Saying it out loud...

While we were in Mamelodi my friend Devon was relaying a story to me about a woman and a dream that she had that included doing something radical and new in her life. She told her friend to continue to say it out loud and tell people about it because that would make it more real, more attainable, less scary. Okay, so some of those might not have been her words exactly, but they were the words I took away from her story and what is incredibly relevant right now.

It’s been just over three months since I’ve been back from Mamelodi. If you’re looking from the outside you might not notice much has changed in my life, but I can tell you that it’s been a bit of a whirlwind and I’m on the cusp of some very big changes. I’m excited. I’m terrified. I’m hopeful. I’m uncertain. God’s bigger than all my hopes and He’s certainly bigger than all my fears.

Through the course of a conversation with a friend I blurted out that I would be doing missions full time if money didn't matter (and other fears didn't hold me back). I say blurted out because that is essentially what happened. It's the first time I ever admitted to myself or to anyone else verbally what I think I've been desiring for probably the better part of the last ten years. My immediate reaction was both emotionally and spiritually freeing. I had been holding this in for so long, not even fully aware because I had put so many other things in the way of this that I didn't think it was even possible.

The next step, as far as I can see right now, is to start doing some volunteering while looking for opportunities in the non-profit world. Ideally, I'd love to work with World Vision or CARE or similar organization, especially those that partner with Africa.

There's a lot more to this story, but I wanted to go ahead and say it all out loud and then I'll come back and fill in on all the details.

God's shaking up my world and when I surrender to what He has in store I find that it is exhilarating and even better than I could have imagined.

It's official!!

The email confirmation came yesterday afternoon and excites me to no end. It said that I'm part of the Go Mamelodi 2010 trip for the week I selected (I actually selected to go for BOTH weeks). You don't even know how many exclamation points I'd like to be using right now (yayay!!!!!!).

So many things to think about, so many things to do to prepare for this trip. Many more posts will come about all those things I'm thinking about and all the preparations that need to be made.

Somebody just pinch me because this feels a bit surreal and I'm sure that when I set foot in Africa it will feel even more surreal. I remember that feeling very vividly seven years ago when I went to England. I remember thinking (and saying repeatedly to Jen), "I can't believe I'm in England!!"


So excited to be/do/love/hope for something bigger than myself. more to come soon...

My heart for Africa

Much like affection for a deeply loved friend, my heart for Africa continues to grow. One of the first times I remember feeling compassion for the people of Africa was when I heard about the devastation AIDS was having on the country and Bono's response to it. I was glad that someone was doing something about it, but didn't know if or what I should be doing. A few years ago my friend was going to be in charge of getting donors to sponsor children through Compassion International and had several of the packets at her house. Of course I had to look through them and I knew that if I sponsored a child, I would like them to be from Africa. I flipped through the children’s packets and came upon a bright, smiling face of a young girl from Tanzania. She seemed so sweet and so deserving of love and a chance at life. I decided to partner with Compassion International and sponsor that beautiful young girl named Beatrice.

Fast forward a few years...I have been attending Crossroads for a few years now and LOVE it (there will be a future post on how it has changed my life). For the last few years Crossroads has partnered with a church in Mamelodi, South Africa called Charity and Faith. Several trips between the two churches have already taken place and from the time I heard about it, I have wanted to go.

There is something amazing about mission trips. Traveling somewhere to be intentional about serving people and loving on people is maybe my idea of doing the things God has given me passion for all wrapped up into one. Wow. I had never even realized that until I wrote that sentence. These kinds of trips are not easy, for sure, but my past two experiences have proven to be life changing and nearly indescribable. It has been far too long since I've taken a trip like this.

I knew that the desire to go was already within me, but I wasn't sure how it was all going to come to fruition. Brian Tome (the Sr. pastor) recently said, "Most of the time when God puts a call on your life it’s simply something you know that God would approve of and you just have to do it." That resonated within me and a few days later I went to Crossroads to attend an info session on Mamelodi and the upcoming trips. My mind had pretty much already been made up and this was only confirmation that I wanted and felt that I needed to be a part of the Go Mamelodi 2010 trip.

This is only the beginning of the journey for me; I hope you'll join me in some way. I'll be updating this blog probably a bit randomly at first, but more and more often as the trip draws near. Thanks for your charity in reading!

~With much love,
Dana

For last year's recap video check this out; my heart for her continues to grow.