Wow...It's been a while. I would like to finish up my story about getting to Africa so I can tell you about Africa and what God did while we were there... So in a nut shell...
The night we dreamed up this crazy dream Liv sent an email to a man by the name of Chris Gates. Chris is the founder of JBFC which is a girls home outside of Mwanza, Tanzania. She emailed Chris and asked him about the possibility of us coming to spend Christmas there. The team Liv was just with in Africa had visited the girls home one afternoon, but Liv was unable to go because she was sick. So pretty basically we sent an email to a guy... that we didn't really know... half-way around the world... and asked if we could spend Christmas at his house! Wow... That sound's a whole lot more crazier now, then it did at that point in time! :)
Both Liv and I went to bed praying that night that God would move and open doors if it was His will for us to go to Africa. Our prayer was that Chris would respond positively to our inquiry if it was something we needed to pursue. In the mean time we were trying to find the best way to discuss this with our parents... The next morning Liv and I were both at the church doing... only God knows what! We were in her mom's office so she decided to test the waters and mention our thoughts. She was all about us going to Africa until she heard the word "Christmas." I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure her response was "absolutely not! Christmas is family time." We moved to the next office where my mom was. We gave our same little spill and just like Liv's mom, my mom was all about it until Christmas was mentioned. The excitement drained instantly from my body and I must be honest, I pretty much lost all hope. For the next 30 minutes or so Liv and I stared at each other trying to figure things out. Why did we feel so strong about this trip, but yet we felt like we hit a HUGE brick wall. I walked out of the office to do something and I came back to Liv reading an email on her phone with a big smile on her face. When she was done reading it she hopped up, grabbed me by the arm and pulled me into the next room. What in the world is going on?!? Little did I know that God was moving...
Once she collected herself she began to read me the email. As she read I went into a state of unbelief. I was shocked. I was so shocked that still to this day I really can't remember exactly what the email said, but I knew it was God's assurance that we were on the right track. The email was a reply to our inquisition to Chris about spending Christmas at the girls home. He pretty much told us we would be an answer to prayers if we would be there at Christmas. We were really excited, but we still weren't sure if this would help us any with our parents. We returned to the office and proceeded to read the email to both of our moms. Their attitudes went from absolutely not to maybe you girls are on to something.
Over the next few weeks our parents heard our desire to spend Christmas being the hands and feet of Christ and they realized that God was all over this. We began to make plans and dream about the thing we could do.
Needless to say the next few months were crazy. We realized that we each had to raise over $4,000...during the Christmas season...when the economy was at it's worst. All I have to say is that what looks impossible to man, is possible with God. God showed Himself over and over and over again.
I vividly remember knelling at the alter with Liv one Sunday morning because we absolutely had to buy our plane tickets within the next 24 hours and we didn't have the money. To my best knowledge neither one of us spoke a word to anyone about it, but God provided...That night we bought our plan tickets.
One week before we left I had to get my shots and buy my malaria prevention medicine. It ended up being twice as much money than we had budgeted and I didn't know how I was going to replace the extra money I had to use. The next day I was eating lunch at a restaurant and went to get my wallet out to pay and found a wad of cash in the bottom of my purse and still to this day I have no clue where it came from. Later that afternoon I received a Christmas card in the mail from an old friend in a different state and there was a check in there. I added the cash amount and the check amount together...It replaced the extra money I had to use on medicine to the penny. It seemed like everyday the devil would throw another expense at us, but everyday God threw back. Liv and I could tell story after story of how God not only provided, but how He gave us an abundance in which we could minister with. He indeed showed Himself as Jehovah Jireh.
One week before we left I had to get my shots and buy my malaria prevention medicine. It ended up being twice as much money than we had budgeted and I didn't know how I was going to replace the extra money I had to use. The next day I was eating lunch at a restaurant and went to get my wallet out to pay and found a wad of cash in the bottom of my purse and still to this day I have no clue where it came from. Later that afternoon I received a Christmas card in the mail from an old friend in a different state and there was a check in there. I added the cash amount and the check amount together...It replaced the extra money I had to use on medicine to the penny. It seemed like everyday the devil would throw another expense at us, but everyday God threw back. Liv and I could tell story after story of how God not only provided, but how He gave us an abundance in which we could minister with. He indeed showed Himself as Jehovah Jireh.
A year ago today we touched down in Nairobi, Kenya for three weeks that changed us forever. Over the next three weeks I hope to reflect upon those memories and share how God is still using them to teach me even today.
Pressing On.
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