Africa Mimi Nakupenda

Zambian Flag

So... I'm going to Africa. This is something I've been waiting for ever since I was at least 8, maybe younger. To see the details of the trip being fleshed out is strange but very exciting! :) I praise God for providing for me as I get ready to go to Zambia for 12 weeks this summer. Right now I am enrolled in a Missions class here at Bryan which is a class taken by all of The Acts Project interns. We have been reading articles, listening to sermons, gathering for class, and praying with each other as we learn what it looks like to carry the message of the Gospel across cultures. We meet in one of the professors homes so it is a very unique environment seeing as how it is a college course. We have studied some of the history and theology of missions and now we are getting into more of the study of what it looks like for us personally to live in another culture. It is so encouraging to get to meet weekly with other students who are going to experience many of the things I will get to experience this summer. Lately, I have had times where I would get overwhelmed at thinking how different the culture is going to be while I'm there. Today I read Joshua 1:7-9 which says

"Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This Book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."

Please pray that I will keep my eyes focused on God because he is going before me and I don't need to be afraid. He commands us over and over not to be afraid. In the first chapter of Joshua the Israelites are told 4 times to be strong and courageous! I think that means I should listen up as well. ;) 

Don't get me wrong, I am super excited about this trip! God is going to do so much! Yesterday I touched base with the team in Zambia and found out more of what it will be like living there and working for Operation Mobilization. Throughout this semester I have been meeting with a friend who went on the same trip last year and she has been teaching me about the culture and praying with me. God has generously blessed me with her encouragement and support. He has also given me more hours with my on campus jobs this semester when I probably needed it the most and he is also sending people to support me financially for my trip. So I have much to be thankful for. Praise God for carrying me through this semester! :)

Lastly, here is a song about Africa that I discovered a few years ago. The song is called "Africa" by Paul Coleman Trio. The phrase "Africa mimi nakupenda" is actually swahili I think (which is not what they speak in Zambia), but it means "Africa, I love you."

~Jessica