This summer I’ve spent a lot of time reading and learning more about community development. Planning for the future of our team and dreaming about what’s possible. It’s been so exciting to start digging into this work!
But it’s also been overwhelming. How do we get connected with a community to understand their values and work alongside them to accomplish their goals? How do we support community culture change that brings value to women and ends abuse? Can we even work with men and women in one room? My only educational experience with community development was a one semester class in urban Los Angeles. A far cry from rural Central Asia. But I went back to my old papers from this class to refresh my memory in what I’d learned and to see what could be applied. My final reflection paper starts:
“I never would have imagined myself taking a master’s level class my junior year of college or that it would be in community development. But then again, I never would have imagined that I would have lived in South Africa for three months before I was 20 years old. God certainly has a way of guiding my steps without my even realizing it. The readings, activities, discussions, and projects of this class have helped me see what direction God might be pointing my steps.”
I wrote this three years ago. It was a year after I studied abroad and I was amazed at what God had set before me. Now as I sit in my favorite cafe in Central Asia, looking around me, admiring paintings and familiar faces, I laugh. I really never would have imagined that I’d be here--in a Central Asian country I'd never even heard of. God has certainly been guiding my steps. And He is guiding yours too. If He’s leading you to go, go! If He’s leading you to pray, pray! If He’s leading you to give, learn, study, or any number of things big or small. Follow. Being where He calls is beyond anything you could ever imagine.
Sitting here I laugh in awe and wonder at all He’s done. I wouldn’t change a thing.