Servant or Queen?

People keep asking me what it's like to return to America after experiencing a third world country. And I don't know how to respond. Most of the time we were there, we had running water, electricity and toilets. I slept in a bed every night and had plenty of food. Yes, sometimes I had to bucket shower or use dripping cold water, and there were a number of smelly pits I used for the bathroom but life wasn't vastly different. Plus I was only there for two weeks, which is not long enough to really miss the luxuries of the first world.

Part of me thinks that it should have been harder. Aren't you suppose to "rough it" on mission trips? While I went without some of my normal extravagances, I was also treated like a queen. All my food was made for me, my dishes were washed for me, even my hiking boots that were fully covered in mud were scrubbed clean for me. Where is the rough in that?

I guess that isn't what God had for me this time. In fact, it was incredibly humbling. It was hard to be served all the time.

Wait, really?

In a similar way that receiving money was hard for my pride, not being able to do things for myself for 14+ days was hard. I am suppose to be independent right?

But in fact, refusing help or insisting on doing it on my own can be disrespectful. It was a privilege for them to move my luggage, cook my food and help me do my laundry. You see someone carrying something, you offer to help them. This came in handy when we had a lot of paint supplies to carry to and from the secondary school. The kids loved carrying stuff and walking us home. It was just another opportunity to build relationships!

Apparently, roughing it wasn't the lesson that God had for me. He rarely does what I expect Him too! This entire process has been humbling. From the very beginning, God has been breaking down my pride and the idea that I can do it all on my own. Not only do I desperately need Him, I need other people. Without my generous supporters, I would not have been able to go on this trip. Without the large number of people who housed, served and fed us, our trip would have not been successful.

God desires for us to be servants and queens (or kings). He calls us to serve others but also to humbly receive the service of others. And the Ugandan people seem to understand this better than anyone! Their culture is based in community and values putting others before oneself. This is just another beautiful thing about these people and this country that I love!


You are loved.
Liz

Home(?)

Where do I even begin?

I have been trying to think of a short description to encapsulate my experience.

Beautiful.

Full of life. 

And love upon love. 

Simply and extravagantly amazing. That is the love and life God desires for us. It is simple yet breathtaking. 

This is just the beginning of the pictures from our adventures. I cannot wait to share more with you, especially the stories of the beautiful people that I was blessed to meet. Over the next few weeks I will be posting about what I experienced in such a short amount of time. I did not spend a lot of time processing while I was there. Instead I focused on the what was in front of me and being present in the moment. Therefore, I have a lot to work through. My goal from here is to share with you all that I learned and how I (and we) can continue to support the people and the churches of Eastern Uganda. I hope you will join me!

As I return to normal life and my "home," I can't help but think of the saying: Home is where your heart is. I left a little bit of my heart in Uganda. And I cannot wait to see how God continues to grow and water that part of me!

Thanks for listening :)

You are loved.

Liz

Ready, set, UGANDA.

We start our adventure tomorrow. And we are ready to go.

I have the privilege of embarking on this journey with my best friend and soul sister Jenny. I think this picture speaks volumes about her: she is hilarious, full of life and ready to face anything that comes her way! The fact that I have her with me eases a lot of anxieties. It will be so beneficial to be able to have her to process with along the way.

We spent yesterday packing and organizing and repacking. How do you prepare for a trip to a place that is completely unknown and foreign? Luckily, we have a large team and are traveling with resident experts (we have five Ugandans on our team!)

Last week we had our last meeting to come together and prepare. We briefly went over our itinerary while we are there..and it already feels like it is going so fast! We arrive in Uganda Wednesday night, travel to the village of Bukigai on Thursday and will hopefully start construction on Friday! Most of our time during the following week will be spent with construction, a childrens art program and parenting workshops.

I ran into a man from my church yesterday at Nugget and he took the time to check in with me. He asked what I was most looking forward too. I would have to say the people and the culture! I am excited to experience new things and see how God is working amidst His sons and daughters in Uganda. I cannot wait to encounter God in a whole new way, especially due to my greater need for strength and guidance.

He also asked me if I was nervous for anything. The only thing I am truly worried about is the bugs. I was at my roommate's wedding this weekend and I now have 25 bug bites on my legs. Mosquitos love me, and I would hate to spend the whole time itching. I am also afraid of bugs....big bugs. They make my skin crawl just thinking about it.

This will be my last post for a while. I do not anticipate being able to post while I am uganda, but if I can, I will definitely take that opportunity to check in! Here are some prayer requests:

-my fear of bugs! and protection from the mosquitos
-depending on God for my strength and courage
-the chance to speak! May I be willing to be used by God in any way.
-selflessness: seek to serve those around me, especially my team!
-team unity and communication: always so important!

Thank you all for your continued prayer and support!!!

You are loved,
Liz

ONE MORE WEEK!

I cannot believe that a week from now I will be on my way to AFRICA. I have limited context to understand what I will be experiencing there. I am slightly nervous, but mostly REALLY excited.

A couple weeks ago we had a group training with all the mission teams from University Covenant Church. It was a great time of connecting and growing, learning about biblical conflict resolution, spiritual warfare and sharing our story. We had time to pray as a team and talk about the "rights" we were giving up as we go out on God's mission. It was a great day!

At the end, we were challenged to share our story in 30 seconds. As I was thinking about the reasons I was going on this trip, I was struck by how ready I was. And how unready I would have been only a year ago. A few years ago, my fear and doubts prevented me from even considering Africa as a destination. In the last year, I have grown so much. I have become more rooted in prayer and God's word, being able to recall scripture in times of need. I am learning how to choose trust over fear, and not dwell in those places of worry. Moreover, I am ready to preach God's word!! It wasn't until the past six months that God has put it on my heart to get up in front of people and talk about Him. While in Mexico for spring break, I gave my very first "talk" on community, and I really enjoyed it! Now I find myself going to Uganda, where I most likely will be doing some teaching, as well as sharing my story. While my experience is lacking, I trust that God will use me and my passion in any way that He can.

Lastly, my faith in God is stronger than ever. I trust him with everything, or at least to the best of my ability. I know that no matter what happens to me, God's plan and goodness will prevail. That is what I call putting my hope in Him. God's promise of hope is written throughout the bible. Here it is in Psalm 62 5-8:

Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
    my hope comes from him.
⁶ Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
    he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
⁷ My salvation and my honor depend on God^[c];
    he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
⁸ Trust in him at all times, you people;
    pour out your hearts to him,
    for God is our refuge.

May you find your hope and refuge in Him!

You are loved.

Liz

Fear.

Part of me is afraid God is going to call me to move to Africa.

This is probably because I have had more time to read the book Kisses from Katie, which is a story of a woman who gave up "everything" to move to Uganda. As I read her words and wrestle through God's commission to give Him everything, I come face-to-face with the number one enemy: FEAR. 

"Fear. It's part of human nature but its not something we got from God. Second Timothy 1:7 says: 'For God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind.'"

We all feel it, this burden of fear.

"We are afraid of change, of loss, of being hurt. We cling so tightly to what we have because we are afraid of what would happen if we didn't have these things anymore."

We fear what we do not know. We would rather stay in an hurtful situation that is known, than risk going into an unknown situation that would cause us to be uncomfortable. 

"But what if, just beyond that risk, just beyond the fear is a life better than anything we have ever imagined: life to the fullest."

I want that. I want life to its fullest. But to get there, I must move past the fear. My counselor once told me the only way to rid yourself of a fear is to feel it. You must experience it, tolerate it and learn how to live through it. Fears don't go away by avoiding them, but deciding to keep on going despite them. 

"We can let fear of something that really is small compared to the greatness of God cripple us...Life to the fullest exists. It's available. All we have to do is decide to get up and embrace it."

If only I could reach out and tangibly grab this full life. Too often I get stuck in this fear-ridden, comfort-seeking world, and all the expectations it has for me. Ultimately, I believe in a God who is more powerful than any of my fears. Sometimes, I start to think of Uganda and the big bugs, or the language barrier, or where I am going to go to the bathroom. Worry starts to build and I have learned to not dwell in that place of fear. I must quickly squash it with God's promises. God is with me, and goes before me. I will never leave his hands.

Maybe, just maybe, on the other side of my fears and hesitations is the life God has for me. Maybe, once I have the courage to tolerate and break through my fears, I will experience a joy unlike any other.  And maybe one day I will stumble across this full life, this life that God desires for me. 

You are loved.
Liz

We are free!

This post has very little, if nothing directly, to do with Uganda. But I HAVE to share.

My best friend and soul sister Jenny is coming with me to Africa. I am so excited to have her by my side as we travel across the world on this Jesus adventure. Last weekend, she shared her testimony at our church.

It was one of the greatest moments of my life!

(sorry for the poor quality!)

As she mentions in the video, it is crazy that she is up there, sharing in front of hundreds of people. This is just a small part of the great adventure God has had her on these past years. I am incredibly blessed to have been a part of it!

Learning to love Jenny through her darkest hours has been one of the hardest and most rewarding things I have ever done. Not only has God transformed her heart, but He has shown me what it means to love unconditionally, especially when I didn't want too.

God desires to set us free. I have been reading and re-reading Romans 8 lately. It talks all about the Holy Spirit and how with the Spirit, we are free.

¹⁴ For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.¹⁵ The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.^[f] And by him we cry, “Abba,^[g] Father.”

No longer are we slaves to this world- but we are free to live! I have seen how fear once entrapped Jenny, robbing her of joy and fulfillment. And I have seen how God can break every chain, peeling back each layer of hurt, pain and fear that was preventing her from giving and receiving love. I have witness spiritual healing in an unimaginable way- something you would have to see to believe!

Let us cry out to Him, our true Abba, as He desires to heal and free us!

Praise God.
You are loved!
Liz

God Provides.

Over and over, God provides.

He provides for my little, insignificant needs. He provides the most important fundamental needs, like community and love and unconditional acceptance.

Recently, He has been providing financially. This morning I had the opportunity to share at my church about how He has provided in times of need recently, and how that has encouraged me to give more to Him and His church. Here is a little bit of what I said:

"Over the past two years, I have been giving more regularly. But whenever I was low on funds, I would skip a month or two of my tithe.  Recently, I again felt convicted to become a better steward with my money by starting a budget plan. My sister was visiting a few weeks ago and she helped me set it up. Due to all the traveling, weddings and car payments recently, we realized that I had 42 dollars for the next 10 days when I would get paid again. Than the asked me the dreadful question: did you give your tithe for this paycheck. “No….But can’t I just starting giving my tithe next month??” Luckily, my sister and my two good friends held me accountable. So that next day I gave half of the 42 dollars to the church and was left with 22 dollars for ten days. I was unsure and worried that it wasn’t going to be enough. However, I knew my sister was right when she said: “God can do more with your 90% than you can do with your 100%”

            And God provided. That same night, my friend Katie, who was visiting, felt compelled to give me $25 dollars, without knowing my financial situation at all. So in the matter of hours, my allowance had doubled. A few days later, one of my customers at the coffee shop came in, on a day I wasn’t even suppose to be working, and handed my coworker and I a 20 dollar bill. He stated nonchalantly- “I have been meaning to give this you, it’s a tip. Id rather just hand it to you than put it in the tip jar.” So now I was at 67 dollars, with a week left to go. That same night, my friend gave me 25 more dollars because she had owed me money, which I had forgotten to account for in my original budget. Within a week, God had tripled my original amount!"

 Not only that, but I am thrilled to report that I am FULLY FUNDED! God did another crazy thing- a couple for my church, who have been a huge part of my community and encouragement here in Davis, had waited a while before they decided the extent they wanted to support me. When they checked in with me on Wednesday, I had reached $3000 dollars out of my $3500 goal. In his typical fashion, this friend nonchalantly stated: do you want us to finish it off for you?

Uhh..what? You mean like give me $500 dollars?!? I was blown away, and I first I responded in pride and said no. That is too much. I can't take that. But eventually I said: I want as much as you two have decided in your hearts to give me. "That was the amount we decided upon." 

God had already prepared their hearts to give me the 500 dollars before they even knew I needed it. They planned to give me the exact amount that I needed. CRAZY, right?!?

God is so good. He provides. Over and over again.

You are loved,

Liz

PS- Thank you for each and every one of you who have donated to my trip. Thank you for participating in what God has for me in Uganda. I am so glad you get to be a part of it with me!!