Ups and Downs. Smiles and Frowns.

It's been a while since I posted! I am now 26 years old! Praise the Lord! There have been several highs and lows over the past couple of weeks.

HIGH: I spent my birthday at Lake Malawi with a youth group from Belmont UMC in Nashville,Tennessee. The lake was gorgeous. The cost of a night's stay included three hot meals, a sunset cruise and a snorkeling cruise, and kayaking or fishing. Christina and I woke up early on Saturday morning to sit on the dock and watch the sun rise. I truly felt that God was welcoming me into a new year of life and vibrancy. The team surprised me with a birthday cake and homemade card before we left for the capital of Lilongwe. It was quite a humbling and refreshing birthday weekend.

Sunset at Lake Malawi 7/5/2013

Sunrise at Namaso Bay on 7/6/2013

Homemade birthday card

low: On Sunday at 4:56AM I woke up with "open bowels." I could not keep my malaria meds or cipro down. I couldn't decide whether my system was reacting to the "public chips" aka street fries that I ate the day before or whether I was nervous about my next

HIGH: I preached this past Sunday and Christina led a prayer workshop. Overall both went very well! I preached on Luke 7:33-50 about the importance of seeing with our spiritual eyes in faith, wisdom and love. The topic first tugged at my heart during my New Testament Exegesis course this past semester about biblical bodies. My professor had us research the meanings of hair in Jesus' time.(long story short; unbound hair often meant single, wild etc. etc) This kept nagging at my spirit because females and youth are often held in lower esteem and viewed in stereotypical ways (girls should be in the home, boys at school; youth are less motivated/capable etc etc), and Malawi is no exception. Our supervisor has prayed for us to be prophetic voices, but in many ways I'm still operating as a pilgrim... Anyway, I read some articles from The Nation... reflected on my experiences and preached from the standpoint of being the Pharisee in the story. The one who fails to see Jesus for who he truly is and fails to see the woman as a forgiven and redeemed servant of Christ. I asked, "Do you see what He sees?" (He being Jesus).

Preaching with an awesome interpreter, Seleni

low:  Some people in the community saw the way God has blessed Galilea UMC and decided to take some of their material wealth. You see, GUMC is building a new sanctuary that is slated for completion by annual conference next weekend. Unfortunately, last night around 2AM a group of more than 10 men came to the church and removed four of the new steel-framed windows. The compound guards were unable to overtake the thieves and recover the frames. Church members have been pledging to pay for the windows and the pastor secured a loan to cover the remaining building costs so that the project would be complete by conference time although pledges are still being paid!

Abusa Collings putting a rust protectant on the window frames 7/9/2013

I know that the MOST HIGH: will continue to watch over this Zion. The hearts of the people are receptive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. They trust in God with a deep faith that I am learning to cultivate.