supported.  To say that it was a life-changing experience is an understatement.  My eyes were open to the love and power of God in a whole new way and I was 'bitten'.  God gave me a love and a heart for the African people that is sometimes hard to describe, and since that trip I have been hoping and praying that I would be able to go back. 


Fast-forward to December 2010: one Sunday night I stayed after community group to sit and talk with my friend Anna. I had been part of the group for months but this was the first time that we had just sat and talked and shared with each other.  I usually have a hard time opening up and really letting people know my heart and my struggles, to me its easier just to deal with it on my own.  But, in the last year and half I have learned that it is so much better to share your burdens and struggles with trusted friends even when it is hard.  So there I sat on Anna's couch pouring out my heart and tears and desires for marriage and children and feeling like I had nothing fun or exciting to look forward to.  Somewhere in the midst of our conversation, I mentioned Africa and wanting to go back someday and Anna said that her dad was taking a team from his church to Guinea-Bissau in a few months and I might be able to tag along.  I was definitely interested but in the back of my mind I assumed it wouldn't work out. 


In less than a week, Anna's dad contacted me and told me that there were some long-term missionary ladies that worked close by to the area that his team was going, who were always needing help, would I like to come??  I was blown away!!!  Still not seeing the Lord's hand in all of this, I called my friend Julianne who is preparing to go to Bolivia for full-time missions and she asked me "Is there any reason you wouldn't go?"  It was like a lightbulb went off in my head and I laughed out loud at myself and said no there's not!! Within a week later, my time off work was approved and I had a plane ticket with my name on it :-)  From that point on I had a supernatural peace that everything would work out.  My passport renewal went through within a week and a half and the Lord provided enough money through support raising and getting to work some overtime for me to pay for my plane ticket and all the shots I needed. 


Even as I sit here and replay all these steps in my mind, I am blown away by His love and mercy and provision!!  Jesus not only answered a prayer I hadn't even put into real thoughts or words, but He did it in a way that was way beyond "all I could ask or imagine".