"Zsia" (Hi or Greetings) in Hungarian!!! I am so sorry that it has taken me this long to write another blog post. I feel like my life is flying by me and I am holding on for dear life trying not to miss a moment of it! As many of you know, I am back in America. These past 6 months have been amazing. So much has happened since my last blog post. I guess I should start from where I left off and end with what is next in my life! Stay tuned people.....
Africa:
While in Africa, we knew we would have to be very flexible. That definitely was put to the test in our last couple of weeks there. We had to be ready at any second to either get up and go somewhere, share a message or a testimony at any given time, or have to wait an hour and half for someone to pick us up. We made up a saying that stuck with us the rest of the trip. "This is Africa" or "TIA". Every time one of those moments came up, we would say "no problem" and then say "This is Africa". It would make us laugh to put us in a better mood.
We stayed in Mohales-hoek for 10 days. We then went to Maseru (the capital of Lesotho) for the rest of our trip in Lesotho. Here is what happened in Maseru.
Hospital visits:
One of the days while being in a "TIA" moment was when we went to the hospital to visit the newborn babies and their mothers. We distributed clothing to them. In each room, there was more than 8 women. I remember walking down the hall and seeing one of the surgical rooms. It was so unsanitary! They had the tools to use to take out a baby and to circumcise a baby in the hallway right outside the room! Anyone could have touched it. It was so crazy to think that these people know nothing about being clean. This is their "clean".
Church visits:
Every Sunday, we would walk through the slums of Africa to a church service. I will never forget the sights that we saw. We met several friends in the churches there. They were just so joyful! One day, they asked us to preach. We ended up preaching to them for 7 hours. All 9 of us took turns preaching. I taught on a topic called Lordship. Who is Lord over your life?! I chose that topic because I myself struggle with it. They received everything we talked to them about so well.
Prison visits:
We went to the prisons in Maseru a couple of times by invitation. It was nothing like the prisons in the USA. They could have a prisoner so easily escape, but most of the prisoners didn't want to escape. Why you ask? Well, because life in prison was plusher than life outside of prison. Why go back to your shack made of clay and stick when you could be living in a building that had "windows". It was really sad to see their reasoning on it. One day, we were invited to the prison. It happened to be an all girl prison. We decided that it would be nice to put on a short program for them. We sang songs in their language, did dramas, and last but not least, we would give a preaching. I was chosen to give the preaching. I prayed about what to tell them. I had no idea! God answered me and told me to talk to them about "value and worth". I gave them all a piece of paper at the end of my message with a flower on it. It represented them with God. God looks at us as His own and special creation. He doesn't compare us. At the end, a girl stood up crying and basically said that both of parents died last year. She was left with her uncle and aunt. They didn't want her. Nobody wanted her. She was alone. She did bad things in order to go to prison to get attention, but it didn't work. Now, she was here, in that room, learning about how much God cares for her. It was amazing just to see God move through every place we went in Africa.
I learned so much in Africa. I learned about a different people group, different culture, and a different language, but I learned about the same God. I just saw Him in a different way. I saw how grateful I am to live in America and how I have everything at my fingertips. I saw how I have pushed God away and not let Him be my center focus. I saw how He loves every single person in this world and treats them with tender, loving care. I saw how His heart is broken and my heart should be just like His. Basically, I learned and saw my whole time I was in Africa. I will never walk away from this experience and be able to live an ordinary life. I SAW what is really happening in this world. I touched the malnourished child who is expecting to die within a couple of hours. I heard the cry of a mother who received news that her child has TB and is expected to stay out of the community and die. I looked into the eyes of HIV/AIDS sufferers and couldn't see any hope. I learned not to hate God for what is happening because He never intended for any of this to happen. It gave me a different view point on life. I can't walk away from this experience and pretend like it never happened because it did. My heart is forever with the people in Africa. My heart didn't move on to my next destination. It never went back to Australia, and it won't see America again. It's forever in Africa.
Hungary:
We went from praying with people in huts and dirty hospitals to a 180 degree turn. European style it is now! Budapest,Hungary was a total shock! I guess I never prepared myself for what Hungary was really like. Europe is very similar to America. They are very materialistic. We went from ministering to people that they could only find hope in God to people who basically say they don't need a God. They have everything. Before coming to Hungary, we prayed for God to give us some words for our time here. One word that the team got was persecuted. Okay, are we gonna be persecuted like Paul in the Bible or what?!
Open-air:
Hah, well, we experienced what our persecution would be like. We did many "open-air" evangelizing times in Budapest. That is when you go out into the city and put on productions by doing dramas and preaching. Every time we would, somebody in the crowd would holler at us and boo us. They would purposely walk in the middle of our space just to disrupt what we would do. We would get cussed at countless times. It definitely taught us not to fear anything that any person would say. We would keep going like nothing happened.
Worship and prayer:
While in Budapest, we could sense a feeling of oppression amongst the people. We would go into the parks and do worship times as well as prayer times just to try to bring a spirit of joy. Several times, we would bake goodies, buy flowers, or even hand out scriptures in Hungarian just to put a smile on any persons face. It was definitely a challenge witnessing here. They didn't want to hear what you had to say. We learned to be creative!
YWAM Budapest, Hungary:
We worked the majority of the time with the YWAM base located downtown. They are amazing! One of their main focuses is worship. It was an incredible base. The have a room where there are live performances done with an incredible stage, they have an underground coffee house that is opened every Friday night. They have a recording studio that is being built right now! Their base is just incredible! Every Friday night, we would go to the coffeehouse underground and work at it. People in Budapest would go there just to hang out. It was free coffee! They would schedule people to play "laid-back" music while it was open. We got asked. Two of my teammates and I were able to play for them! It was so awesome just knowing you were in Europe, doing one of your favorite things, in an underground coffee house! What?! That was a total dream!
As hard as Hungary was, I learned something there as well. The possibilities in missions are endless. It is possible to minister in a materialistic world, but it starts with YOU. You have to get over the fear of man. You can't have that and want to minister at the same time. Why is it so important to know what other people think about you when in the end, they won't even matter! I had to learn these things! It took me going two weeks into my trip in Hungary to realize it. I also learned how much of a passion I have for music. I thought I was done with music when I started this journey! God totally gave it back to me while in Hungary, but He gave it back to me through the eyes of worshipping Him. I don't ever want to lose it! It's my passion. He gave me so many times to play the piano while in Hungary! It was amazing!
Australia.....the Kimberley:
Oh boy, I did not know what I was getting myself into. I thought going from Africa, where they have nothing, to Hungary, where they have everything was all I needed to learn. I was wrong. I was very scared about going into the Kimberleys. The aboriginals I experienced while living in Perth for 3 months was all I needed. They are abrupt and sometimes rude people! I didn't know how I was going to make it!. We started our journey from Perth. We drove for 5 days. Those days consisted of at least 10 hours of driving a day. We finally were at our first location.
Halls Creek:
In Halls Creek, we worked with two different churches. We slept in a tent outside. Now, let me explain this a little bit better. Australia's seasons are opposite than ours. It is their winter. It gets cold. I was in the desert, it's hot during the day and freezing cold at night. I was sleeping in a TENT! I would wear over 4 layers of clothing. That is including 2 hoodies! I would sleep in my sleeping bag and then stick three blankets inside of it. I would also put two blankets on top of it. That is the only way I could stay warm my last month in YWAM. I would never expect for it to be so cold. Anyways, we did many different things in Halls Creek. We played with the aboriginal kids, we did productions in both churches, prayer meetings, and we had church gatherings. I fell in love with these people! I couldn't believe. I still can't believe it. They are beautiful! There were two little children that I wanted to take home with me. One is named Patricia and the other is named Jacob. It hurt so much to leave them on our last day.
One of the last days of being in Halls Creek, we had a gathering. The menu consisted of kangaroo. Oh goodness, I was so nervous to try it! I didn't want to offend anyone either! When I tried it, it was like pure goodness in my mouth! It tasted like roast beef and I don't even like roast beef. That stuff was so good! They cook it on something called a "bush oven". They get the name "bush" well, because we're in the "bush" or "outback". It is made in the ground. They cut up the kangaroo and through it in the hole. They leave the fur on it and cook it for over an hour. The kangaroo still had blood on it when it came out the pot! It was so awesome! I was in love with the process! My hunting spirit was alive the whole time I was in the Kimberleys! I seriously love to hunt!
Our last day there, we were able to do a production for the people out in the public. The whole community came out! It was amazing! We had a salvation call at the end and it was just amazing how people responded. I will never forget it. So many healings happened that night. The power of God was alive! It was incredible!
Wangkatjunka:
Our next location in the Kimberleys was super exciting. We were the first people to be invited to this community! How exciting that we would be able to share the love of God with them! This community only consisted of 150 people. There was nothing to do there. There was no internet or cell phone reception at all for anyone. You are in the "outback". The local store is only open 2-3 hours each day. It's closed on weekends. The doctor is only there on Wednesdays.
Prayer time:
We did lots of praying here. They still worship idols in this community. One day while we were praying, we happened to come upon one of the old abandoned cabinets they used to keep the idols in. Our Christian host, who is from that community there, told us that we should pray for it, but nothing would be in it. We decided after praying that we should open it and pray for the inside. As we opened the cabinet, there sat the umbilical cord of all the idols in the community. Our host started freaking out and hollering, "There it is, there it is!". We began to pray really hard for the community and over what this idol has caused these people to believe. Once we were done, I asked what it was made out of. It was made out of clumps of hair that has been rubbed in fats and oils. They shape them to look like dreadlocks and intertwine them together. It was disgusting.
Salvation and Healing:
Oh my goodness, it was like God was already working on the peoples hearts before we got there. There wasn't a day that went by that we at least had a couple of salvations as well as healings! One day, we went to this boys house. His name is Clayton. He had not come out of his house for over 10 years due to a traumatic incident that happened in his life while he was younger. He is 21. We prayed for him that if there was any fear in him, that it would be gone in the name of Jesus. After we prayed, he asked us if he could go on a walk across the street! What?! After that, he said he would go down to the middle of the community that night and pray with us at our prayer meeting. Jesus, you're awesome! That is only one of the many healings that happened while in the Kimberleys. It was crazy how God chose to use us!
Ending my trip:
It's crazy to think that 6 months of 2011 has flown by and that I was able to dedicate those 6 months to God. What an honor! I am so blessed to have had this opportunity. It would've never happened without YOUR prayers. Prayer is the only thing that truly works. I want to thank you so much for that. I am so thankful to have your support during this time. What I have experienced has forever been planted in my heart and will not ever go void. It's there, forever! I hope I was able to fill you in on my journey as best as possible with the little time we have had our whole journey! I have many more stories. If you would like to hear them, I would not mind you asking me one bit! I would be honored to tell you. I have wanted you guys to experience this journey with me!
One question that people keep asking me is how it has been since being back in America. Well, to be honest, it's hard. I have seen things that are very hard to process and to come back to America where everything is so plush is just difficult. I have changed these past 6 months. I have lived on my own and realized what it is like to have to fully trust in God. It's just hard coming back knowing that I'm never going to be the same because of what I have experienced with God and through different cultures and people.
Future Plans:
Another question that people have asked me since being home is, " So, what's next?". Well, I can tell you as much as I know as of right now. Hah. I am waiting on God to tell me exactly how everything lays out.
God told me while in my lecture phase part of this trip, that when He told me I was called to help heal people, that it didn't mean physically, but it meant spiritually, through salvation. That is when he told me I will be a missionary. Many of you know that I have a passion for music. It has been my whole life, but I was never willing to pursue it because it was just a "hobby". Why not turn that hobby into a lifestyle with Jesus! I've realized through going on this journey that the universal language is music. That could be used by playing with sticks and beating it on a trash can or by playing in a full band. People know what music is. It's not foreign. Why not use that in missions. What a cool way to "break the ice" with different cultures. Also, what a cool way to get to know people and about their culture.
My next step is this, I am staying home for 6 months. In January, I will join with University of the Nations (it is the university of Youth With a Mission or YWAM) and start working towards getting a bachelors degree in music. Because it is with a missions organization, I will be doing schooling for 3 months, then going out into the world as a missionary for 3 months with my instruments and learning how to incorporate music and missions together. It's definitely going to be a hard process. I will do 6 month increments as of now. I will be gone from home a lot, but this is what God has told me to do. Finances is something that keeps coming up in my mind as I look into this, but God has told me this scripture every time I think about it. Matthew 6:24-25 states, "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?". That scripture shoots me in the foot every time! I'm not going to worry about things like that because I know my God is my provider and He WILL provide what I need. I'm learning to trust Him. It's a hard lesson, but it is so worth it!
Thanks for following me! I will keep you guys posted as to any new news on anything happening in my life! Keep following me! You guys rock! If you have any questions pertaining to anything about my life, do not worry about asking me! I love questions! I hope you all have a wonderful rest of the summer! My pictures of the Kimberleys will be up on facebook soon! I love all of you! God bless!
