Dumela! (That is pronounced doo-may-luh and means “hello” is Sesotho, the language I learned in South Africa) I hope this letter finds you well and brings just another smile to your face.
I wanted to give you a brief update of my trip and to share with you what the Lord has taught me since. (Well, as brief as I get in a letter like this after a trip like this...) So hold on tight and bear with me; if nothing else, hopefully this letter will tide you over until we can meet face to face and have the opportunity to talk in more detail.
To say the trip to South Africa was incredible is a grand understatement so let me put it this way, I tried really hard not to but I grew some very large expectations for this trip and God just took those desires and went above and beyond. It’s like I was expecting some shiny bronze but instead the Lord gave me pure gold. (Isaiah 60:17) For example, I knew I would learn a ton from this experience, but in my journaling I have filled almost a quarter of a journal with thoughts and memories from the trip, and the new things I am learning just keep coming. Also, I knew I was going to meet some incredible, life changing people but I never thought the Lord would bless me with such refreshing, beautiful friendships with the people I served and served alongside.
And maybe the most frighteningly exciting thing I learned is that I am hopelessly and wonderfully addicted to experiencing other cultures so unlike mine and serving in those new environments. Let me just say, I have already begun to look at the next adventure God might have for me but at this point I have no idea where or what but maybe some orphanage work next summer. It was those beautiful kids that stole my heart while I was in South Africa and I think a summer serving God’s children could be an awesome opportunity to learn more about myself and this God I serve. I have so much more to say and more stories to share but I will save that for a conversation I hope to have with you very soon!
If you would like to join me, I have been praying and meditating daily on the life that God is calling me to, the life of a follower of Christ that is repeated over and over again in the gospels. I have come to see how the life I was living was my own version of the gospel that I created from the bits and pieces of the Bible that I liked while I discarded the parts that made me uncomfortable. My prayer is that I would not grow comfortable in living a selfish, all-American life but would constantly seek to serve others including the poor and ignored and also strive to know Christ better and follow Him daily. I pray that I can better understand how to be a living sacrifice for Him (Romans 12:1-2) and to take up my cross and follow (Matt 16:24-27).
Ke a leboha! (Again, that is some more Sesotho for you, and it means thank you.) And I really do mean it! I couldn’t have gone on this trip without your prayers and help and so I will be forever grateful that you allowed the Lord to work in my life through your giving. It brings tears to my eyes just typing this and I wish I could thank you face to face but I will just have to be satisfied with this until I can tear up and say these words to you in person: Thank you, thank you, thank you.