Well, the cat has been let out of the bag! And let me assure you- it sure was hard keeping my mouth shut for 2 years about this! But yes folks, that's right, come next spring this girl is moving to Zambia.
The first move will only be for one year. Give me a chance to really see what its like living in Zambia, and give the missionaries at Chitokoloki a chance to get to know me better and work with me. At the end of that year I will be coming back home, discussing my experiences with my elders here and sharing any further confirmation from the Lord about where I am supposed to be. It could be still at Chit, it could be an different mission station in Zambia, it could be a different country in Africa, it could be that I decide God is actually calling me to stay home. (I won't lie- that would be really cool, to be close to my family and help with my brother and nephew... but I wouldn't miss the adventure God is calling me to join Him in)
So why am I going? I'm sure some of you are asking this...
well, no snow for one... but huge bugs to compensate for that (hopefully not a lack of Raid!)
A cool adventure maybe... but one that takes me far from family and friends and a good internet connection
a different way of doing things and new experiences possibly... but I sure will miss pizza delivery, and a 10 min walk to Walmart (the mother of all stores!)
but seriously... its none of those reasons and for every reason I could come up with to go, there is a better reason to stay (and yes minimal contact with bugs and a large supply of raid is a good reason to stay home!)
no, I'm going because this is where I believe God has asked me to go and these are the people God has asked me to serve. Over the last two years I've spent a lot of time just praying and seeking God's will and in the process learning more and greater things about my Father. And this, this is the one reason I could find that is worth going because God my Father asked me to go.
I have thought a lot about the job opportunities I could seek as an Enterostomal Therapist and how much I love that role, but as hard as it is to leave that, its so much more thrilling to know that right now I am where God wants me to be. And for me, that's enough. This doesn't mean that at the end of this year or 5 years from now or 20 years from now I may understand that God has called me somewhere else (also on my heart is North Africa and all the struggles with famine and uprisings there), it just means that at this point in time this is where God has called me to be and what He has asked me to do.
I have to add tho... I sure am glad this is 'out' now. It's so hard keeping one's mouth shut and for TWO YEARS!
As an eagle stirs up her nest... so the LORD alone did lead. Deuteronomy 32:11,12
