Waking Up in Africa

I love to travel, but I’m not a camper. While I love the outdoors, my idea of camping is the kind of camping I did with my grandparents when I was a kid – sleeping in the comfy confines of their air-conditioned Winnebago complete with all the amenities of home. So why would I willingly submit myself to fly across the ocean and sleep on a cot out in the bush of West Africa?

Our church partners with an organization called Engage Burkina and one purpose of this organization is to bring clean water to every community in Burkina Faso, West Africa. I had no reason to believe that I would go to Africa, but I knew that our church was involved there, so I began to ask questions of friends who had been on mission trips. I started to think that (maybe) I could (possibly) go on a mission trip one day (a long time from now). I could go when my kids were out of high school, or college, or maybe when they were settled into a career and married with children. But then I would have grandchildren…you get the picture. My fear of what could happen to me outweighed my faith in what God could do through me.

One day when talking with my friend Andy about my thoughts of going on a trip (in the future), he responded with, “Rebecca, if God is calling you to go on a mission trip, he isn’t calling you to do it when you get around to it”. Ouch, that hurt. And he was right. The bible doesn’t tell us, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, when you have a little free time”. It is a command, not a suggestion. But the beautiful thing is that God planted that desire in my heart. I never imagined myself traveling to Africa. It’s hot in Africa, and I’m not a camper. Despite all my fears, I followed God’s call to Burkina Faso in April 2014.

Burkina looks as I have envisioned ancient Israel – dry, dusty roads and homes made of mud brick walls and straw roofs. But we also witnessed more images from the bible. We saw people working together, sharing their resources and truly living in community. It was like the missing photo from Acts 2:44-45, “And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need”. What was most apparent in the Burkinabe culture, is that people are more important than possessions.  I want that message to forever be written on my heart. I want God to remind me of the needs of others when I wake up in the morning and when I go to sleep at night. Some people don’t have to go to Africa for God to get their attention in this way. Those people are smarter than me.

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. 2 Timothy 1:7