What happens when you join the high school mission trip team with your church as a thirty-plus single female?
You meet some wonderful high-school girls who you quickly become friends with—and maybe their moms, too. That exact thing happened to me last summer. When all my plans for Africa fell through (or that’s how it felt at the time), I joined my church’s trip as a last minute addition. I was very unsure of what I would be doing, knowing almost no one, and definitely hadn’t brushed up on my Spanish skills.
Through all the unknowns, the Lord met me there and not only allowed me to serve the fatherless but also grow my community in the body of Christ. One high school student I met, Tara*, has a heart for the nations. Over the months following the mission trip, we had many conversations about nursing, college decisions, and the unreached. Through all of this, I was conversing with AIM and planning on returning to Africa the following summer. As the days progressed, I began to see Tara* as a dear friend who I was so thankful for—yet I had no idea how the Lord would use her in my life.
A few weeks before I left the following summer for Africa, Tara asked me how she could encourage me while I was serving seven weeks in Kijabe, Kenya. She wanted to send letters but snail mail overseas is truly snail speed—we determined she could write them ahead of time and I’d pack them in my luggage. One letter for each Sunday I was gone. I was blessed and encouraged by this request and anticipated the Lord using her in a sweet way, but I couldn’t have imagined how much!
My first Sunday was a travel day. It was sweet to read the first letter in the DOHA airport and just know that people at home cared not only about me, but about the Lord’s glory being proclaimed and remembered. The second Sunday rolled around and I was struggling with homesickness, frustration, uncertainty, and fatigue. I remembered her letter towards the end of the day—pulling it out, I was encouraged mostly by the fact that Tara had written it a few weeks ago! Then I began to read how she felt the Lord bring me to mind while she was reading Psalm 77—how the Lord is good and knows our steps, always.
The next morning, I was struggling to begin my day. I opened my Bible to Psalm 77 to reread all of it. To my surprise, I found a note I had written next to verse eleven, “I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember Your wonders of old.” That note was written while I was serving in Nigeria two years before, and that particular day was when I was wrestling with Malaria, struggling to know why my last week there was spent in my room, instead of serving others; why I had gotten so sick despite taking the appropriate meds and using bug spray. Tara did not know that when she wrote the second letter, but the Lord did. He knew that I needed to remember how He had already brought me through rough times serving cross-culturally. He knew that I needed to be redirected to place my hope back in Him, the only one who could fulfill what I was asking for and so desperately needed.
To say I’m thankful for Tara is an understatement. To say I’m thankful for what the Lord is doing in her life—now that is a statement I can honestly make.
“I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length, you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity,” Philippians 4:10.
This continues on to the popularly misquoted verse,
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” Philippians 4:13.
Paul could deal with his sufferings and trials because of the grace of the Lord, His preserving strength, which caused Paul to be content with whatever situations the Lord placed him in. The people around him helped strengthen him through prayers and care. His community helped him remember to set his eyes on Christ, not on his external circumstances. Tara (and others) were my Philippian citizens while serving in Kijabe. They were consistent in keeping my eyes fixed on Christ when I wanted to focus on my struggles. The Lord used them to sustain me, to serve the people of Kijabe, for His glory and our good.
*name changed for security