When living your dream fades into a memory…

    I’m in Africa. I constantly have to remind myself of this fact. Often times I look around and can not believe that I am actually here, living out my dream. I find myself wondering, “who does this?” And then I look at the people I am surrounded by, my teammates, and can not believe that thirty-eight other people are crazy enough to come to Africa with a group of strangers. The peculiar thing about it is that we have become family. I can, in all honesty, say that I love these people. I had no idea that my heart could hold so much love for so many individuals after knowing them for a mere three and a half months. It is amazing what can happen and how God can work in such a short time.    
    Last semester I was surrounded with some of the most beautiful people I have ever met. I made some of the best friends of my life and God truly forged a family among a team of broken, ragamuffin individuals. I wish I would have better chronicled my adventures from last semester so that you could get a glimpse into the hearts of my “African” family. It is my goal to be better at this whole blogging thing, and I’ll attempt to give you memories from what has past. I apologize for not keeping you as updated as I should. I struggle with putting into words the things I have experienced.
    For a bit of an update as to what is happening now now (as we say here in Africa), our big team of thirty-eight split into our three locations: Jeffrey’s Bay, Swaziland and Port Elizabeth, for out January to May term. Saying goodbye was hard. Harder than I ever expected. I said goodbye to my friends, roommates, ministry partners, those that made me laugh in the middle of the night, people I could cry with, the people that pushed me… my family. It was hard, but God is good. I am proud of my brothers and sisters and I know that God is using them.
     After heart-rendering goodbyes, our little J-Bay team waited for our leaders and four teammates to come back from Christmas break. It was a breath of fresh air when they finally arrived. Since then, we have been bonding as a small team of twelve (awaiting Beth… our thirteenth). We have had the ease of jumping back into ministry and have been getting into the groove of a new schedule. It’s been great being back in ministry with my kids at Joshua Project and now I have the opportunity to do house visits, which has been amazing. 
    So, I’m living my dream… it is strange to think that now half of it a faded into a memory. LIfe is so short- I’ve spent so much of my life dreaming of being in Africa… and here I am! Half of it is faded… I can not believe how fast this time is fading by. Fading. Fading. That is exactly what this time is doing. I want to make the most of every moment. I want time here to count. I want the Kingdom to be revealed.
    Please be praying for the time that we have left here. Please pray for my leaders, Amber and Aaryn, and my team, Samantha, Beth, Brittany, Ashley, Bri, Megan, Faith, Alexis, Andrea and Ellen. Please pray for unity, creativity, a sense of urgency and for profound love to be poured out among us. Pray that we may proclaim the gospel fearlessly as we should. Pray that we would not tire of repetition in our ministries but that we would pour our hearts out in every moment. Pray that we would live our dreams before our time here fades away…