Today was my 18th birthday. It was also my first birthday in Africa. To start to day off we went to Lusaka houses 3-4 and walked to church with the kids from those houses. Walking to church I received my first “marriage proposal”…make that, my first several marriage proposals. Nearly every van driver that drove past us was leaning out his window yelling out proposals to the “Mzungos”…(white people, or westerners). Yes, it was very interesting. Of course, we all “politely” ignored them.
The service was drastically different from that of the churches back home. For starters, the service was 4 hours long! The longest church service I’ve ever been to! The second thing that made it so different is the worship style. In America we worship calmly and quietly, each keeping to themselves. But here there is jumping, screaming, songs being shouted out, people with their arms in the air, crying, laughing, dancing and kneeling before God. It is incredible chaos! They are so filled with the Holy Spirit that they let loose and don’t care how they worship. It is such an open, fun, crazy way to worship! I love it!
The third thing that makes them stick out is the sermon. The pastor at this particular church is not afraid to speak the truth! He is open, strict, and very adamant about telling the truth even if it means offending people. That’s something a lot of American churches are missing. When you can find a good, hardcore, truth speaking pastor, they are few and far between! Our home church has that kind of pastor, but in many churches that’s not the case.
After church we went back to the office where we ordered pizza for lunch and chilled on the internet for the rest of the day. In the evening we headed back to our dorms where the other girls made dinner, while I had some much needed quiet time with the Lord. During dinner my sweet friends surprised me a cake and a card for my birthday. It was a really enjoyable evening. We were able to hang out and bond as a team while we ate and cleaned the kitchen together. It was a really neat time that knit us together as a team.
Sitting here tonight, I still cannot believe that I am sitting in Africa…on my 18th birthday….exactly what God promised me. Years ago I remember God telling me that I was called to go when I was 18, and I knew it would be when I was newly 18, but I didn’t realize He meant I would be here when I turned 18. I can see that He had this planned all along, even when I did not know it. His ways truly are higher then my ways, and His thoughts higher then my thoughts! (Isaiah 55:8)
I can now see that God in control of my life more fully then I ever thought He was! He obviously has every minute, of every day, of every month, of every year of my entire life mapped out to the most minuscule detail! He truly is the Master and Lord of my entire life!!! He is walking the trail before me, marking the path that I am to follow, and I know without a doubt, when I am walking in His footprints, I will never falter from my purpose in life. It is undeniable. This is the plan that was purposed long before my birth, and nothing and no one can stand against the purposes of the Most High! (Isaiah 14:27)
“For the glory of God!”
"“But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.”
Psalm 33:11
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