Familiar Faces

Africa. It's been 3 1/2 years since I was here last and I came feeling uncertain about how much I would remember. I wondered if relationships built that long ago could sustain the test of time, distance and silence. To be sure, some have not. There are some people that I have nearly forgotten and some people who have forgotten me, but then there are the familiar faces. The faces which have remained in my heart and in my mind and which even time cannot erase.

Last week I went to Carrington Heights Primary School where I did my student teaching in 2006. The same principal is still there and many of the teachers are the same. One of the teachers, David, who I worked with during my time there is still teaching the grade 7 math. He is a refugee from Sudan who recieved his education in Kenya and now teaches here. He may be the only person I've met here who follows American sports more than I do. He doesn't have a lot of money, but he lives alone and invested in satelite tv so that he could watch ESPN. Haha, the other night he invited me over to watch game 3 of the NBA playoffs- which started at 3:30 in the morning! We had fun, but I was pretty tired the next day.

The one day that I was at the school I was just visiting with the teachers and talking with some of the students and the teachers asked if I would take one of the classes for the afternoon because a teacher had to go home and there was no substitute available. So I had 30 or 40 grade 6 students for the afternoon with no plan or agenda given to me. I had them teach me some Zulu and then we played a math facts game which they LOVED! It was quite fun really. When I first walked into the class I noticed one grade 6 girl that I recognized. Her name is Phumani and the picture above was of me with her in 2006. She was very happy that I remembered her name, and her brother, Sphelele who is in grade 7 is also still at the school which made me so happy. I've been very excited to see many familiar faces both at the school and at Bethany Baptist Church and to be able to reconnect with people after so long. The relationships that I built 3 1/2 years ago have given me a foundation and a platform for ministry now that I am very grateful for because I almost expected that after so long it would be like starting over.

That being said, as much as those relationships have given me open doors for ministry, I'm feeling painfully inadequate to seize those opportunities and use them for God's glory. I'll tell you what, if you want to be humbled you should try ministering in a new culture, a new church, and a new environment. Everything about my comfort zone and everything that I thought I was good at seems so far away, and I just feel lost sometimes. Sounds like a bad thing when I say it that way, but it's not. It's a good thing for sure, because God works best when we recognize our weakness and believe me, right now I can't deny mine! And God also provides- he provides friends who strengthen and teach us. I experienced that today and it brought so much joy to my heart. I had lunch with a Zulu guy named Bongani this afternoon. I just met him the other night at a missionary's house. Bongani is the same age as me and just finished his education at the King's Seminary which is run in South Africa by Master's from California. I was amazed how much we had in common- same age, both arrived in Durban 2 weeks ago, both stepping into new churches, both love to teach the Word of God and so much more. At the same time, we come from very different backgrounds and since he is Zulu, he understands the culture here so well, and I learned so much from talking with him! I'm sure that was God's provision for me right now when I need it, and I think that it's a friendship that I will find very encouraging while I'm here.

So God is answering prayers... prayers which I am in desperate need of. I read today in Psalm 119:50 which says, "My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life." The promises of God- that is where we find our hope and our strength for each new day- not in our own strength, not in our own wisdom, not in our own health (which, by the way, I am feeling 100%, no apparent lasting effects from the fever, praise God!) but our strength is in His promises!

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us."