Well, the time has come again to announce another trip. This one has a bit different story.
Many of you have followed my trips, and heard my stories. I’ve always felt confident in where I’ve been sent, and the timing has always been exactly as it was supposed to be. But I have to be honest, I don’t exactly know how to tell this story. I don’t know how to start or how to reveal how I'm feeling about this trip.
I guess I need to start by talking about how I’ve always felt about Africa. As a child, thinking about helping people, Africa was naturally what came to mind or was implied. It was all people seemed to talk about with serving overseas. It’s was were the greatest need seemed to be, the place where the most impact could be made, on and on and on. Africa was never what my heart wanted though. It seemed too vast. The need too great. And not only those two very big factors, … but Africa SCARED me. At a very young age I told God "never send me to Africa" It was the one place I told Him no about. You see where this is going, don't you... This summer I'm going to be working in Africa.
It all began last October. Ever since coming back from Vietnam my plan was to return there again the upcoming summer. But our plans are not His, are they? In October Jubilee Fellowship held their annual Global Launch. At the Launch, the speaker mentioned something about knowing the nation you’d be called to (implying a long term permanent calling) . And I remembering thinking, “I have yet to have ONE place that I’ve felt called to permanently, and actually I have yet to go back to a country twice, but that will finally be different when I go back to Vietnam.” The speaker went on, but eventually again, in her closing prayer asked that God reveal nations to those He was sending. “MOROCCO” popped into my head. And my next though was “MOROCCO?? SERIOUSLY??? Uh, no, not happening.” I then spend time logically explaining why it was not an option. 1. Africa.
2. I know no one there, I have no connections to that part of the world at all
3. I don’t even know any organizations that go there
4. I’m going back to Vietnam, no where else.
To me that was the end of the story, I put it from my head and moved on.
A month later I got a brochure from the organization I worked with last summer. It was titled “Help Pioneer New Projects in the Middle East” and I thought “Oh, not interested. I’m going back to Vietnam” but thought I’d read through it anyway. The first option was Egypt, sounded cool, but I still wasn’t interested. Next one.... Morocco. My stomach proceeded to drop to the floor and do a backflip or two. “Teach at a language center or university serving teenagers and adults in the beautiful costal city of Agadir.” This sounded like confirmation. Confirmation that I wasn’t looking for, and didn’t want.
At this point, God was starting to get through my thick head. But I wasn't quite ready to say yes. I've never been given a lot of confirmation for any of my trips, but this one I wanted more and some blatant reassurance. I decided not to tell anyone the name of this country as I was waiting for confirmation. Over November and December I saw Morocco pop up everywhere. It was used as an example in a class I was attending, it popped up on travel ads, and random people mentioned it. I finally decided that I was being stubborn in waiting for more clarity and admitted that God was sending me to Morocco.
I told the organization I’d be joining them at the beginning of January. And the rest of this month has been a process of wrapping my mind around it all.
These next 5 months are going to go quick. I’ll keep you guys updated when I know more and have some details. Thanks for your constant love and encouragement, my trips would not be possible without your support!
