Coming Home

How does one put a half of a year journey with God into words? What can summarize the experiences of walking into the unknown, seeing South African church leaders grasp the concept of using sport as a ministry tool, receiving endless hugs from adolscent boys because for the first time in their life they were invited to a real soccer practice, living alone in a foreign country, being a young American female teaching a seminar to a group of 20 SiSwati speaking men about how to incorporate the gospel into their soccer and cricket practices, temporarily living in a colored township, seeing rhinos and giraffes hanging out outside neighborhoods, seeing Ugandan villages be empowered by basic health education, spending a Sunday at one of the largest Zulu speaking churches in inner-city Pretoria, seeing the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan at war, having prayers answered, seeing a 30 year old man – bitter and abandoned by family – have an encounter with the Lord, radically alter his life, and embrace his position as a coach to share the love of Christ with his players, seeing ten year old boys be delirious at practice because of malnutrition, living with bed bugs, watching God use soccer as a tool for reconciliation to breakdown legacies of the apartheid, attempting to share my testimony through hand gestures, organizing a sports trivia dinner as a fundraiser for Sportslink’s major projects, playing soccer on fields littered with broken glass – well, playing soccer anywhere for that matter, watching HIV/AIDS kill people in front of my own eyes, seeing people put their communities’ needs before their own, working on a daily basis with Christians from every continent, making sure we let kids out of practice in time to do their homework before the sun goes down because they have no access to electricity, forming beautiful and lasting friendships, and most of all beholding JESUS in people’s hands and feet.

The short few months I spend in South Africa were full of ups and downs and a lot of time wrestling with God. When I first arrived, I let my pride get in the way. I saw OM Sportslink and my time in South Africa as my ministry, not God’s. My pride was brought on by a lack of faith- a lack of faith that God had given me the right platform. But after almost 2 months of wrestling with God I was reminded of Numbers 23:19: “God is not man, one given to lies, and not a son of man changing his mind. Does he speak and not do what he says? Does he promise and not come through?” God does nothing in vain. When He speaks, He speaks with purpose. I simply had to lay down “my plans,” recognize it was His ministry not my own, and be freed to be used in whatever way He planned. I am constantly learning that when we lay aside our pride and soak ourselves in humility – God rewards! The last three months God gave me an inner peace and a sense of assignment that He used to overflow into His work for the Kingdom in South Africa.

I am so grateful Jesus blessed me with this opportunity to see His hand at work in another part of the world. And I am so thankful that y'all were able to walk through this with me through prayers and support. Thank you for being a part of sowing seeds.

Let’s rejoice for all the good things the Lord is doing in the land of the living! Indeed, He is faithful. “I will remember the Lord’s works; yes, I will remember Your ancient wonders. I will reflect on all You have done and mediate on Your actions” (Psalm 77:11-12).