"Open the eyes of my heart Lord. Open the eyes of my heart. I want to see YOU. I want to see YOU."
That is exactly what the Lord did these past two weeks. He opened the eyes of my heart to things I've never seen before and things that I have never experienced.
First, He opened my eyes to poverty.
First, He opened my eyes to poverty.
The first night we arrrived we went into the town for supper, but when as we were driving there, a couple of kids came up to our car window and started begging for money. That was sooo hard to see and then drive away from. That was my first exposure to poverty. Then again at the schools and villages. Many of the kids that I saw and held in the villages, (Jembo and Jalilia) were either sick or malnourished, and you could see a lot of yellow in their eyes. Little did I know until AFTER the trip was that about 80 percent of Zambians live on 2 dollars a day, which is less than 1,000 dollars a year. We heard when we were there that Zambia is one of the poorest countries in Africa.
I've never seen anything like it. It's just different. Walking more than a mile sometimes for clean water. Living in a house made of clay. Hole in the ground toilets. Kids running around with a million holes in their shirts and pants. Kids covered in dirt with snot running down their noses. Kids just really yearning for someone to play with them, hold their hand, or let them sit on your lap. These kids and adults, although they had next to nothing, were the happiest people and most welcoming people I I've have ever seen and met. Their smiles are contagious. Their laughs are contagious. With the kids... I just wanted to take every single one of them home with me.
I've never seen anything like it. It's just different. Walking more than a mile sometimes for clean water. Living in a house made of clay. Hole in the ground toilets. Kids running around with a million holes in their shirts and pants. Kids covered in dirt with snot running down their noses. Kids just really yearning for someone to play with them, hold their hand, or let them sit on your lap. These kids and adults, although they had next to nothing, were the happiest people and most welcoming people I I've have ever seen and met. Their smiles are contagious. Their laughs are contagious. With the kids... I just wanted to take every single one of them home with me.
Secondly, He opened my eyes to where I find my joy.
Is my joy completely found in The Lord, or is it found in materialistic things? It's easy to be joyful about material things... but having joy in the Lord is way more important. I realized that while material things are good... they also don't really matter. These kids had hardly anything, but yet they had like exploding amounts of joy. What really convicted me, was when I heard that some of the village kids can't even go to school because they don't have pencils to use. That really made me think of my own life. One... do I take things for granted, or am I thankful continuously? Two... why don't I have an exploding joy for the Lord? I want to be like these children. I want to be joyful. My joy in the Lord needs to abound.
Is my joy completely found in The Lord, or is it found in materialistic things? It's easy to be joyful about material things... but having joy in the Lord is way more important. I realized that while material things are good... they also don't really matter. These kids had hardly anything, but yet they had like exploding amounts of joy. What really convicted me, was when I heard that some of the village kids can't even go to school because they don't have pencils to use. That really made me think of my own life. One... do I take things for granted, or am I thankful continuously? Two... why don't I have an exploding joy for the Lord? I want to be like these children. I want to be joyful. My joy in the Lord needs to abound.
Thirdly, He opened my eyes to a new way to worship.
Africans don't worship the way that we do, and that's probably a good thing. They don't just stand, raise their hands sometimes, and sing. Man, I am telling you... African church is a party. The way that they worship is very passionate and the church service lasts forever. I've never felt the presence of the Lord more strongly than in African church. Also, when they pray... they pray at the same time. People don't take turns praying. It's just all individual prayers being prayed at once. At first, I was a little uncomfortable with it. But now, I kind of like it. No one can hear your prayers, but you can hear everyone talking in the building talking at once. All praying to the same Father above. And also, when they worship... they raise their hands, yell, jump, dance... it's pretty amazing. I wish I had that passion for the Lord like they do. Also, these people KNOW their Bible. They don't just read the Bible sometimes. They read it ALL the time. I realized on this trip, how important it is to abide in Him. Not sometimes, but continuously.
I just can't help but think about Heaven. How joyous will it be when we are worshipping the Lord together with our brothers and sisters in Christ in Heaven. Every nation. Every tongue. We will all be together. And I think that's why it was a "little" easier for me to leave. Even if I never see my brothers and sisters again in Zambia... I will see them in Heaven. I remember when we left, one of the single men said, "See you in Heaven my sister." TEARS.
Africans don't worship the way that we do, and that's probably a good thing. They don't just stand, raise their hands sometimes, and sing. Man, I am telling you... African church is a party. The way that they worship is very passionate and the church service lasts forever. I've never felt the presence of the Lord more strongly than in African church. Also, when they pray... they pray at the same time. People don't take turns praying. It's just all individual prayers being prayed at once. At first, I was a little uncomfortable with it. But now, I kind of like it. No one can hear your prayers, but you can hear everyone talking in the building talking at once. All praying to the same Father above. And also, when they worship... they raise their hands, yell, jump, dance... it's pretty amazing. I wish I had that passion for the Lord like they do. Also, these people KNOW their Bible. They don't just read the Bible sometimes. They read it ALL the time. I realized on this trip, how important it is to abide in Him. Not sometimes, but continuously.
I just can't help but think about Heaven. How joyous will it be when we are worshipping the Lord together with our brothers and sisters in Christ in Heaven. Every nation. Every tongue. We will all be together. And I think that's why it was a "little" easier for me to leave. Even if I never see my brothers and sisters again in Zambia... I will see them in Heaven. I remember when we left, one of the single men said, "See you in Heaven my sister." TEARS.
And lastly, He opened my heart more to missions.
You know, I didn't think that my heart for missions could grow any more. But it did. This trip topped it all. I literally could have just stayed there and been perfectly fine with that. But God grew my heart for those who don't know the Lord... He really grew compassion in my heart on this trip. I want to hold the hand of the fatherless. I want to walk along side of those who don't feel loved. I want to spread His name across the world.
Also, God really assured me in this next phase of my life. He assured me in my decision to go to Moody... even though God really just told me to go there. So I am going out of obedience. But I really do feel peace about it now. God let me know that it will be okay. He also grew my heart for Africa... who knows, maybe I will be a missionary there someday.
I'm not one to read the Bible every day. Shocking I know. I am the kind of girl who reads it maybe twice a week... including church. This trip really convicted me of that. How am I going to spread the Word if I don't know the Word? <3 I've been changed in other ways... believe me. But that's the main one.
You know, I didn't think that my heart for missions could grow any more. But it did. This trip topped it all. I literally could have just stayed there and been perfectly fine with that. But God grew my heart for those who don't know the Lord... He really grew compassion in my heart on this trip. I want to hold the hand of the fatherless. I want to walk along side of those who don't feel loved. I want to spread His name across the world.
Also, God really assured me in this next phase of my life. He assured me in my decision to go to Moody... even though God really just told me to go there. So I am going out of obedience. But I really do feel peace about it now. God let me know that it will be okay. He also grew my heart for Africa... who knows, maybe I will be a missionary there someday.
Now what? I'm home. How will this change me personally?
I think the main thing that I will change in my life is making a time to spend with the Lord daily.I'm not one to read the Bible every day. Shocking I know. I am the kind of girl who reads it maybe twice a week... including church. This trip really convicted me of that. How am I going to spread the Word if I don't know the Word? <3 I've been changed in other ways... believe me. But that's the main one.
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