Hello! I am a college graduate teaching English and Math in North Africa. Through these blogs my hope is that you are able to see how unqualified I am, but just how good and qualified the Lord is.
Future Goers,
I am so excited for you! This two year commitment is going to stretch you, change you, grow you, and transform you. Based on personal experience, I think there will be moments when you wonder what the heck you signed up for. There will probably be moments when your heart aches for the comforts and feelings of home, of your people. However, there will also be so many moments where you just stand in awe of God for the way He is working. You will be moved to tears at his gentleness and faithfulness to you in the midst of such trying times. I am excited for you to experience…
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Moving overseas really feels like you’re beginning from scratch. Again and again and again. When you first move, you have to learn how to communicate, the routes and methods of transportation, make new friends, and engage in a culture you may have never experienced before. Yet, this is not a one time learning period. This is a constant starting over, for what feels like a really long time.
Some of us live in places that cause us to leave for certain seasons or time frames. In that case, we leave and then come back… which means starting over again. After being here a year and a half, I…
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That Didn’t Go As Planned...
We’ve all been there. Whether you live overseas or in the town you grew up in, we all have had situations that completely catch us off guard. They leave us wondering and thinking, “Well that certainly didn’t go as planned.” I was recently reminded of this when I experienced a pretty hard, exhausting, and extremely uncomfortable situation. It delayed my return back to the country I’m serving in and I was hurt, ashamed, and even angry at the Lord. However, in the process of buying a new plane ticket, I was struck with the thought “It was planned all along... The…
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When I moved to the Horn of Africa, I did my best to “expect the unexpected.” However, I still find myself saying, 9 times out of 10, “I didn’t sign up for this.”
In our home culture, we often have natural responses to extra stressors, we can easily identify our limits, and understand what we need to refresh. In a new culture, these things are not as easy to figure out. Even though I am a fairly self-aware person, I still had to basically relearn how to handle stress, identify my boundaries, and set my limits. This means that I had to figure out what to do when yet another thing was…
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Life is busy, no matter where you live. Everyone always told me that when I moved to Africa my pace of life would slow down. I would enjoy afternoon tea, take naps, and just take my time throughout the day. I know some people live like this, but that is definitely not how it has panned out for me. I actually think I am more on-the-go in North/East Africa than I ever was in California. My days are booked from 7am-9pm daily. This just goes to show that, once again, expectations are to be held loosely and as offerings to the Lord for Him to do as He pleases. Yes, I know, He will do as He pleases…
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