YFC

So the week has passed…wow, the first month back has passed!

Meanwhile, I’m finding various places of belonging, but know that it will still be a while before I am fully settled and make more friends.


Because I want to and because it is the passion in my heart… I have committed every Thursday to being with a group of young leaders from Youth For Christ. They’re outstanding and I know these will be the guys I run with. They’re hungry for more of God and will do what it takes to get Him. When I gave a challenge of cultivating a life of deeper intimacy with Jesus, the guys responded by committing to calling each other every morning at 5am to pray and seek the Lord for an hour! Two weeks ago I spoke on Sunday night about more of the same, but how intimacy with our Father lets us bring the Kingdom in really fun and cool ways. Before I spoke I asked God if He wanted to do anything. I saw a picture of someone’s right leg. Just as I was finished talking I was reminded of the leg and asked anyone if they had a problem. A woman in the 2nd row raised her hand so I asked anyone who had faith to see her healed to come up and help pray. She explained that she had pain from the top of her hip to the bottom of her foot. So we prayed. Moments later she was 60% better. Not satisfied to let her go, I had her sit down and held her foot in my hand and just asked God to heal it. Then she stood up and started dancing around. She then explained that she has had pain for the last 10 years! She was also the mom of one of the girls I see on Thursdays, and I could tell that Lola was ready to start seeing God move more. We all started singing, again, then another lady came up to Freddy and I and said that she had pain in her right ear. There was a painful buzzing that had been there for a few weeks. So we started praying again but nothing was happening. Then I felt the Lord remind me that it’s His love that heals us. So I had Lola come over and whisper in her ear “Jesus loves you” in Kirundi. She kept repeating it over and over, then suddenly the ear popped open and everyone celebrated. So that was fun!

I'm not afraid of malaria

Nope... I'm not. I prayerfully made the decision to stop taking malaria meds after some research showing that no one really knows the long term effects on the liver and other parts of the body, not to mention the expense. This felt like a right of passage, and I have now entered the local non-malaria-med community. Mom wanted me to take a more holistic approach, so we found some time-tested products from Australia... and we'll see how that goes, but anyone who is smart about wearing the proper clothing, sleeping under a mozzy net and carries a canister of bug spray, should be protected.

But I'm not afraid for another reason...

Last week I came to work and sad down with our chef, Eric, who quietly told me he was coming down with Malaria, would probably be going home soon, then off to the hospital. A lot of local people have a spat of malaria once a year. It's a parasite that gets into your blood, and stays there unless treated. Well, I know the Jesus is a great cure-all so I asked if I could pray for him.

As I was praying I got the sense that he was going to experience all the malaria symptoms, and then be healed. (This is what happens when one undergoes treatment.) Sure enough, he was suddenly very hot, and sat down. I ran off to get some water and when I returned he was completely better! He said he felt an intense heat all over his body (more than the usual dry-season hot room sweat) and then everything left his body! Praise Jesus!

This week he is at work which is awesome because the conference centre is extremely busy and we needed him here. My faith was encouraged as this is the first time I've prayed for a disease and it left.

So I'm not afraid of malaria...

But if the blood bug should ever get me, the first person I'm calling is the one I know has faith to see me instantly healed.

Redefining the Grid

Everyone has a grid by which the perceptions of ‘normal’ are based. My grid is evolving. For example, in the USA, a ‘normal road’ consists of wide streets, typically enough for 2 lanes in each direction, each person sticking to the right side of the road. When I moved to England ‘normal’ was redefined as narrow roads where everyone shares the middle but tries to be as far left as possible. Now… normal roads mean bumpy, no speed limits, and very much like playing a video game but rather than running over bananas and such to gain points, I must suppress the increasing temptation to knock over the bicycle overflowing with bananas and remember that I will not hear the Mario Kart “Baaaalllliiinnnggg” if I happen to knock it over. Such fun but no game…

Today another grid was altered. It involved a dead car battery, 2 wrenches (“spanners” for the UK audience), and one super handy conference center driver. My housemate’s car was dead. Charles was quick to say ‘no problem’ and ran off to grab 2 wrenches. He proceeded to remove the battery from a functioning vehicle, held the battery while touching the two wrenches + to + and – to – and ordered me to cranked up the vehicle. I was terrified that he would be zapped by the current; alas, Africa innovation circumvents my Western safety procedures. I was highly amused by event and learned a new way to start a car!