A year ago I made a definite decision about 2015. It's a year later and we are debriefing the past 24 weeks of the journey. I am not sure who I am quoting now, but this is truly a life like no other. And this is what I mean by that:
We have lived in dodgy hotels with almost no facilities and grand hotels with warm showers and coffee machines. We have lived in musquito nests and random islands. We have slept in airports and busstations. We have travelled with ALL kinds of buses and taxis (including a truck that was pimped into a bus - the most uncomfortable 16 hours of my life!). We have gone on a 5 day boat trip across the Amazon. ACROSS THE AMAZON. We took a trip through the Guyana jungle sitting on church benches strapped to a truck. We had blisters on our lips and fingers from eating cashew nuts without cooking them first. We have seen ALL kinds of toilets and washing facilities. We have experienced life in Cuba where toiletpaper can only be found in larny hotels and not in supermarkets.
We have discovered:
-If your face wash that you brought from SA is finished, a protex soap work just as well
-Conditioner is a luxury, not a necessity
-The best toiletry bag is a plastic shopping bag
-The best cutlery is plastic cutlery from your nearest fast food store
-If you have coffee in your personal food bag, everything is okay
-If you have peanutbutter in your personal food bag, everything is more than okay
-Sleeping bags and global jackets only make their appearance in countries with airconditioning
-We are experts on spotting free food and mango trees (within 3 minutes we will know if there is a mango tree in a radius of 100 metres from us)
-Your expensive havaianas WILL give you hassles at least once throughout the course of the journey (usually while crossing the street or getting onto a bus)
-A scarf is the new skirt
-A buff is essential for travelling or periods of time when you can't wash your hair
-It is completely normal to wear a t-shirt over a dress
-It is also normal to walk around with your cutlery as though it is your handbag
-You will really be okay if you do not have a towel
I have discovered:
-Our God is a God of simplicity: Following Jesus and talking about Him is not always easy, but it is simple and we tend to overcomplicate it with our clever minds.
-Our God is an awesome God: He was, is, and ALWAYS will be enough. Apart from Him I do not need anything or anyone else.
-Our God is a God of adventure: Self explanatory from the paragraphs above!
-Our God is a master entertainer: He loves community and invites us to sit at His table (what an immense privilege!).
-Our God is God of the nations: He says that if we ask for the nations He will give it to us (Ps 2:7-9).
-Our God is a God of stories: If I had to pen down everything I have discovered so far it won't be able to fit into this blog!
What an adventure. WHAT AN ADVENTURE. At the moment I do not even know where I am on the world map. What I do know is that the Creator of the universe is with me and His mysterious and awesome presence has haunted my year up to now. He is a living and powerful reality, a person who can be known and loved, obeyed and followed, a person who continues to act within the real world.
Rom 8:15-17 MSG
This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?” God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what’s coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance!
We have 12 weeks left of this journey and I am more excited than the day we left South Africa. I want to agree with NEEDTOBREATHE and say: ''Ain't no gift like the present tense.''