Getting to know God's heart in Zanzibar!

After two months of training and preparation the day finally arrived for the international leg of our Global Challenge journey to begin! It was with much excitement and expectation that our entire group of 36 students got on the midnight flight form Johannesburg to Dar Es Salam. On arrival we stepped out into the pressing humidity of an early morning in Tanzania. Everyone scurried about to pick up their bags and hurry off to catch the next mode of transport which would take us to our various destinations. When the commotion died down it became evident that my bag might not have been as excited about the start of this journey as I was - It appeared as if she never even made it onto the airplane…

To pack a backpack that contains everything that one will need for a year does not happen over night. Months of planning went in to finding the perfect combination of clothes that are light weight and non-wrinkly, skirts and tops that cover the elbows for the Middle East, work pants and shorter tops for mid summer in tropical heat, contact lenses and medicine that are not easily accessible in the places that we will be visiting, tent, inflatable mattress etc. …replacing the content of that bag would be quite a mission and close to impossible. For the moment, however, I had to move those thoughts aside as we needed to leave the airport to catch the ferry to Zanzibar. At first, while we were making our way through the crowds in the scorching Tanzanian sun I was somewhat relieved that I only had my day bag to carry, but the relief was short lived. Upon arrival in Zanzibar, dirty and tired, the reality really sank in that I don’t have any toiletries with which to get myself clean, no sleeping bag to sleep in, not even a change of clothes…

My team did an amazing job showing me what the church in Acts must have been like when they spoke about having everything in common! They did all that they could to lighten my load but I still felt sorry for myself about having to live out of other people’s bags. Then, after a few days, I came to the conclusion that maybe I should stop asking God “why me?” and rather start asking Him what He is trying to teach me. I realized that He is the God of the universe and He is in control of all things. If He allowed my bag to be misplaced He did so for a reason and the sooner I learn the lesson that He wants to teach me from it the sooner I can grow from this experience and move on.

During the following days I went through various emotions as I evaluated what God was telling me. The lessons varied from realizing that we were not created to function completely independent of one another to seeing how selfish I can be sometimes, realizing how privileged I really am and how much unnecessary “stuff” I have in my life, seeing that “stuff” can never make me happy and truly experiencing that God is my Provider and not the insurance company or my own worldly plans.

On day six of my missing bag, both the airport in Dar Es Salam and the airport in Johannesburg let us know that since the bag has not been found by day five, I should forget about getting it back. After processing everything that God had told me during the last week the peace of God that surpasses all understanding kept guard over me and I was completely calm about the news. I knew that regardless of the outcome of this situation, God is able to make a way where there is no way.

And then, on day seven, the airport phoned to say that my bag has been found and would be delivered to me within the next two days! I praise God that I did not need to go through the effort of replacing my entire backpack, but I praise Him even more that, like John Piper said, God is more interested in my character than my comfort. He taught me precious life lessons and I learned to fully rely on Him and not my material things...and then He gave the material things back to me because He wants what is best for me - first in the spirit and also in the natural<3

The rest of our time in Zanzibar was amazing. Zanzibaris can be considered an unreached people group as the island has a population of 99% Muslims. Our hosts there shared valuable stories with us about their experiences while living amongst these precious people. They told us about who the Quran teaches that Isa (Jesus) is, as well as how distorted most of the Zanzibaris’s view of Christianity is.

In the mornings we served our hosts by sanding down and varnishing the windows of their house and in the afternoons we went out into the streets and got to know the people and culture of Zanzibar. When we left the house we wore skirts and head coverings as a sign of respect for the local culture. We were warmly welcomed by everyone from cheerful little children playing in the dusty streets to wise old men watching the activities from their porches. We were communicating in a very broken mixture of Swahili and English, but we soon discovered that things like love, joy, hospitality and compassion needs no language.

We celebrated one of our team member’s birthday by catching an early morning dala dala (taxi) to Kizimkazi on the southern shore of Zanzibar and taking a boat out to sea to go swim with the dolphins! It was a wonderful experience to run on the powder white beaches and splash in the transparent turquoise waters that the island is famous for. It was also a lot of fun to bargain hunt for groceries at the local food markets and to experience the sounds and smells of a crowded meeting place where one can find anything from fresh fish, exotic fruit and veggies and various interesting spices, to toiletries and canned foods.

One of my most precious Zanzibar moments was when we were snooping around the street markets of Stone Town on our second last day in Zanzibar amidst the pressing humidity that has been building up over the last 10 days, when all of a sudden the heavens opened up and streams of water came pouring down on us. Everyone ran for shelter, but we had to get home for lunch so we just embraced the wetness and danced in the rain - soaking wet from our head coverings to hems of the skirts!:)

Zanzibar and its beautiful, colourful people will forever have a special place in my heart. When I look back on our time there I will always be reminded of how God taught me about His heart for me and His heart for Zanzibar. I am very excited to see how God is going to break through in truth, let His grace rain down in Zanzibar and drench His precious people with His love! Jesus let it rain*