It's been a tough and very emotional week for me. There are several reasons for this...not the least of which is just the realization that I'm going back to a place that had such an influence on my heart last year. I'm eager to return. Eager to have a separation from Dallas. Eager to experience what God is going to do in and through our team. That seems really self-focused...but I know the truth. Though we are building a clinic and going to serve a community in need, we will be far more changed than they.
Our team of 14 (minus 2 already in Africa and 1 who was out of town) gathered last Sunday for team-building, most of which was a high ropes course. I usually love this stuff. This time I was terrified. Talk about out of my comfort zone! There's lots that could happen to me in Africa that would be nothing compared to the sheer terror I felt swinging 15 feet above the ground (yes, I was harnessed in...that didn'
t seem to calm my fears) and having no idea how to move forward or backward. These photos make it look easy!I'm super grateful we had that time together. I'm excited for what lies ahead for us, as a team and individually. I know when we return to Dallas we'll be closer than we could have imagined.
So, just a few minutes ago, and what inspired this post, was an e-mail from Wes, our team leader, asking a much larger audience for donations of tools that the young adults team has suggested we bring along: claw hammers, stone hammers (with hammer on one side and chisel on the other), trowels for brick laying, and levels. Hmm...most of these tools, I've never used in my life...OK, I've never used any of those tools. :) But what accompanied the request was this photo with Deo (head of Alarm Burundi) wearing a Journey t-sh
irt, and alongside the man laying the brick is the Governor of the province. A Watermark team spent time with him on their last trip in March. Seeing this photo made it so real. It also answered a lot of questions... but more than anything, it's real. That's the clinic. That's a wall. And there's another wall in the background. Those are bricks! Yes, we are building a medical clinic!
And after my last post something else happened that I wanted to share here as well. Our deadline for fundraising was a few weeks ago. They wanted to make sure we had everything covered well before the trip. Any extra that came in after that would actually go to relieve some personal expenses for shots and prescription meds and anything above and beyond that would be put towards the cost of building this clinic ($60,000 American). Out of the blue one day...not long after I'd been praying that God would provide for my own needs in order to pay all my bills before leaving the country...I got a check in the mail. It was from a sweet friend from a bible study group we were in a few years ago. We hardly ever see each other...mostly just in passing, if we're lucky. But the letter enclosed with the check said, "We wanted to support your trip to Africa! (I meant to send this a month ago)...." As I pondered God's provision...and remembered that all my expenses were covered, including my shots and meds...I realized it's not just ME and my team going to Africa to build a clinic. WE are building a medical clinic. All of us. Every person who gave to my trip and to every other team member who is going or who is already there. Hundreds and hundreds of friends, relatives, and neighbors came together, mostly sliently, to support our trips and to help build a medical clinic. If you gave one dollar or prayed one time, just look at those bricks being laid in Burundi. You are building a medical clinic!
Thank you for sending me. Thank for the privilege of going. I know I will never be the same.
1 comment:
Hi sweet friend! I love your writing :)I sit here and tears well up in my eyes. I am so glad to be a part of this journey with you and will commit to praying for you, the team and those whose hearts and lives will be changed. You are a blessing to me and I know you will be to everyone there as well.
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