Guess what. I’m not in Africa any more.

Take off has occurred, and I am somewhere over the Mediterranean Sea.  I have just left the airspace over Africa.

Honestly, I wasn’t prepared for this- leaving, that is.  Dawn kept asking me how I was doing over the last couple of days as we prepared to start our journey home, and my answer was always, “Fine. I am excited about whatever God has next for me.”

I am not fine.  I don’t understand it, but I have just left behind part of my heart and I am very sad.  I have waited 30 years to come to this place as a missionary, and now after 3 short weeks I must leave it behind.  Isn’t it just land, dirt, dessert…and souls…

Oh, the sweet people.  I feel like I have just been torn away from part of my family.  Pastors Peter and Carol, my new brother and sister, and the sweet intercessor ladies Mary, Esther, Jane, and Elizabeth saw us off at the airport.  They have prayed for me for three years, long before I ever met them, and I know they are praying for me now.  Elizabeth wrapped her shawl around me before I walked through security at the airport sending me home with Africa wrapped around me and what feels like her mantle of prayer.  Oh!  I love you, girls, and Peter, too!!  I’ll be back soon.  How awesome is God to allow us to meet part of our spiritual relatives that live a world away?  Tell me.  How much must He love me to introduce me to these wonderful believers? These people who love Him, and want more than anything, and I mean MORE than anything, to see lost souls saved and believers to love God more.  Thank you, Jesus!  You are so great!  You are so great to me!



Me and Pastor Carol

Oh, the sweet children.  I can’t stop thinking about those precious babies that live in the Mathare Junction.  “How are you?  How are you?” (Imagine hearing this in sing-song fashion, sounding like little Asian children.  Hilarious!)  It’s still ringing in my ears.  I see their hungry eyes and their curious smiles.  I feel their grasping touch, their longing for love and attention.  And I can see the precious little ones at the orphanage.  They make my heart happy.  They have been plucked from a desperate situation and are now being cared for and are learning about the love of Jesus with a bright and hopeful future.  God has BIG plans for that generation, BIG plans! His love reaches all the way to them, and He has made a way for them to know Him. I’ll be back soon, little children! 

Children at the orphanage

Praying with the children at the orphange

Dawn with children in Mathare slum

Amanda with children in Mathare slum

Oh, African church- sweet, seasoned worshippers and new believers.  I had such a wonderful time worshipping and ministering with you!  These are a hungry and believing people.  They worship fervently, pray fervently, and serve fervently.  They persevere through trials, and they are mighty warriors in spiritual battles.  Thank you for welcoming me into the fray with you, for allowing me to fight side by side with you.  I’ll be back!  But until then, I will be fighting with you from over the seas with my prayer and worship.

Women from Pastor Carol's church worshipping at the crusade

A wise woman once told me not to put my heart where it doesn’t belong.  So, I evaluate now if it was wise to take my heart, so vulnerable and tender, to a place like Africa.  A place so in need of Christ, a place where believers are so hungry to please God, a place with so much hurt, a place in need of so much love.  And I have found, and fully believe that God brought my heart here long before I arrived.  Isaiah 49:1-2, 5-6   Listen to me, distant nations, you people who live far away!  Before I was born, the Lord chose me and appointed me to be his servant.  He made my words as sharp as a sword.  With His own hand He protected me.  He made me like an arrow, sharp and ready for use.  Before I was born, the Lord appointed me: he made me his servant to bring back his people, to bring back the scattered people of Israel.  The Lord gives me honor: He is the source of my strength.  The Lord said to me, “I have a greater task for you, my servant.  Not only will you restore to greatness the people of Israel who have survived, but I will also make you a light to the nations- so that all the world may be saved.”  I am holding tight to this scripture, and as I meditate on it, I see more and more of God’s plan for me unfolding, and the view from here is amazing!

Oh, Africa, I miss you so much already!

Sweet family in America, I need your grace.  I don’t fully understand all this that I am feeling, and I am still waiting on God to reveal the next part of His plan.  I do know that I need you- I need you to hold me up and support me as I seek God and as I process all of these emotions and feelings.  You have helped to bring me to this place, you have helped to form who I am.  I draw strength from you, and courage from you, I draw resources and power from you.  I need you.  I love you!  My love for Africa and my desire to walk into my destiny in no way diminishes my love for you.  I love you!

These next few days will be nice.  I don’t go back to work until Monday, and I hope to send time downloading my thoughts and emotions.  I hope to be able to post some more specifics for you on how we distributed the resources that you all contributed for the trip- the monetary gifts as well as the toiletry and children’s items you gave.  One thing is for sure, mine and Dawn’s load is MUCH lighter on our journey home than it was on our way to Africa!  We took 300 pounds of lotion, soap, deodorant, coloring books, crayons, flip flops, hand sanitizer, clothes, toothpaste, toothbrushes, and candy.  All of this filled 6 duffle bags (50 pounds each)!!!  And we are returning with only a few souvenirs and gifts, our bibles, computers, cameras and a few personal items.  Everything else stayed behind to bless Pastor Carol and her church. 

I went to Africa to be a blessing.  I went to deposit the message God gave me into the lives of those I met in Africa.  I went to encourage and equip the African church.  I am returning blessed beyond measure, my heart overflowing.  I am returning enriched and my life forever changed.  I am returning stronger and more aware than ever before of the gifts deposited in me by God.

I praise you and thank you, Oh God, for all You have done and all You are going to do!  I praise and thank you, Oh God, for You are awesome and worthy to be praised!  I praise you and thank you, Oh God, for Your grace can not be measured, Your faithfulness is abounding eternally, and Your love is all I will ever need.  I love You!  I love YOU!  I love You (most!)