Saying Goodbye

6.13.08

The time has come to say goodbye…I can’t believe my four weeks are already over. It will be harder to say goodbye than I had anticipated. When I arrived here a month ago, it was a difficult time for me…I missed my family, I felt every day of my absence very deeply, and I was ready to head home. But God remains faithful and knew that even that was a part of His teaching me the deeper lessons of what it means to follow Him and to yield to His leading. I have been faced with so many emotions and different situations; I have experienced the frustration of a language barrier, the sorrow of watching the lost die, the joy and ache of playing with those who are without parents and rejected by the world, the excitement of working along side the team as God grows the ministry here, the accomplishment of idea gathering and watching the children of the church grasp onto God’s truths, the successes of functioning in a city where I once felt alone and lost, the need to see and touch my family, the peace in knowing that God has placed a desire in my heart for His purposes, an anticipation of waiting for Him to show me, a sadness in saying goodbye. In all of this I saw Jesus, I felt His tears, I looked in His eyes, I touched His face….He was in the laughter and the giggles of the children, He was in the desperation of the homeless, He was in the room of the dieing….I experienced Jesus during this trip like I have never before! Each moment and memory I want to cling to, each face I want etched into my heart and across my mind…I do not want to forget all that He showed me…I do not want to forget all that He spoke to me….I do not want to forget!

To see more pictures of my trip:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=125195&l=7e84d&id=551790426