PSALM 84

10/29 Today we drove up to the mountains of Ngozi. I was sparkling with anticipation because this was the portion of the trip I had been looking forward to before we even left the States. The drive was filled with beautiful scenery and some comic moments like the bicyclists holding onto a propane truck to pull them up the mountain, and the man holding a literal leg of meat on his head as he rode passenger on a bike up the mountain. The day wasn't just filled with anticipation because of our journey, but because of something that had taken place around 2 in the morning.  I had suddenly awakened from my sleep with such a start, I knew I was about to be ill. After rushing to the bathroom only to find it was a false alarm, I returned to my bed perplexed. I wondered why I had been so suddenly awakened. As I laid there and did not drift back to sleep, I came to the conclusion that it was time to pray. Strange thing is, usually it's 3 AM when I am awakened for such b...

10/26 Last night after the glorious and inspirational service at Oasis, we noticed an announcement on the screen.  6am  service M-F. Since we were staying across the street, a teammate and I asked if we could pretty please visit again. What an invigorating way to begin the day with corporate prayer, praise and worship, and then an exhortation from the Word! I thought, "man I could get used to this!" Church before work everyday. It was a refreshing start to the day.  Unfortunately my good spirits didn't last. Today was a day that the flesh wrestled for control. It began when one of my old wounds was poked. I felt left out and rejected! Only girl on the team that can't sing, so I was assigned to pray. The thing is, I love to pray and intercede, but that didn't change the fact that I felt rejected. The teammate that I was paired up with for prayer wasn't openly enthusiastic either so I had two choices. Humble myself and pray or pout and not pray. Who...

10/24/13 This is the day that all of our activities are starting to blur together. It's also the day that some things that  have already happened are taking on a greater significance.  Our first full day here, we had a leadership seminar. Don't tell, but I felt like it was just for me! Can you imagine flying all the way to Burundi for a leadership seminar with people from NYC? But God has been speaking to me about leadership, so it was no surprise to find myself front row, taking notes. ;) After the seminar we went to a park to join in a gathering of youth from Alice's church. One thing I really like about people's names here is that they have weighty spiritual meanings. Thank God, Faith in God, One Who Loves God- are the English translations of the Kirundi I didn't learn to pronounce. When I was in Ethiopia I was given an Amharic name, Brutakan, which means orange. When I was in Zambia I was given the name Aunty Brittain. I wonder what my name will be her...

On the plane to Johannesburg I dreamed that I was on a plane headed to Jacksonville. I was sad because I felt we hadn't done anything on the whole trip to Burundi. It was like that was it?! Hm the expectation for what awaits! Not an expectation in man, nor plans, but in God to be phenomenal! Extravagant! Himself.  10/20/13 We have arrived! After fighting with the mosquito net for about 5 minutes I am ready to go to sleep. God is interesting. Why here? Why Burundi?  We will see. It smells like Nepal and it is very simple so far. Simple and peaceful.  10/21/13  I got to play the background. There were no microphone stands, so another team member and I held the microphones for the Burundian singers at the leadership seminar. Our role in the body of Christ  is no doubt a supporting role to someone else's...  http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp_JUGxAvaY&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DBp_JUGxAvaY 10/22/13 I really miss children? I don't k...