I returned to the States last Friday and had the worst flight of my life ha. Twenty minutes into my flight from Nairobi to Amsterdam I started throwing up. Twas the longest flight of my life! But anyways, I'm back safe and sound and adjusting to life back in the States. It's been weird. My heart is still very much in Africa and my life just doesn't seem as important. The things I have to do on a daily basis, the jobs I have to get done, they just don't resonate like they used too. Not sure if that's a good or bad thing, but whenever I start to stress about life, I think about the Saint Boys. I think about them everyday. Those faces will forever be burned into my mind. Their love and their lives inspire me. I see God's love through those boys. They stole my heart the minute I saw them. I'm still processing a lot from the trip but I will say my experience in Africa prioritized a lot in my life. It humbled and grounded me and helped me to see the truth about why I am on this earth. I'm here to praise and fight for my King, Jesus Christ and to serve his Saints. God knew what He was doing by brining me to Kenya, and I am so thankful. So with that I figured I'd share a brief story about how God brought me to Kenya. It glorifies Him, and hey, my life is about doing just that : )
I've always wanted to go to Africa. I can't tell you why, but I've always had that desire. God has given me an adventurous heart and I've always wanted to see the world. Anyways, last year I was one click away from submitting my application to study abroad in Senegal West Africa for a semester abroad through a program at UofM. I was stoked. It was a dream come true, I was dead set on going. I had all the references, I met the GPA requirement, I was literally one click away from submitting my application and partaking in what I thought would be a trip of a lifetime. Another thing I've always desired were friends. Guys who I connected with and could do life with, you know "my boys". I hadn't found those men since transferring to UofM and it resulted in a long, lonely first year and a half at UofM. So I prayed. And prayed. As I was reading through the gospels one day it suddenly dawned on me that, "Hey, Jesus had his disciples, He lived life with these guys and poured His life into them, I need that too if I'm going to grow in character and grow in my faith." So I prayed some more. Well....God came through in a big way.
I decided to participate in our church's leadership training program, commonly known as LT last summer. I was counting on God to provide for friends but honestly had given up hope. In short, God provided. God provided beyond anything I could ever imagine. I met five guys in my small group that will forever play big roles in my life, and are shaping me into the man I am today. Literally, God answered a direct prayer. I spent many, many nights last summer just crying tears of thankfulness for how good God is and how much He had blessed me with those guys (Josh, Matt, Alex, Mike, Brim-love you men). So I meet these fellas and it dawns on me that, "Oh yeah, I want to go to Africa and leave for a semester." Really? I just had a desire fulfilled, I finally have friends and I'm supposed to go away for a semester? I was challenged by several friends to pray about the decision, and to consider not going to Senegal and choosing to stay in Ann Arbor, to be in community with these guys and grow in my character and faith. Sounds good in theory, but come on, I wanted to go to Africa! (It's funny to me how needy I can be with God. He blesses me, yet I still want more..oh how my life is filled with daily repentance haha). After consulting with many people, and praying earnestly to the Lord I decided to not study abroad and stay in Ann Arbor. I'd be lying to you if I didn't regret that decision at times. Thoughts crossed my mind such as. "You'll never be able to travel again. You've missed out on an awesome opportunity. Stop playing it safe, take a chance, etc." And it was tough at times. But at the beginning of the year I wrote down several things that I had a desire for God to do. Basically desires on my heart (I'd encourage you all who are still reading this to do this sometime. It's awesome to see how God blesses you with desires you've always had or ones you didn't even know you had). So I wrote down, "I'd like to go to Africa" knowing that I'd just turned down that opportunity.
Wellllll.....as you all know I did go. And as you know, it was a trip of a lifetime. This post is not to say that I did anything special or anything worthy at all for God's blessings (believe me, I am not worthy) but it shows how good our God is, and how He does care about our desires. His own desire is that we would delight in Him, believe in Him, and submit our lives to Him. He desperately wants to love us and give us a full life. Life won't be easy. God will put us through trials to sharpen, chisel and perfect our heart and faith.
Hebrews 12:5-6 "And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."
God will do whatever it takes to get our heart back from the "things" we've lost it too. He will do this because He loves us and knows we will only find true happiness if we lose our life and find it in him (Matthew 16:25).
Again, I just love this story because God truly fulfilled a desire on my heart. He brought me to Africa not because I did anything, but because of His great love for me. He deserves all the credit and glory.
Jesus says in John 10: 9-11, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may life and have it to the full.
God wants to give us our heart's desires as long as He's number one. He knows what we need more than we do (believe me, I never know what the hell I need) and I am time and time again left in awe at how beautiful, powerful, strategic and merciful our God is.
I'll share one more verse. This came on my heart about mid way through the trip to Africa.
Philippians 3:8-9, "What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ- the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith."
Beautiful stuff. Okey dokey, prayer requests
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| These boys will forever have a part of my heart. |
-Pray for Chris and Lindy (their blog) Their baby is due any minute now. Pray for safety and health for Lindy and the baby boy and for the new chapter in their lives. Pray for their ministry also. Pray for God's blessings and for Him to continue to move in the saint boys' lives.
-Pray for the Saint boys. I saw a video posted on Chris and Lindy's blog today of them and just started crying. Those kids are incredible. I miss them a ton. Pray for God's guidance in their lives. Pray for blessings on their future and for God to protect them. Those kids change lives.
That's it for now. Look forward to write again about what God is doing and to send more prayer requests. Thanks again everyone. God bless!
-cam
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