The beginings of something BIG!

This afternoon I had the honor of speaking at a luncheon to raise support for the Center for Sport, Peace, and Society. We are trying to create a center on campus that would be an extension of what we are already doing as far as sport and peace building. Our hopes are to expand our service learning course with the refugees to include more departments on campus and hopefully eventually have the opportunities for study abroad using sport to help in different areas of the world. The luncheon today was our way of getting the information about the center out and in the hands of people who can make it happen. It went so well, and two members of the audience openly voiced their support and encouraged others to jump in fast. I really believe amazing things can and will come of this. I am so thankful God has allowed me to be a part of it! I have so many moments where I am in awe of what He is doing, and I seriously wonder how in the world I ended up in the middle of it! God has been so gracious to drop me here in the midst of something great. if anyone would like to know more about the center and what it is or will do please just ask. I would love to share more with each of you!

It is now my second week of school. Honestly I have been rather bored in my classes. I always thought it would be a good idea to take all my hard classes first and save the easy ones for Sr. year. Well, that just means the easy ones are even easier since you've already learned most of the material in the hard classes. My biology 140 classes spent almost an hour going over electrons, protons, and neutrons and the bonds they create to make molecules. I mean it is a freshman level class, but for someone who just finished a year's worth of organic chemistry I could have spend that time doing much more meaningful things. My other classes are going well, none are hard but I'm hoping they will present a little more of a challenge than my biology class. I really don't want my brain to turn to mush! Outside of class, working with the soccer team is great! I still only know a few names but I 'm having fun and don't mind being there all the time. Many doors have already been opened for some great conversations and I know God has me here to be a constant reflection of His glory! This Weekend we are hosting Florida, Texas Tech, and UCLA. There's going to be alot of soccer going on! It's going to be fun!

And life goes on . . .

Today started the beginning of my senior year of college. I think it would mean more if it were actually my last year of school instead of my last year of undergrad. Its hard to get excited when I still have at least 7 more years of school beyond UT. It hasn't even been a week since I arrived home from Zimbabwe, and I have already jumped head first into athletic training and school. Yesterday I sat on the side of the Lady Vol soccer field watching our girls practice in one of the best women's soccer facilities in the nation. They all had matching cleats, socks, shorts, and practice jerseys. Only a week ago I had watched as girls only a little younger then they had played barefoot on a hole-infested field.They had no jerseys or cleats with which to play. They were only content that they had the chance to play. You know, with this being my fourth trip to Africa I thought I wouldn't really get culture shock. I mean I've seen this kind of poverty before but every time I hate coming home to what this American culture has become. Honestly, I think it hurts the most this time around. I don't want to be here caught up in everyday life. It's really hard for me to focus on school and helping with the soccer team. Well, it's really hard for me to even think right now. But, life goes on and God has me here right now for a reason. No matter how much my heart aches, I have to refocus on my mission field here. Please pray that I would be faithful to renew my mind daily, or even hourly if needed. That I would take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ and give Him complete control.

Tree of Life

Church in Africa is rather different than church in the U.S. For starters, if you want people to show up by 10 you should tell them 9, and then just plan on having a late lunch because there is no telling when you'll be done. We prepared for a 2 and a half hour service where I would lead a few songs and Sarah our leader would share a message from Exodus. The rest of the time would be filled with any songs they wanted to teach us or just singing together. This was our plan, but God had something else in mind. When we pulled up in our massive vehicle, the whole village knew we were there, and the children came running. Our service was full of children with a few adults and some of the girls we were there to work with. We started singing some children's Bible songs and then decided to redo the message to better accommodate the number of children there. Sarah told of Noah's ark and had the children act it out as she told it. She then explained the message and meaning behind the story. After church, we tried to just play more with the children, but as we got our balls and equipment out, some of the men in the village confronted us angry because they were not given balls or anything. So we put the equipment up and just talked and hung out with the children. With Monday came our first official day of camp with the girls. Our theme for the day was how Christ accepts us just as we are. We opened camp with a few ice breaker games. We then played crazy kickball and a version of ultimate Frisbee. Throughout the day we gave them 3 verses about how God accepts us when we come to Him. Sarah told of the Samaritan woman and then we broke off into small groups to discuss the story and what it meant. We talked about how they didn't have to clean up their lives in order to come to God. That it didn't matter what their past looked like, or what they've done or anything. We also talked about how we should treat the outcasts in our own communities. These girls all come from the township of Hatcliff. It is considered the slum of Zimbabwe. They are considered the outcasts and looked down on even more so because they are women and they play sports. Everywhere they turn they face opposition. It really surprised me though that so many of them already knew Christ and could quote verses to us and refer to scripture for many of our conversations. Their leaders have done a great job pointing them towards Christ and it was a joy to see it! Our second day of camp consisted of volleyball, softball, and basketball. They had a blast and so did we! That afternoon, we had them sit down to each draw a tree. The next day at camp we talked them trough different parts of it. For example, the roots represented their family and background. They had to write down names of family members and where they lived. The branches were people in their lives that influence them. We talked about how sometimes people are bad influences and need to be cut down. The fruit was dreams or talents, and they drew bugs to represent things that eat away at those dreams. We also talked about how we must have a relationship with God and feed that relationship in order to grow and produce fruit. This was our last day with these girls. It went by so fast but we were still able to build relationships and lift the name of Christ higher together. That afternoon we held a closing ceremony for them. Each of the coaches spoke and several of the girls mothers and grandmothers. It was amazing that so many relatives came. The parents are usually not very involved in their children's lives, but one of the coaches went to each house inviting the families. Many of the girls live with grandparents or aunts and uncles. It was very rare to hear of one who had both parents alive. So many had parents who had died. It was great to hear from their families. That day we gave them shorts and gift bags. We left all of our equipment and spent a good hour saying goodbye. This trip was much shorter than any of us wanted, but I know God was glorified through what he allowed us to do there. With every chance we poured out His love on girls who needed it more than ever. Thank you to all those who joined us in prayer. Please continue to lift them up and pray God will draw them closer to Himself and reach their community through them.

Rewind

After about 30 hours of traveling I touched down in Knoxville again. Before I jump back in to reality I want to pause and rewind to spotlight the events of my journey to Zimbabwe. When we arrived in Harare, my heart almost jumped out of me with one breath of crisp African air. It was finally real. I was finally back in Africa! My team consisted of other women with my same passions through which lifelong friendships were made. When we arrived at our dorms we unpacked and then quickly re-packed for the 5 day journey ahead of us. We drove the next day to Antelope Park where we had our safari drive and were able to walk with lions and play with elephants. Throughout the day I was amazed by God’s creation. Everywhere I turned He seemed to show Himself in a more awesome way. Our second day at the park we left early to head to Mutare Zimbabwe. Two of our team members had been corresponding with a family there for about 8 years and we were going to try and surprise them. The drive took about 7 hours and when we arrived in our massive vehicle all the school children ran out of the school yards to chase us. We felt as though we were in a movie! We stopped at the church there and the pastor was there waiting with the mother of the family. She was so sweet and could not believe that Sarah and Jackie were there, in the flesh, to see her! She wept and jumped, spilling over with pure joy. We went to the schools to pick up her children and headed to their house. Their township was one that the government had destroyed during ‘operation trash out’. However to our surprise, the government had built housse there for the people they had displaced. Fortunately our family lived in one of these two room houses. We pulled out a few balls and just began playing with any of the children, teens or adults who were around and would play with us. After a while we loaded up and went back to the church to do the same thing there. Pulling out a ball in the middle of hundreds of African children creates chaos rather quickly, we came to find out. But, it created a chance to meet and love on the children of that community through it. Before leaving we had a prayer service at the church with the children and some adults there and sang a lot. It was refreshing to see a church there that was started and run by locals. That night we stayed at a placed called drifters. The houses there were rather nice for Africa, however there was very little electricity and all our meals were made by campfire. That night we had an amazing conversation just our team. Jackie shared how she and her husband came to know the Lord and then I followed with how He has been guiding and directing my life lately. The next day we traveled to Tree of Life. We arrived at Tree of Life that night and settled into our rooms just before the girls arrived. Around 5 that night, two vans full of 34 girls came rolling into camp. As girls poured out of the vans hugs, laughter, tears, and faces full of smiles overwhelmed the scene. Together we sang, danced and played games until they made us go to bed. The next day we started with a run through the park and then began team building activities. We all cheered each other on through rock walls, and high and low ropes courses. The next day, Saturday, we drove to Hatcliff where the girls live to play with them and the children there. Unlike the government houses in Mutare, Hatcliff was never rebuilt. The people there worked hard to find anything they could to make homes for themselves. As we turned into the township, we passed by the first of many houses made of plastic tarps. As we drove by, a mother and three children ran out of the house to see what all the commotion was about. We got out a few balls and just began playing with all the children there. We sang and told them of God’s love. The amount of red clay covering my white long sleeve shirt was evidence to the amount of fun we and the children had. That night I found a small red hand print on the lower back of my shirt. I wanted to never wash it just to have that hand print. That night we were all exhausted but full of joy as we headed to bed. We had to prepare for the church service we were expected to give the next morning back in Hatcliff Township. And that was it, the first week in Zimbabwe. It all seemed to go by so fast and yet so slowly. We had done so much, but had just begun building relationships with the girls. So much more was to come, and God had already shown Himself awesome in so many ways. His love was poured out in abundance in two very needy townships and much more was still to come.