Back in America

Yesterday at 2:26pm

So, our group is back home. Well, most of the group is back home. Lucas decided to stay in Malawi because the Lord called him to keep preaching to the new believers in the bush ministry.

What an amazing week we had. 50 people were baptized, showing a profession of faith. Numerous others prayed the prayer of salvation in the villages. Hundreds of kids came all week to Vacation Bible School. We even got a chance to witness to a few people when we were traveling back to America.

God was moving all week. I am reminded of our share nights from last week where we would talk about all kinds of different times where God revealed himself to us. I don't think that God moved in that way by accident. Seeds were planted and we will never know how those seeds are going to grow until the Lord decides to show us.

A few of us have expressed having a hard time coming back. We joked around saying "ah, I wanna bring those kids in my luggage back to America." Even though we know we can't do that, there is some truth to saying that. However, even though we can't physically bring the kids back with us, it doesn't mean that their memories are any less vivid to us.

Today, as I was going through pictures on my computer, I just got a deep feeling of joy. Seeing their smiling faces on my computer gave me a peace that they would be fine. They are in a loving environment in that orphanage. John and Lee Ann are doing a great job of loving on those kids and teaching them Godly principles. Those kids will be fine without us. They will still sing the songs of joy and study the Bible every night. They will still smile and laugh and play soccer. They will still braid hair and dance.

The question that fills my mind now is "what should I do now?" Now that I have seen the things in Africa and experienced the culture and seen how God moves, what do I do with that? Well, it's pretty simple. I just keep doing what we did last week. We trusted God to use us as his vessels and pour out his love all over whoever we would talk to. As John said, "The Bible says to LET your light shine before men, not MAKE your light shine." So, just let the love of God run out of us and try to stay out of the way.

The biggest problem I had in my life before I came was a timidness and a shyness to share my faith and talk about God to people. This trip has given me boldness and courage to share with people. I talked about Jesus to complete strangers who didn't even speak my language. I prayed, I rejoiced, I laughed, I read the Bible, and praised God for the work he had done. This is what I need to keep doing, now that I am back from Africa. I can't go back to the way I lived my life in the past. I have seen too many things and seen lives broken before God.

To go back to the way I lived before, standing idly by, is unacceptable. I hope to be bold before God and proclaim the just, graceful, loving, merciful sacrifice of Jesus Christ to people I meet in America. You don't have to travel halfway around the world to witness to people about Jesus.

Travel around your city, or your neighborhood, maybe even your living room. There are lost people all around us and the devil uses distractions such as wealth, fame, pride, the media and all kinds of other things to lead us away from our brokenness and sinfulness and need for a savior.

In Africa, the spiritual warfare is very visible, but in America it is slipped under the rug and hidden. The devil is sly in the way he deceives us and distracts us from our need for God and we need to be faithful and work with God to proclaim the need for him. So, hopefully, I will be able to stay on fire for God and proclaim is perfect and undying love for us and the sacrifice he made.

God is going to do work. The question we have to ask ourselves is this.

Are we going to be the ones he is going to work through or are we going to stand on the sidelines and say "let someone else do it"?

-Troy (from Facebook)