Still having fun...

Just in case you were worried, here are some pictures to show you that I am having FUN here...never a dull moment here in Namibia.

These are some girls from the Rehoboth High hostels one afternoon while we were spending time with them. They are amazingly talented at braiding hair, and they convinced Jaydon and Courtney to sit for them so they could braid theirs! (I have yet to be persuaded)

Some of the girls on our team had quite an African adventure...we rode standing up in the back of a pick-up to some farmland...I felt like I was in the Lion King. It was an absolute blast!

Never have I been so excited for ice cream in my whole life! We made a trip to Windhoek last weekend and had a mid-morning delicious treat!

This is not too uncommon to see... Cars stuck in the river. The river with no water, that is.

The road to Kwakwas is a bumpy one. This was our third flat tire in four weeks.

Miss you all, love you all, and praying that these posts find you living with joy and purpose in Christ,

Kristen

If only I can love while it lasts...

What do I have to offer here?

It’s a question I have asked myself many times over in the last several weeks… there have been many moments of feeling inadequate in the face of the needs that I am surrounded by. There has been fear of failure, as I see the many problems, hurting people, and un-loved children, and wonder if I can succeed even a little bit in being of any lasting help here.

In my mind, coming to Africa with the purpose of serving for eight months on the “mission field” has carried the idea that life should somehow be more intentional here…that I would suddenly be equipped with all these new ideas and even the right words to say as I am faced with so many new situations.

But the conclusion I’ve come to is that just because I have a specific 'ministry assignment' here doesn’t make the purpose of my life any different than it was back home, or anywhere else for that matter. It doesn’t mean that suddenly I know the secret to success in ministry either.

The purpose of my life is the same that it has been from the beginning of time…to glorify God, to worship Him for who He is, and to love Him at all costs so that I might display His beauty to a hungry world. Yes, this purpose remains the same. But something has changed in my heart here in Namibia: my attitude of intentionality in living out this purpose. Being out of my element, in a different culture, with my eyes wide open to the desperate need of this place to know Christ has allowed me to desire to be far more intentional in the way I live.

However, this change in my heart has also brought about a greater fear of failing… What if I try THIS hard, and still, no one comes to know Jesus? What if I try with all my might, and still, none of my students learn to read? What if I try SO hard, and still, none of the high school students I build relationships with care about getting to know Jesus anymore than they did when I began? And so on. These thoughts scare me…I don’t want to fail at this.

But this week, God has reminded me over again that more than anything I can do, I must learn to love in every situation. To love people in a way that points them to Jesus Christ, my hope, my strength, my life, and the source of my love. So even when I wonder if I will have the words to say, the knowledge to teach, the understanding to impart, I know that Christ in me has unending love to give. How I have been reminded in the face of my fear… “LOVE never fails.” (1 Corinthians 13:8)

How sweet to know that each day cannot then be a failure, if only we can love while it lasts. Jim Elliot reminded me this week:

“I learned to recognize no ‘spiritual planes’ but simply to love, purely, in every group…So whether knowledge tends to swell me up, or the despair of the flesh would make me shrivel up, the love of Christ holds me together. Any little occasion then has meaning, if only I can love while it lasts.”

And so how can I love well in practical ways if that’s the one guarantee that I cannot fail? I have discovered that I must continually remind myself of what it means to love people: to point them to what will satisfy them, give them hope and life and joy… to point them to Christ.

So I ask myself the one question that never gets old: “How can I point to Christ here, in this situation, with this person, in this moment?” The answer will be different every time…it will take creativity, imagination, and intentionality.

I must live life this way no matter where I find myself, in every season of life—not just here on the mission field.

May our eyes be opened to the desperate need of people EVERYWHERE who don’t know the Savior. The need is there…we just need to see it, be broken for it, and long to give our lives away so that Jesus may be known.
I’m so encouraged to know that wherever life finds us, we are united in God’s great purpose for our lives. That no place is more ‘special’ than another—that the calling we have should always drive us to live intentionally, loving others by pointing them to Jesus Christ. That’s the only thing we can do in this life that will last.

Please pray this week that God would give us minds of creative imagination that can learn how to love and how to point to Christ in every situation…

Other ways you can be praying:

-For the group of high school girls that I have been getting to know from one of the high school in town. God has provided many opportunities for wonderful conversations…pray that He would work in the hearts of these young women and give them a hunger to know Him in their hearts.

-For the children at Kwakwas- that God would open up their hearts to an understanding of His love for them, and open up their minds with a desire to learn. (Many of them lack this desire in a a major way).

-For my relationships with the other teachers at Kwakwas- that we would be able to work together in the best interests of the children there.

Thanks for your faithful prayers...
Much love,
Kristen

Each one of them has a story...

I wanted to share some pictures of the kids at Kwakwas Primary School. God is growing in me an incredible love for these kids. There are hard and frustrating and seemingly fruitless days. But there are also days of amazing blessing, laughter, and joy. They are great kids. They also have a lot of struggles. I have been reminded this week that each of them has a story... that behind every behavior problem, learning disability, or disrespectful attitude is a child who needs LOVE...love from the only one who can never fail them...Jesus Christ. So even when I don't know how to handle some of the situations that come up, I do know that I can offer them the love that I have received from Christ.

This is me with most of the grade four class. They are absolutely wonderful kids who need so much love and support.

This is Dios working on a collage of the things he likes... Art and pictures help communication between us in incredible ways!

The boys LOVE to play soccer, and were so excited to receive new soccer balls, sent from a church in Idaho! They kept saying, "It's a beautiful ball. A beautiful ball!"

Please join me in praying for these kids...that above any other knowledge they may gain, that they would have an understanding in their hearts of their Savior's love for them.

All Who've Gone Before Me...

(incredibly slow internet has kept me from posting this until today... tried to post it on Saturday! sorry for the delay!)
.....
‘But when I think of all who’ve gone before me and lived the faithful life,
Their courage compels me…’

The lyrics above come from a song by Sara Groves called “When the Saints.” It has become one of my favorite songs, and since I have been here in Namibia, the words have been an incredible inspiration to me to be faithful and mindful of the purpose God has given His followers. The song speaks of feeling a heavy burden for pouring your life out for the gospel and for God’s glory, but feeling like most of the time it is more than you can carry.

The longer I have been here in Rehoboth and seen the need for the solid truth of the Gospel demonstrated in more ways than I could have ever imagined, the more inadequate and unequipped I have felt to accomplish anything lasting. I feel “new” at everything…teaching, the language, the culture, and even the sub-culture of the church-going community here. I feel like I don’t know where to begin, or how to make my contributions to the community somehow transferable so that when I leave, I don’t leave a hole unfilled that I formed myself. It does, at times, feel like a burden more than I can carry.

But the song goes on to remember so many of the faithful saints who have poured our their lives for Christ…who have looked to the reward set before them and endured persecution, trials, seasons of weariness, hardships, times that were seemingly fruitless, and even death because JESUS was worth it to them. It has grown within me an understanding and confident belief that giving your life away for the sake of the Gospel is more beautiful than anything else we could ever do with our lives. As I look to those who have gone before me, I am inspired to work harder than ever to pour my life out for the sake of the Gospel…to pour my life out for others as I attempt to love them with Christ’s love and share hope and truth from the Word of God.

I have been reading the biography of Jim Elliot, Shadow of the Almighty by Elisabeth Elliot. He is no-doubt a saint who has gone before us and lived a FAITHFUL life. I am blown away by this man’s faithfulness to Christ and his desire to live completely and totally sold out to His Savior. The excerpts from his journals and letters communicate such a deep love and dedication to the Lord that has left me wanting to be BETTER. To love Christ with a deeper love. To know and understand His Word more. To pray for many to come to know Christ at any cost to myself.

A quote from one of his journals has challenged me in a huge way this week:
“Father, make of me a crisis man. Bring those I contact to decision. Let me not be a milepost on a single road; make me a fork, that men must turn one way or another upon facing Christ in me.”
His desire that Christ in him radiated a light so strong that people must make a decision on what they believe about who Jesus is—it inspires me to work harder to know Jesus more and share him with others at every possible opportunity- in every word I speak, how I walk, how I talk, how I act, how I love…HOW I LIVE.

And so I am encouraged that even though there will be trials, times of weariness, and seemingly fruitless times, I recognize it as well worth it, knowing that it is for the glory of God in my life and in the lives of others.
“In this, you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory, at the revelation of Jesus Christ”.
1 Peter 1:6-7

I know in this post I have not shared an exciting story or a list of happenings…but I pray that in sharing what God has been teaching me, you have been encouraged along with me that giving our lives away for the gospel is the most satisfying way we can live on this earth. My gratitude for your prayers continues to grow. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your love through prayer.

Prayer Specifics:
-That God will provide opportunities for conversations and opportunities to share truth clearly and boldly, with confidence and that through it all, love would shown to each person.
-Pray for my creativity and ideas as I work hard to teach the kids at Kwakwas (the farm school), and for opportunities to share truth in ways they can understand in spite of the language barrier. That they would see truth in the way that I love them.
-One of the high schools in town has many students who live at school in a hostel. They have a rigid schedule, which means that they even have the same ‘hang out time’ every evening on the sports field. Mackenzie and I plan on making regular visits during this time to get to know the students there…pray that we would build relationships quickly and share Christ with many.

And let me appropriately close this post like the song ends… :)
“And when the saints go marching in, I want to be one of them.”

God, give us the great privilege of pouring our lives out for your glory. Give us the strength that MUST come from you in order to do so. Thank you for your grace and goodness in the lives of the many who have gone before us and lived a life faithful to you until the end…thank you for their example and inspiration in my life. I want my life…and the lives of these precious friends and family who are reading…to count for your glory, Jesus.
Amen.

Getting to know my team...

Here are a few more pics of the team members... What an encouragement to be here in community!

This is the rest of our AIM Rehoboth team. From back left Paul and Ruth Rowell, Mackenzie, Me, Catherine, Jaydon Rowell

Bottom left: Cathi, Steph, Heidi, and Courtney Rowell

Missing from the picture: Amanda, Molly Bea, and Alli

Here is the small team on our first day in Rehoboth. What an appropriate picture!