So I guess with this blog I want to officially announce a new beginning in my life. I've been hoome from Africa for only about 4 and a half months. It's crazy, because sometimes the experiences we had are so clearly remembered I would think they happened just yesterday. And other times it's like it was forever ago. I do miss living in such an awesome and challenging place,  and I will always remember Africa as one of the greatest influences on my life. But now I back home again, and struggling to get on with life. It's so different when you know you're living as a missionary, and when you come back to the US.

Yeah I guess we sometimes think that in order to be a missionary you have to live in a jungle somewhere where there are no Christians and walk around in khaki pants learning tribal languages...One of my most important lessons from Africa is that you don't have to be in the middle of the jungle to be a missionary. In fact, my time in Africa showed that their culture is actually not so different from ours. They struggle with questions about their faith, living out the commands of the Bible, and sharing their faith with others, just like we do in America. So what does it look like to be a missionary to ones' own culture? That is the questions I keep asking myself over and over again.

 

A part of me wants to simply fall back into prior habits of conformity, quietness and maintaining the status quo. Another part of me believes that I should "be intentional" wherever I go. Kind of like pretending like I'm in some the jungle where nobody knows God, and I am their only hope. Maybe being a missionary simply means following the Spirit's leading, and allowing him to use me wherever I go. I honestly don't know. All I know is that today I am not the same person I was when I left for Africa one year ago. And I know it will be hard, but this coming year I also want God to do amazing things in my life. Africa or America. "jungle" or city. missionary or student. Jesus, take me as I am, and use me for your glory.