Dear Melana,
This feels weird, writing myself a letter, but I a going to anyway so you don't leave this place and forget what you learned. When you get home life will begin to move at a different pace. My biggest fear is that the things you have learned here, the new convictions you feel, that they will only be seeds with weak roots that easily get swept away by the winds of life. No, I want the things you have learned here to be long lasting, and deeply rooted. I want you to continue to grow them once you are home so that the changes you make are lifelong.
Do you remember how you felt prior to coming to Africa? You were nervous, yet you were allowing God to lead you on an amazing journey outside your comfort zone. Isn't it funny to think about that now? As I sit here sipping African tea, ants crawling all over me, and the power out, I am surprisingly comfortable. In fact I love my mornings here. What I want you to take from this is to not let fear get in the way. God can do amazing things when you let him lead you outside your comfort zone. The coolest part is many times he takes what was once uncomfortable and he makes it comfortable. That is how you grow Melana, I don't want you to ever stop growing, learning, and being challenged in your faith. Never be afraid to follow Gods lead, in fact let him take lead in every part of your life.
I have seen you grow on this trip in many ways, but one of the biggest is boldness. I have witnesses boldness in many facets of your life. You preached the gospel to people in rural africa who had never heard about Jesus before, and you got to pray with them as they accepted him as the Lord and Savior of their lives. Imagine if you hadn't been bold?? God may put you in situations that are nervewracking but if he is leading you to be bold never be afraid to act on it. Awesome things come out of boldness in Christ!!
Proverbs 28V1 "The wicked man flees though no one pursues, but the righteous are as BOLD as a lion."
Be bold about the things Jesus has done in your life. Tell your story. If you can share your testimony in front of hundreds of Ugandans in rural Africa, then you can do it anywhere. On this trip you were not only bold with your faith, you were bold with your fears. The old Melana would NEVER have been bold enough to bungee jump 145 feet until completely being submerged in the Nile. Heck no!! I mean for heaven sake you can't even make it to the top of Multnomah falls!! Talk about a girl who is afraid of heights?!?! You learned to give ALL your fears to God and you know what he gave you??? Bold courage....you jumped off that platform like a pro!! Keep being bold like a lion, don't ever let fear hold you back.
Lets face it, you are an easy person to read. Someone can tell what you are feeling by just looking at you. This isn't always a bad thing, but often times your face has "bad attitude" written all over it, and usually for small, petty, and selfish reasons. I want to change this. Philippians 2V5 "Your attitude should be the same as Christ Jesus." You know what this means Melana? Stop complaining, you have it SO good!! Take a step back and look at the reasons you are having a bad attitude, I bet you they are rooted in selfishness. Learn to live life with a smile, an attitude that reflects Jesus. Think about when you were in Africa not everything you did was fun. Like the seven hour bus rides packed with smelly people, bumps that sent you flying out of your seat, and chickens running wild. Not an ideal situation but when you took on the unpleasant with a good attitude it can drastically change your experience. Think about Victor who would fix your toilet, mop the floors, and take out the trash with such joy! Be a person who lives joyfully no matter the task. Bad attitudes not only make a poor experience for you but for everyone around you. So start smiling girl!!
Another thing I want you to take away from this journey is patience. Melana think about the times you stayed up all night cuddling sick crying babies. It would have been easy to set them in their cribs, let them cry, and go to bed. You didn't though, you stuck it out, you were patient with them, you loved them. Think about the long bus rides, the 2 hour waits to get food, "Ugandan time" in general. Don't go back to your inpatient ways; "The internet is taking forever to load", "This line is taking too long", "How long will this traffic take???" Be patient.
Be generous. You have been blesses with so much, yet so often you are slow to give. Be a person who gives Melana, don't store up treasures here on earth. Materials they don't last, so don't hold on to them like they do, give to the one who asks from you and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. Think about the huts you visited, how badly they wanted to give to you. In the sense of materials they were lacking, yet they were willing to cheerfully give the little they had to you. But in the sense of generosity they were prospering something you greatly need to grow in. Their is a joy in giving. Remember the smiles on the kids faces at the orphanage when you gave them bags of toys when prior they had none. Remember giving new Bibles to people and their giddyness and excitement? Remember what it was like to give, cause I tell you it is far better than selfishly spending your money and time. In 2 Corinthians 9 it talks about how God loves a cheerful giver. Melana, be a person who gives cheerfully.
Give out of a grateful heart, because you have been so blessed. May this experience make you more grateful for the things that you have, the opportunities, and the people in your life. When you catch yourself being ungrateful remember all the things you saw here. People struggling to feed their families, kids getting water to drink from dirty ditches on the side of the road, children without clothes, sick people without the ability to seek medical care, many who long to go to school but can't afford it. Think of these things, set your view on the bigger picture. Learn to be content with what you have, and run far from the mentality of always wanting more.
Another thing I don't want you to forget is the power of prayer. Continue to be faithful in prayer!! You saw its power; the sick be healed, the jobless find work, those walking in sin find conviction, a man pursuing witchcraft find Jesus, the alcoholic sober up. Jesus has power and prayer changes things! Pray hard!!!
Lastly learn to love people well. Everyone receives love in different ways, and it may not be in the same way as you. Take the time to learn people well so you can love them in the best way. Think about baby Ray, you learned how to calm him down when he cried, you knew his favorite position to sleep, the face he made when he was hungry, the temperature he best liked his bottle. You learned him and thats how you loved him. Do this with people in your life, love them well!!
This doesn't even begin to sum up the things you learned here, but I hope when you look back and read this it reminds you and encourages you in the things the Lord has been teaching you during your time here. May the seeds planted in your heart grow and grow, and may the foundation of your life always be Jesus!!!
