T Minus 39 Days!

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send? And who will go for us? And I said, here I am. Send me." ISAIAH 6:8

I never thought I would be answering the call of Isaiah 6:8 by going to Arusha, Tanzania this summer. Send me to Africa? I sure didn’t think so. It is amazing how God has changed my heart since the Beyond Atlanta initiative began in Northwest Atlanta Young Life last summer. The Lord continues to mold me as I am learning more each day about what it looks like when my desires and His desires start to align. I am going “Beyond Atlanta” in July and I am nervous as I will be out of my comfort zone like never before. I am a fairly picky eater. I have a thing about weird bathrooms. And, it is no news that I do not speak Swahili. Although I will admit I am not super excited about the food or the bathroom situation, I am eager about being stretched by having to communicate in alternate ways. It was St. Francis of Assisi who said, “Preach the Gospel at all times and, if necessary, use words.” I am looking forward to this summer with much anticipation as I will have the opportunity to share the message and nature of Christ in a non-verbal manner with my new friends in Tanzania. Our mission will be to walk along side of the Tanzanian Young Life leaders, mutually encouraging each other to reach kids for Christ through the ministry of Young Life. We will also be helping to build a medical clinic as well as assiting in some construction needs with Young Life Tanzania.

This may sound strange, but the people in Africa do not need me. I have been told that they have joy in their hearts like I have never seen before. Their smiles are contagious. One might ask how could they have such joy in their hearts given their circumstances and lack of resources? I propose it is because they know a secret- a secret I want to go discover for myself and come back and share with others. They bring a new meaning to the word faith when they have nothing else to rely on except the Lord to provide for their basic needs each day. I want a faith like this. And so, the prayer is this: that I would not come back with the same heart. By this I mean I want my faith to explode. I am going to Africa so I can learn from the people there and hopefully step out of the way and let Christ’s love shine through me. I am excited about the opportunity to serve on this mission trip and participate in the work projects, and in the process, I hope I can be an encouragement to all the new faces I meet along the way.

Please pray for this team of volunteers, for safety and health, and that we would grow together as a group and individually in our relationship with Christ.

PREPARING OUR HEARTS

We invite you to "post" anything here you'd like to share, aka. encouragement, thoughts, verses, prayers, etc... Our hope & prayer is that this "Blog" would serve to help record the story behind the awesome Journey the Lord has in store ahead of us, as we set out together this summer to serve Young Life's Mission in Arusha, Tanzania. While we're in Tanzania, we'll be posting "Trip Updates" on this page, to allow family & friends praying for us at home, to share this experience with us. Our Trip will leave out of Atlanta on July 14, & return on August 1. The bottom line is simple... this is God's movement, not ours... & He's going to use this Trip is going to change our lives forever.

KEEP PRAYING....

"If you CLING to your life, you will LOSE it, but if you GIVE it up for me, you will FIND it." MATTHEW 10:39

"But the one thing we can all agree, all faiths, all ideologies, is that GOD is with the Vulnerable and the Poor. GOD is in the Slums, in the cardboard boxes where the Poor play house... GOD is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives... God is in the Cries heard under the rubble of War... GOD is in the Debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and GOD is With Us... If We Are With Them." - Bono

"People ask me, "Doesn't it Paralyze you to walk so closely & intimately with Suffering?" "No," I tell them. "If I've learned anything from my time in AFRICA, it's that though the suffering is overwhelming, so too is the HOPE." - Jena Lee

"He is no fool who GIVES up what he cannot keep, to GAIN what he cannot lose." - Jim Elliott