The Birds of the Air

Alright, so I know I just posted a blog less then 12 hours ago, but God has been doing some awesome things in my heart that I realized just last night and I had some requests to share :) So here it is!

Background: Before coming on this trip, I was really nervous about everything I would see here. I had heard so much about South Africa and seen so many pictures of devastation and poverty, that I wondered how my heart would take it. I felt like it would be difficult to see all this injustice and struggle, and still be able to find God. To still trust in His plan and see His goodness amidst the evil. So, it’s something I really prayed about and I shared it with my friend Lauren right before I left Ventura. The morning that I left to go back to APU she, being the incredible blessing that she is in my life, gave me this little book….a praise journal, she called it. And every day, I’m supposed to write down a way I see God at work or something I can praise Him for. That way, even on the days that I feel like He isn’t here, I can look back and see how deep His presence is in this place.

So anyways, I’ve been doing that for the past couple weeks and last night, I was writing in it about my day at the service sites (see earlier blog). And this is what I put:

“Thank you for helping me see your light in this place. Today we went to two potential service sites and instead of just seeing devastation, I saw the people running these sites and their selfless hearts. I saw love and joy. I saw opportunities for children and women that are so rare. Thank you, Lord. And praise you for always remembering those that world tends to so easily forget.”

A huge theme for me on this trip and building up to it has been light vs. darkness. Wanting to be a light in the darkness, to see God’s light in the darkness, to use the light of this place to eliminate the darkness in my life. And last night, I realized how much God has already proven His light. Like Isaiah 9:3 says, God has increased these people’s joy and they are truly rejoicing in Him. It’s only been two weeks and I already see God so at work here. The people that I saw yesterday are those that most of the world has given up on. But God cares more about them than the birds of the air and has this unbelievable unending love for them.

Last night, I realized how good God is for caring about these people, and for answering my prayers to see His light. Praise His name.

“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” –Matthew 6:26