Date of Return Changed

I've also recently learned that March 23 is going to be an important day at ABCU.  All classes will be cancelled, not just that day but all week.  That day is the dedication of this university.  I understand that even the president of Liberia will attend.  Then Dr. Franklin Graham of Samaritan's Purse will also be there and will also be conducting a crusade in Monrovia which we will participate in.

Though exciting, this canceling classes a week when there was only SIX weeks to cover a semester's work seemed impossible to accomplish.  Dr Chinchen and I decided that extending my stay to April 10 made more sense for my students and for me in trying to cover the material.

Can you think of a better public relations event to put "flesh" on a Public Relations textbook than this week of "non classes?"  I'm quite excited about having a chance to give them a practical example of how one works in the field.

As I've previously posted, I've begun to pray for my students.  I can't tell whether Jutonue is male or female, much less how to pronounce the name.  So, I asked God how to pray for these students.  I went on with my reading in Ephesians that I've been doing lately, when this jumped out at me.  "For this reason I bow my knees before the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named......" Suddenly, I felt very connected to these people.

Best Ways to Prepare

Christmas is over.  Barry with our daughter and her 2 children have gone to visit Barry's 98 year old Mother.  I stayed back for moments of quiet, reflection and yes, preparation.  I am obsessed by that word these days.  Imagine how I felt when I opened Crazy Love by Francis Chan chapter 8 and read "obsessed:  to have the mind excessively preoccupied with a single emotion or topic."  Hummm, I would have normally put that word in a negative camp; after all, aren't we to be balanced? to be moderate?  Well, the author says the idea of holding back didn't come from Scripture, and then he went on in the chapter to explain. He says people obsessed with Jesus are risk takers.  He challenges one of our preoccupations,  safety.  I agree that we do pray for that a lot, don't we?

So I ponder with those who read this with me, will I be willing to put safety on a lower rung than wanting Go's best, to be a part of whatever brings Him the most glory?  What will accomplish His purposes in the lives of Victoria, Darlington, Boye-Nelson, Remington or Jamaina?  These are a few of the names of students that I will be teaching in Liberia.  I've prayed by name for 20 of them so far, but how am I praying for them?  What difference will it make in eternity that their paths have crossed with mine?

Is this the best use of my time of preparation, reading, meditating, praying for them by name?  I'm beginning to think these activities are essential, and yet I'm not to neglect the actual study of the material I am to teach.  Oh, to find time during this season for disciplined study has been so hard.

So I close today asking that you join with me in my search for the best ways to grow in an obsession with my Lord, and ways to "balance" the activities of life so I leave February 19 truly prepared.

Preparations

Today has been pretty significant in making the essential preparations for a trip I leave on in less than two months now.  Today was the second day in a row in which Barry and I prayed together for every aspect of this trip.  We are both excited to see how God through this exercise shows Himself to us as a couple .  Not only are we praying, but through a friend, we were encouraged to each get friends who would commit to pray 5 days a week.  So far, three DEAR friends have said to me things like "it'd be an honor to pray for you."  You can only imagine how touched I am by words like that.

The President of ABCU also emailed me today with the NAMES of "my students".  Oh, to be prepared by having had the privilege of praying for them BY NAME before I even smile into their faces is thrilling too. So, this is another SIGNIFICANT event of today.

Other than that, finding time right now to prepare the details of these two courses is challenging beyond words.  God knows this;  Psalm 108:12-13 says  "Oh, grant us help against the foe, for vain is the salvation of man;  with God we shall do valiantly; It is he who will tread down our foes."   I'm seeing that my foes are often anxiety and doubt.  These are the foes I'm praying against right now.

Amani goes to Liberia

Amani ya Juu In the newsletter I just read is the story about new hope for women in Liberia. Amani ya Juu will get started in Liberia in March, 2011 while I'm there. I'm quite excited that I can see for myself the hope coming to the women in that country. And I hope to be a part of that process!

I have 2 courses to prepare. I teach them both for 6 weeks, but there's only about 8 weeks before I go. Does that translate into lots of work in preparation between now and then? It does to me. It's one thing to have the outline in your head (and the syllabi prepared) and quite another one to have the actual assignments, tests and projects prepared. What is realistic to expect one to learn in 6 weeks?

Those are today's thoughts. Now, I'll turn my thoughts to the Sunday School Christmas party tonight, take a deep breath and remember that God is in control of all this!

Today I've begun in earnest!

Today, I have begun with the Syllabus for Public Speaking 303.  I started in prayer.  I know;  that seems to be a logical start for a Christian, but in the past I might have assumed that this was the job I had and so I'd assume that  God wanted me to do the work.  TODAY, however, I'm learning that even good, right work that I have been called to MUST have His energy, His annointing  to be what He wants.  There's this huge gap between the gifts He's given me and the effective implementation of those gifts into the lives of other people.  After all, it may sound like a cliche' when I say I want my life to glorify God, but the actual being created in Christ Jesus for work which He has ordained that I should walk in  comes through prayer and dependence on Him.

Now, can anyone share a successful attempt to post to this site?  I've had one friend tell me she found it difficult.

A Friend at My Back

This weekend (Dec 3-5, 2010) I had the privilege of going to a Deeper Still Women's Conference in Birmingham, Alabama.  There were 14,000 other women there, only a handful I knew, and yet the unity of spirit was sweet.  The teaching of Kay Arthur, Priscilla Shiver, Beth Moore was each powerful.  The panel discussion made their powerful teaching come together, letting us connect the power of God's Word in real lives.  These women were vulnerable with us.  They let us see their hearts, their struggles to apply what God has gifted them to be able to teach.  This panel discussion gave me a renewed appreciation for Kay Arthur.  No one has taught me more throughout my life about how to get jewels out of God's Word.  What I saw this time was the wisdom, the anchoring her life displayed even when among other incredibly gifted and mature women.  At 77 years of age, she's still letting God rearrange her thinking, her priorities, and giving us the benefit of her ongoing lessons of life.
So WHAT possible connection could the preceding words have with "Growing Through Africa"?  Here goes with the explanation!
This weekend, God identified to me a friend who is standing at my back as I prepare for this time in Liberia.  My sweet sister was the first to tell me that she wants to be the friend at my back, and she began yesterday morning by praying for me as I walk into preparing the syllabi for these courses that I will teach.  With all the experience of 15 years of work in Africa and with African men and women, I suddenly feel very small as I think of this latest assignment.  I've never been to West Africa.  I don't know the names or faces of the 33 students that will be in my public speaking class. (plus there's another class to prepare for as well.) And I only have 6 weeks with them.  While on one hand that feels like a long time to be away from the familiar (and comfortable), it's not very long to be a teacher to these precious people.  I could go on and on with the fears and misgivings that creep into my soul, but I think you get the point.  I am tempted to see  the daunting task before me and quiver and  tempted to not  rely on  on God and my need to depend on Him to empower and enable me.

Some of what I've learned about Africa

My "thank heavens for little girl" friend has suggested that I use this blog as a way of sharing some of what I've learned since 1996 as it relates to Africa.  As I  recently wrote in Facebook, before 1996 I wasn't sure Malawi wasn't Mau in Hawaii.  I couldn't have found it on a map.  Before living there for 15 months, people asked me if I didn't want to visit it first to see if I WANTED to live there.  My thoughts then haven't changed much on that subject.  What can you see in a 2 week visit that will convince you this is good or bad?  Two weeks don't usually stretch our endurance much.  For adventuresome people like me who find excitement in discovering something new we can sometimes leap out where angels fear to go.   In a two week trip to Africa, you expect a few inconveniences from everyday life. You expect to be challenged, and you look forward to going back home to share with others what you've learned.  You are often even "tempted" to think of yourself as somewhat of an "expert" since  to you it's clear that you know more about your new discoveries than they do  Of course, that's pure lunacy, but then I'm just now beginning to learn how much that kind of thinking  has too often been a part of my life.

That's what this blog is going to be about, sharing past impressions, things I'm now observing, and beginning to understand.  Hopefully,  this will be challenging  to you who read it and comment too. Wouldn't it be fun to have friends from all over the world join in our adventure of learning, growing and being changed by the process?  Will you be one of my blog friends?

Yes, it probably takes as much money to fly from Nairobi, Kenya in EAST AFRICA to Monrovia, Liberia in WEST AFRICA, as it does to fly from Jackson, MS to London, England!  It will take as long too! But then I've never been on THIS particular trip before.  I've lived in Malawi and have visited South Africa, Zambia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Zimbabwe.  I've even put my feet within the borders of Mozambique and touched down in Senegal. Africa is 6 times the size of the U.S.  Now, that's BIG!  There's a lot of learning out there for all us, isn't there?

I have until February 19, 2011 to prepare for the two classes I will be teaching at ABC University in Liberia.  As I begin learning, I'd love to hear from you who plan to share in this adventure.

How this blog came to be!

Betsie is helping me.  She just set up my blog.  What could and would be stressful to me without her help is fun when a perky, young energetic girl helps me.  It doesn't hurt that she and her friend Ann Louse love Jesus too!  We have lots in common.

As I was sending 2010 trip pictures to the Educating Africans for Christ webmaster to post at www.eafc.net they were discussing their 2008 trips to Africa.
Now they have met one another in this office at EAFC, and I'll bet they're going to be good friends.

So,  here is the trial run.  Maybe on my next trip to Africa, this will be a good way for my family to keep up with my adventures, growing through Africa with the help of Africans who guide me.  Thankfully, they've been willing to do this since 1996 now. But a continent 6 times the size of the U.S. might take a few more years to cover!