Monday, June 25, 2007

girl got a weave

yep, that's right. I got my first weave today. We went to the school in the Korogocho slum again and I spent the day with the girls in the beauty school. The braided my hair into a weave. I really enjoyed it. I am not sure how long I will keep it in. But I definately have pictures.

Today started out pretty lousy, where I was back and forth on staying behind for the day. I continue to ask for your prayers for my health. When I wake up in the mornings I just feel really bad and I have been dealing with some severe sinus stuff. It gets frustrating because I do not want to end the trip like this. When you feel bad, you just want to be home and I do not want to be longing for home the last week. And I mean longing in a way that is too much. But I decided to fight it today and actually had a really good day. I really enjoyed talking with the girls in the beauty school. It was a good refresher.

While I am so ready to be home, I cannot believe I have been here a month. My teammate Melissa put it very well today. I feel that I am done with this trip, but I am not done with Africa. I have a feeling that this is just the beginning. While this is an extremely hard place to be, there is an indescribable joy here. It is not a happy kind of joy. But a deeper joy that can only be felt when you are this close to the poor. While the problems have so many layers and they can just swallow you, the little bit of good still overcomes. God is moving in this place. And when God moves, who ever said it is always pleasant and comfortable. I think we are afraid of that at times. We do want our world tossed upside down. So while this place doesn't make sense, there is sense happening.

One other thing that I have been thinking about alot the past fews days is how we can speak the truth of Jesus without tying the western culture to it. It is alot more difficult than it sounds. I came over thinking that I am not a true 100% patriotic American. I thought I could shed that skin in seconds. But I was born in America. The culture is apart of me. So when I tell someone about Jesus, there an example of a Christian is an American Christian. I wish so badly that it wasn't, but it is. So this is when I have to rely on the Holy Spirit. He works in peoples lives and He is the one who sifts through the rights and wrongs of culture. But now, I feel it is our responsibility to try to understand people different than ourselves. Understand that Christianity is not an American thing. It is a world thing. It is the Scripture in raw that I will return to. Not the constitution. When Jesus said go and make disciples, our model of that is first understanding and loving, then sharing our hope for eternity. Make disciplines...that is more than just talking.

So, again, that you all for your encouraging notes and prayers! I look forward to seeing everyone. I might blog again one more time before I leave.

peace and love.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

you inspire me so much. i am so blessed to have a friend like you. seriously. you teach me so much and i can't wait for you to teach me more. you are definitely an inspiration to me! i can't wait to talk to ou when you come back! So much to tell you!

She's Still Thinking said...

I must see this weave. You've got lots of good stuff to say. It will be cool to talk to you once we're back in school.