Wednesday. My long day of classes. Time with God, Understanding the Spirit
World, great chapel, Foundations of Church Ministries, Holistic Relief and
Development, Volleyball, nap. Huh. That would have been the last day I saw my
friends here for almost a year.
Thursday. Early day of classes. 8:00 AM Spiritual Development, then a
fantastic opportunity to serve at an ESL ministry at Waxahachie Bible Church,
lunch with a good friend, Fitness Walking, study time. Interesting.
I would be on a flight from London to Johannesburg that day.
Friday. Slightly shorter day today. Repeat of classes from Wednesday, save for
Volleyball, then a quick tutor meeting that afternoon. Immense time with God that night. Hmm. I
would have seen the Shaws in person then.
Today. Got up at 11.
Caf brunch at 12. Chat with friends. Soccer in warm and breezy late winter
weather. Party at University of Texas of
Arlington sponsored by the on-campus Christian groups welcoming all the
international students for the spring semester.
Carried on a long conversation en français with a Cameroonian fellow and
had a lot of fun hanging out with my old and new Indian friends. Just another Saturday at SAGU. Wow. I
was supposed to be in Congo right now.
But I’m not.
Sometimes we
make plans that are right on with what God wants, and then out of circumstances
that may or may not have arisen within our control, those plans change. After a good bout of frustration, we realize
that change was just another part of God’s plan. That’s what happened with the Congo
trip. Due to some administrative
confusion, the trip has been delayed, so instead of leaving for Congo on
Wednesday, I am staying here at SAGU for the spring semester. I’m hoping to leave for Lubumbashi in May. Yes, at first it was frustrating—I planned for
this thing since last March and now this?!
But each day I find new reasons why it’s a very good thing that I’m
staying. Now, I can receive much more training
for ministries we’re planning in Congo through my missions courses and that ESL
program. I can follow through with other
ministries that I started last semester but didn’t give as much time as I
should have. I can make plans and do
research for a radio ministry that God has called me to start there. And I can build closer relationships with
friends and mentors here at the GU. One
semester was definitely not long enough to meet so many awesome people, and
then leave for so long without some emotional pain forming from being torn away
from these new and tender ties, and one semester was definitely not enough mental
and spiritual preparation for living so far away in such a new setting.
So I am very
glad that I still can both stay here and go there, but I am all the more
excited and ready to complete the work of the Lord and face new adventures in
Congo!
