One Week Down

Nearing a week since I set off for Africa, my mind seems to be a blur. As I sit down over an over-sweetened cup of Nescafe Classic coffee, I manage to summarize my cross-cultural experience thus far…

"It is not good for the man to be alone." - GENESIS 2:18a

I've met new people, made new friends, and reintroduced myself to others. I've moved onto a missionary compound, into the far side of the first duplex on the left, right before the fire pit that's shaded by a litchi tree.

NEW EXPERIENCES
This trip has brought a lot of firsts for me. Although, it wasn't the first time I've flown in an airplane. It wasn't the first time I've been to London. It isn't the first time I've lived in Africa. It's not even the first time I've walked the sandy terrain of Machava. It's not the first time I've made sloppy Joe's. And it's not the first time I've driven a stick-shift on the left side of the road, granted, this time it was legal. :)

What then, you might ask, is new?

Although they've been done before, for the first time in my life, I've done these things alone.

FACING FEARS:
Crime
Coming to Africa has very much required me to face my greatest fears. Traumatized by crime as a child, I have returned to the country where those events took place. For the next year I will attempt to give my life to God in the same place where the devil tried to take my life in 2002. Growing up in Africa, I always feared getting robbed and being killed. Now I find myself living on a compound where a missionary became a martyr.

Driving
The most stressful and distasteful memories I have of my former time in Mozambique are all related to the road. Claustrophobic congestion of vehicles and pedestrians. Corrupt police checks looking for bribes from ignorant foreigners. Street justice in the form of broken bottles, split hoses, shovels, and fists. It's no wonder why my stomach was in knots as I drove outside our compound for the first time on Saturday!

Loneliness
"It is not good for the man to be alone." - GENESIS 2:18a

But the greatest fear I currently hold just happens to be the one I'm stuck staring down the throat each night. One might assume life on a compound would naturally bring community with it; I did. That was wishful thinking on my part. As a coworker put it, compound living is not communal living. I find myself sharing this village property with two missionary families of four, both with young children. The only other current resident on the compound is a single woman. Cultural barriers and mission protocol prohibit the interaction of two individuals of differing genders without the presence of a third party. Therefore, as over-worked missionary families fight for their private leisure time with the kids, I am blessed with the peace and quiet of living alone. God may call people to be single, but He doesn't call anyone to be alone. Private time alone with God is great, but even Adam needed human interaction. I'm definitely learning to trust Him more, which is awesome, because for these next few nights, He is quite literally all I have.

PRAYER REQUESTS:
These are my three prayer requests:
1. Please ask God to provide me with a "suitable helper" to confide in this year.
"I will make a suitable helper for him." - GENESIS 2:18b
2. Please pray for God's guidance and anointing power to minister effectively (especially as it pertains to language acquisition).
3. Please pray for me to be a willing vessel that glorifies God in accordance to His will as opposed to personal preferences.

Thank you, friend!

BTW - That was some good coffee! :)