Mozambique Update

Well it has been a couple weeks now and so much is happening that I am struggling to find all the words to express and explain it. Thirty minutes on the Internet is not that much time:) so please bear with me as I try to get it all on here as quickly as possible.
My weeks are SUPER full and they are very beautiful.
Multiple times a day I am filled with joy and thankfulness about being here. It is a wave of joy that comes when I sit in the prayer gazebo, dancing in church, eating dinner next to Carlito, seeing Manuel's smile, or laughing with the iris girls.
I am filled with thanksgiving!!!
So thank you for your prayers and support. I continue to notice God's good gifts that cam through all of you!
There have been hard moments and lots of tears moments- but that is just a part of life on this side of heaven. I'm sure there will be moments where I share about specific stories, kids, or just the ins and outs of my routine here, BUT today I want to just be bold with my words and share what God is doing in my heart.
My prayer as I write is that God would stir up your spirit so that you eagerly set your hope in him and that you would know his great love FOR YOU!

If you journey with me on a regular basis you already know that the past couple years have been a struggling season. Before I left for Pemba I was reading through some old journals and altered books and I came across a page that said “Shake what is shakable in my life.” And God has been answering that prayer in my life. I notice how he has broken me down and left me with only a foundation: Jesus Christ!

I knew that God was inviting me into a season of restoration and being built up IN HIM and FOR HIM.

These past couple weeks I have been noticed how God is re-installing foundational truth in me. I have been asking that God would allow the truths to seep deep into my being so that they become part of me.

You haven’t really learned something until you can walk in it. So that is my prayer that God would continue to teach me and that I would come back to TN and be fleshing it out through my life.

In the beginning of my time here God continued to ask me if I trusted him. He did this in multiple different ways but mostly by brining up subjects in my heart where I had really tried to control on my own. He has continued to bring up these subjects and gently asked me if I would lay them down and trust him more.

All of that sounds simple, but in it is also central to a believer being fully about Jesus and his kingdom. Without trust there is no being in love with God. And without love there is no willing sacrifice.

And that is my desire,

to be a living sacrifice.

I am living in more and more joy while being here. There are hard moments, but I am just pressing into them with Jesus. I know that every moment is a chance to grow and be prepared for the next season of my life.

Last weekend I went on IMMERSION. Emersion is when three mission school students get dropped off at a Mozambican mama’s house.  This was a funny experience and I left with so many stories. We got to Mama Senea’s house around noon. We ate, prayed, and played with lots of children. All of her extended family came by to meet the visitors who were staying with her. As villagers passed here house they all yelled “Akoonya, Akoonya!” (Which means “white person, white person”). Out mama spoke Makua, which none of us did: ) so it was a wonderful cross cultural experience. I learned so much! I learned some small Makua phrases, how to cook over hot coals with no water, how to cook rice in coconut milk, and so much more. We just sat in the red dirt together and became friends. That night, all of us slept in the same little room that was attached to the side of her mud house. I slept on top of a tarp on the ground right next to my mama. The students ended up waking up around one in the morning because we were covered in tiny black ants that were biting us. I just laughed: ) cause what else can you do with something like that. We brushed them off and prayed together and just tried to get some sleep. The whole point of the experience is that you get immersed in Mozambican culture. I wouldn’t say I was immersed but I would say I was stretched and I learned a lot from a Mama Senea.

Thank you all for your continual prayers.

I struggle a little with these updates because there is just so much happening that I do no know what to share or what not to share.

Please pray that Mozambique is covered in peace. There has been some violence concerning that upcoming elections. On Sunday night, Iris starts a 24hour prayer vigil for the country.  I have had no fear about being here! God is so good and I am thankful to be here during this time: )

Please pray that I would continue to notice what God is teaching me and where he is leading me.

And please pray that I would continue to be centered on Jesus and willing to receive whatever he chooses to give me.

Much love! Cannot wait to hug you all!