I don't want to leave yall hanging (that is, if anybody even reads this...), but I can say this, to wrap up what I started. God used that trip in many different ways in my life. But I think that the biggest recurring theme of my trip was trust. God showed me how to trust Him over and over again. From before the beginning of the trip. Some of this, I've mentioned before, but I'll say it again because God used it to make an impact on my life.
Of course it started in the fall of 2009, when I refused to even consider going on the trip to South Africa in the first place. Then one day, something small inside me said "Go to Africa". Now I was actually thinking about it. I was miserable. I would go back and forth. I thought and prayed. And when I realized that I only had 1 little day to make this decision before the deadline to sign up for the trip, it was all even worse... At that point, I didn't even know how much money I'd need to raise, just that it was alot. Everything logical did not make sense. But, something in me didn't let go of it. And that something was God. Once I made the decision, complete peace washed over me.
Then I had $4000, immunizations, passport, and so many other preparations, but it was still alot of months away. The only one that really worried me was that big sum of money. And this is where God started telling me to just trust Him. He would provide it.
And He did. Every last bit.
Even after I got to Africa, the lessons about trust continued. Especially with the whole luggage issue.
Then in small ways, like when I had to sing at two different churches in Lehae and Kliptown and I had hardly any voice. I had to trust (yep, there's that word again). Maybe that seems small to most people, but I was pretty nervous and had to remember that God gave me my voice and I wasn't singing for myself, or the people in my crew, or even the South African people. Nope, I was singing for God. And any praises I sang to Him would be beautiful to Him. When I opened my mouth to sing, the notes just came out. I didn't feel like I had to strain anymore. Once again, God took care of me.
I also had to trust that He'd take care of the children that we'd grown to love so much: Amu, Naquanda, Lindewe, David...they all had become very special. I don't know how much they possibly could have understood about the gospel. They were so young. And they spoke different languages. But it wasn't MY job to make sure that they were saved. That was up to God. And I had the extreme privelege of getting to go there and proclaim His name to them for a short time. But that was only a small part of His plan for their lives and mine.
He taught me many other things while I was there and I had incredible experiences that I could go on and on about. But it's long past time to move on to the next thing that happened in my life. God's been growing me alot since last June and I have so much catching up to do.
But before I completely close out on the South Africa stuff, I have just a few of pictures:
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