What a whirlwind couple of weeks it’s been since I last wrote! The American team(s) are here and gone, and we English teachers are in our last days of finishing up the semester and our time here. I think I was starting to make up my own language with the little bits of Arabic, Thai and Spanish I know…so it was great to have the team here and speak English continually and fluently for about a week.
We all went out to the sand dunes where sadly, I was tackled into the sand with my camera in hand and now alas, it is broken. We also got to participate in the religious dialogues and the young women’s seminar. Both events have been held every year for the last 4 years. The dialogues are a time where Muslims and Christians gather and discuss commonalities and differences of our beliefs in an order to bring an understanding of love and peace to one another. The goal is to show that Muslims and Christians really can gather together and discuss these topics in a civilized manner. The young women’s seminar was a one day gathering in a large tent that discussed the topic of rape and identity. It was a powerful day for sure. The team also had the honor of being invited to the president’s house for lunch in another nearby refugee camp where we enjoyed lots of fresh fruit and (very) fresh chicken. One of my favorite parts about the team being here, is that some of the guys knew how to play the guitar…so we had ourselves some church up in the desert! We sang one of my favorite songs called love can change the world. The words in it are so promising – ‘May we never stop this dreaming of a better world, may we never stop believing in the impossible – God is love, our God is love, and Love can change the world.’ It was one of those moments you know you aren’t going to forget for a long time. Many other memories and stories about the team being here I will save for another time. Ohhh, and they brought chocolate…lots of chocolate.
For the two people that read this blog (hi Mom) – I need your help. We have had an ongoing debate for the last two months in the desert – is it TRAIL mix or TRAILS mix? I truly believe to the bottom of my heart it is TRAILS mix. All the almonds and cashews and peanuts and raisins and M&M’s come from many different trails, yes? In other news, I have fallen in love with the little packets of kiwi strawberry Propel mixes. After you pour the Propel powder in, the water stays clear. I forgot about that when I brushed my teeth a few nights ago…and when I washed my face the following morning. I smelled like a walking kiwi strawberry for a while after that shenanigan.
I have shared this with a few of you through some quick e-mails that I feel like God has and is using this trip to confirm my place back home, expanding His kingdom. I love being here, but Africa is not my thing. God must be thinking He’s pretty funny bringing me halfway around the world for three months to show me that. But, God will and is always using us wherever we’re at in our lives and walk with Him. We all have a crucial role to play in whatever community we’re in. Unifying the world through relationships and maximizing the redemptive potential of the community we’re in is the best way to love God and love people. And I’m thrilled to be a part.
Prayer Requests:
- ‘Eide’ is coming up here in the Sahara – it’s a three day celebration where you eat goat, goat and more goat with the lovely side dish of sandy bread. I have a hard time stomaching these things, so prayers would be most appreciated! The last thing I want to do is offend my host family by not eating (an extremely offensive action here). I truly want to enjoy this time with our host family and leave here on a good note, so what may seem like a silly thing to pray for, is actually vital for me this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Thanks in advance, all my prayer warriors…
- Najla, Salama, Omar, Talib, Ghalia, Rhebab – all names of our Saharawi friends who currently are or will be studying the common ground between the Qur’an and the Bible with one of us on the team
- The entire Muslim community – in Islam, our friends believe that allah isn’t coming for you; that he’s watching to see if you can live up to his standards and you can’t. Let’s pray that they would come to know you can’t earn God’s love. He’s already crazy in love with us, we just need to accept that we’re accepted and commit to the One way, Jesus... ‘may we live in His love’. 1st John 1:4
- That we (you & me) as followers of Jesus would prefer honesty and promote love and do so in a way that seems ridiculous to the world, but not to Jesus
- May we really believe that God is Love and Love can change the world because after all…Love wins. :)
Thanksgiving blessings and love,
Sarah
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Monday, November 9, 2009
oh yes, God is on the move
Hi friends,
It’s been awhile. Even though I don’t write often, I sure think about you all a great deal. I can’t wait to get home and talk with you each personally and at length. You mean the world to me and I can’t thank you guys enough – my great, big, supportive and encouraging family – for how much you have helped me to persevere in running the race in these Sahara desert days. I have so much to tell you, but a limited amount of time to write, so I’ll share a few favorite stories of recent and some thoughts that have been rolling around in my head.
Every day, to begin class, I have my students journal. Not too long ago, I asked them to journal about their parents and the impact they’ve had on their life thus far. One of my student’s Mothers passed away 4 years ago. She shared with us through tears some stories and details that instantly made us all long to be with our Mothers, just hanging out and being in one another’s company. She told us of how she walks to see her mother in the cemetery every weekend, (quite a long walk) and started to cry as she said her mother never hears her or cares about her anymore. She said her mother was always the person she confided in and went to in troubled times, but now she does not have that person in her life anymore. I looked around the classroom and saw all my girls in tears – we all were crying out of a deep corner in our heart, a corner that knows the love of our beautiful Mothers, and a corner where we are not able to fathom our lives without their loving arms and gracious smiles. For that extreme loss, we cried and grieved with our sister. What’s beautiful about this story is that God used this time of sadness in our classroom that day. In the midst of the heat and sand and flies, God opened the door for me to be able to share of a time when I lost someone close, but how God has made beauty from that pain. I shared how if we trust in God and really believe He does know what He’s doing and that He really does love us with a pursuing, all powerful, non relenting love that will never end, that He is the one we can go to in times of need or trouble, that He can be our refuge and those arms of love and that gracious smile that we need on those days, that then, is when we truly can have peace, which leads to a life being lived in its fullest extent. Our class was interrupted that day – but beautifully interrupted – with one another’s stories, heartbreak, and the courage to share.
Have you ever thought about how much Jesus was interrupted in the Bible? Like in Luke 8 when Jesus is on his way to a house to heal a man’s sick and dying daughter – a woman who was also very sick came up and touched his clothes and Jesus took the time to stop and ask who touched Him…then He heals her and invites her to live a life of peace. Some of Jesus’ most sacred, powerful, and divine moments happen when He is interrupted. May our lives be divinely interrupted more as we work to bring a little bit of heaven to earth.
In other news, I miss going to church. Not having church here is tough. Growing up in the church (& I do mean literally, growing up at and in the church :) and now working in the church, it sure is a shock to go from ‘everything to nothing’ in the sense of worship celebrations, a community of believers, and the love of my New Hope family. However, my iPod is loaded up with many a Francis Chan and Rob Bell podcasts and even though they’re not good ol’ PJ – they’re making me wrestle, think and strive more and more to be like Jesus where ever I’m at.
My bug bites have ceased itching every waking and sleeping minute of the day and night. They itch every now and then, but no big deal. Thanks for all your sweet messages offering to kill all the blasted bugs in the western Sahara. And by the way, I feel great! Totally recovered and back to normal, which is such a blessing and due in large part to the prayers of you all. Would it be bad to pray for the bugs not to come back and bite us again? And while we’re on this subject, maybe we could ask for all cockroaches to be swept off the face of the earth?
Around 2:30 in the morning a few nights ago, I awoke to a cat clawing my back and quite possibly chewing my neck! I am not exaggerating, contrary to popular belief – I hit it off and it jumped over Kaylen and onto Sarah and continued its clawing escapade on Sarah’s face! We maybe freaked a little, ok, I freaked because I truly believe cats are straight from the pit of hell and satan spawn. (Idon’tlikecats) I full heartedly agree with Rob Bell’s theory that states, “God doesn’t remember making cats.” Anyway, we tried and failed at blocking our so called ‘door’ (a tin rectangle cut out attached by one hinge in blocks of sand) with our cases of bottled water and the cat still got in – repeatedly throughout out the rest of the night. This happened two nights in a row. Two nights of little sleep for the Sarah whose afraid of cats. Then the next night, our room had a huge resurrecting cockroach that I was sure we killed…the stories go on and on…
A special part about this trip, now that the ladies from Appleton are here and the large team from the states is due to arrive tomorrow night, is that Kaylen, is here and living with Sarah and I. Kaylen just graduated high school this past June and was a part of Crave for the past three years. It’s safe to say I’ve gotten to know her pretty well and have been blessed to watch her grow spiritually. She’s now done with Crave, and my hope as a youth leader, is that when seniors graduate, they take all they’ve learned in Crave and apply it to their lives and continue to live a life that is honorable of our Creator. Kaylen is allowing God to lead her wherever He wants her to expand His kingdom here on earth. It’s awesome to see Kaylen, a graduated Craver, continue to live her life in awe of the author and perfector of life. Mother Teresa once said, “It is very fashionable to talk about the poor…unfortunately it is not as fashionable to talk to the poor.” It does my heart good to see Cravers living in a way that matches the words they speak.
One more story – I fell the other night – it was bound to happen, it was only a matter of time…the moon had yet to rise and the only light I had was stars that blanketed the sky. There’s probably one slab of concrete in all of the Sahara and I fell on it and banged up my knee pretty good. I went to sleep feeling like a 5 year old kid who fell off my bike, and awoke in the wee hours of the morning to the feeling of my knee getting stung repeatedly by bees. By the light of my flashlight I saw ants and other bugs crawling in and out of my bandages eating the blood and sweat and puss and dirt and sand and whatever else that had collected underneath. Pretty gnarly. That’s something to write home about.
Prayer requests:
-for my students, that they would feel God’s passion and burning desire as He yearns for them to find their identity and worth in Him
-the American team has safely arrived! Prayers that all of us would continue to speak and show God’s mighty words through humble actions and speech
-the entire Muslim population – to come to know that salvation is here and they can have life and life to the fullest extent -John 10:10-
-prayers for Westerners (myself included) to learn what it means to take a Sabbath and allow one day for God to heal you and put you back together, that a Sabbath is a day when we rest and our work is finished – even if it isn’t.
It’s been awhile. Even though I don’t write often, I sure think about you all a great deal. I can’t wait to get home and talk with you each personally and at length. You mean the world to me and I can’t thank you guys enough – my great, big, supportive and encouraging family – for how much you have helped me to persevere in running the race in these Sahara desert days. I have so much to tell you, but a limited amount of time to write, so I’ll share a few favorite stories of recent and some thoughts that have been rolling around in my head.
Every day, to begin class, I have my students journal. Not too long ago, I asked them to journal about their parents and the impact they’ve had on their life thus far. One of my student’s Mothers passed away 4 years ago. She shared with us through tears some stories and details that instantly made us all long to be with our Mothers, just hanging out and being in one another’s company. She told us of how she walks to see her mother in the cemetery every weekend, (quite a long walk) and started to cry as she said her mother never hears her or cares about her anymore. She said her mother was always the person she confided in and went to in troubled times, but now she does not have that person in her life anymore. I looked around the classroom and saw all my girls in tears – we all were crying out of a deep corner in our heart, a corner that knows the love of our beautiful Mothers, and a corner where we are not able to fathom our lives without their loving arms and gracious smiles. For that extreme loss, we cried and grieved with our sister. What’s beautiful about this story is that God used this time of sadness in our classroom that day. In the midst of the heat and sand and flies, God opened the door for me to be able to share of a time when I lost someone close, but how God has made beauty from that pain. I shared how if we trust in God and really believe He does know what He’s doing and that He really does love us with a pursuing, all powerful, non relenting love that will never end, that He is the one we can go to in times of need or trouble, that He can be our refuge and those arms of love and that gracious smile that we need on those days, that then, is when we truly can have peace, which leads to a life being lived in its fullest extent. Our class was interrupted that day – but beautifully interrupted – with one another’s stories, heartbreak, and the courage to share.
Have you ever thought about how much Jesus was interrupted in the Bible? Like in Luke 8 when Jesus is on his way to a house to heal a man’s sick and dying daughter – a woman who was also very sick came up and touched his clothes and Jesus took the time to stop and ask who touched Him…then He heals her and invites her to live a life of peace. Some of Jesus’ most sacred, powerful, and divine moments happen when He is interrupted. May our lives be divinely interrupted more as we work to bring a little bit of heaven to earth.
In other news, I miss going to church. Not having church here is tough. Growing up in the church (& I do mean literally, growing up at and in the church :) and now working in the church, it sure is a shock to go from ‘everything to nothing’ in the sense of worship celebrations, a community of believers, and the love of my New Hope family. However, my iPod is loaded up with many a Francis Chan and Rob Bell podcasts and even though they’re not good ol’ PJ – they’re making me wrestle, think and strive more and more to be like Jesus where ever I’m at.
My bug bites have ceased itching every waking and sleeping minute of the day and night. They itch every now and then, but no big deal. Thanks for all your sweet messages offering to kill all the blasted bugs in the western Sahara. And by the way, I feel great! Totally recovered and back to normal, which is such a blessing and due in large part to the prayers of you all. Would it be bad to pray for the bugs not to come back and bite us again? And while we’re on this subject, maybe we could ask for all cockroaches to be swept off the face of the earth?
Around 2:30 in the morning a few nights ago, I awoke to a cat clawing my back and quite possibly chewing my neck! I am not exaggerating, contrary to popular belief – I hit it off and it jumped over Kaylen and onto Sarah and continued its clawing escapade on Sarah’s face! We maybe freaked a little, ok, I freaked because I truly believe cats are straight from the pit of hell and satan spawn. (Idon’tlikecats) I full heartedly agree with Rob Bell’s theory that states, “God doesn’t remember making cats.” Anyway, we tried and failed at blocking our so called ‘door’ (a tin rectangle cut out attached by one hinge in blocks of sand) with our cases of bottled water and the cat still got in – repeatedly throughout out the rest of the night. This happened two nights in a row. Two nights of little sleep for the Sarah whose afraid of cats. Then the next night, our room had a huge resurrecting cockroach that I was sure we killed…the stories go on and on…
A special part about this trip, now that the ladies from Appleton are here and the large team from the states is due to arrive tomorrow night, is that Kaylen, is here and living with Sarah and I. Kaylen just graduated high school this past June and was a part of Crave for the past three years. It’s safe to say I’ve gotten to know her pretty well and have been blessed to watch her grow spiritually. She’s now done with Crave, and my hope as a youth leader, is that when seniors graduate, they take all they’ve learned in Crave and apply it to their lives and continue to live a life that is honorable of our Creator. Kaylen is allowing God to lead her wherever He wants her to expand His kingdom here on earth. It’s awesome to see Kaylen, a graduated Craver, continue to live her life in awe of the author and perfector of life. Mother Teresa once said, “It is very fashionable to talk about the poor…unfortunately it is not as fashionable to talk to the poor.” It does my heart good to see Cravers living in a way that matches the words they speak.
One more story – I fell the other night – it was bound to happen, it was only a matter of time…the moon had yet to rise and the only light I had was stars that blanketed the sky. There’s probably one slab of concrete in all of the Sahara and I fell on it and banged up my knee pretty good. I went to sleep feeling like a 5 year old kid who fell off my bike, and awoke in the wee hours of the morning to the feeling of my knee getting stung repeatedly by bees. By the light of my flashlight I saw ants and other bugs crawling in and out of my bandages eating the blood and sweat and puss and dirt and sand and whatever else that had collected underneath. Pretty gnarly. That’s something to write home about.
Prayer requests:
-for my students, that they would feel God’s passion and burning desire as He yearns for them to find their identity and worth in Him
-the American team has safely arrived! Prayers that all of us would continue to speak and show God’s mighty words through humble actions and speech
-the entire Muslim population – to come to know that salvation is here and they can have life and life to the fullest extent -John 10:10-
-prayers for Westerners (myself included) to learn what it means to take a Sabbath and allow one day for God to heal you and put you back together, that a Sabbath is a day when we rest and our work is finished – even if it isn’t.
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