All About Africa: 8

We had an incredibly eye-opening, life-changing week at the orphanage! I wanted to simply share some of the pictures of the people that we ministered to and ultimately, ministered to our team. As you look over these pictures, please pray for these precious people in Lora, Sudan. 

ABC's of Summer 2011

A: AFRICA!!!
B: "Bachelorette Nights" with the Parma girls
C: Craftiness for my classroom
D: Done. Finished. Over. Sadly, there is no more summer for me.
E: Enjoying my fabulous Sudan Team!
F: Fuzzy's Taco- My mom is addicted and has taken me along for the ride. Seriously, she needs help.
G: Grandparents. They kindly let me stay at their place while I was waiting for my apartment to be vacated.
H: Hobby Lobby runs, like 4 a week!
I: Instagram.....my new photo addiction
J: Jet-setting: DFW; Amsterdam, Netherlands; Entebbe, Uganda; Yei, Sudan; Atlanta, Georgia; Lexington, Kentucky......as you can see, I've done my fair share of traveling this summer!
K: Kiddos. Meeting my sweet class was wonderful!
L: Learning how to use the lamination machine and failing quite a few times. I have discovered that this machine is a teacher's best friend!
M: Moving......twice. The entire process included 4 different homes/apartments
N: New. I think this word most accurately describes my summer. New job. New apartment. New travels: Africa!!! New friendships. New responsibilities. New dreams.
O: Organizing
P: Paisleys and poke-a-dots. My classroom has exploded with these two things.
Q: Quickly......this is how my summer went by.
R: Radical. Amazing book by David Platt that I am trudging through.
S: Surviving college. I finally graduated on May 14th!!!!
T: Trainings at school
U: Unbearable Texas heat!!! We tipped the Fahrenheit scales at 108 degrees, I believe.
V: Very hot! I know, this was my "U" but it's been SO that it deserves 2 slots. ;)
W: Weeping. God revealed so many things about His character to me and of course that resulted in my favorite (or really NOT a favorite) past time.
X: X-tra time. This I did not have.
Y: Young lives to pray for. God has given me 20 young lives to pray over and impact. I spent all of July and August praying and preparing for them.
Z: ZZZZ.......I learned to how to truly rest in Him when I was in Africa. Thankfully, He has given me many opportunities to practice this!

All About Africa: 7

We were able to spend 5 wonderful days at the Lora orphanage. Six of us agreed to do the teaching, while the other three worked with the "mothers" and cooks. We taught for four days about God's promises. I taught on the last day about God's promise of provision for His children. Honestly, this is a difficult lesson to teach any child because it can be challenging for children to grasp that God's will and our will do not always align. (Truthfully, isn't this a challenge for adults to accept as well?) Many times, we think we need or want something that ultimately God knows is not best for us. Now, imagine teaching this concept to a group of children who have nothing in comparison with what American children have. Through my preparation for this lesson, the Lord clearly showed me that He is providing for these orphans. It may not be to the extent that I think He should, but who am I to judge His will. Ultimately, the most important things He provides are the provisions of the Spirit. The Father is faithful to give us hope, peace, eternity, love, and grace.

As I'm teaching, I'm thinking about how many things I want for on a daily basis. How many of those things are eternal? Sadly, I realized that more often than not, I want things that are earthly. I looked around the orphanage and noticed that the children are joyful, not because they have the new iPhone, a pair of shoes, or a great outfit. In fact, they don't have any of these things. They are joyful because they have the Lord and the love of His people surrounding them. My realization was that I need to be content and thankful for the provisions of the Spirit that the Lord has graciously given to me because I have done NOTHING to deserve them.

Here are some pictures of my team teaching. We thankfully had an interpreter when we taught!!! At times Jon would translate from English into two other languages...what a talented man of God!

The chickens, roosters, and chicks would come and go in the classroom while we were teaching.

Note to all my fellow teachers: surely, this is the weirdest and most random classroom disruption you have ever seen!?! Haha!

"I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances."   ~Philippians 4:11