Good bye's

Good bye's are not easy.  I have just spent the entire last 48 hours saying good bye and for most of you that know me - you know what that looks like and how difficult that is for me.  I am emotionally exhausted and drained.  My heart is burdened and heavy knowing that I may never see these people that God has given me relationships with for this season ever again.  My eyes feel completely dried up now.  My head hurts from all of the tears and my body is worn out from lack of sleep.

However, I rejoice in the sweet reality that I am leaving my loved ones here only to return to my loved ones back home.  So yes, it is bittersweet.  But God is good and I must remember that He loves these people far more than I ever could.  He will take care of them.

It is 4:17 AM AM and I am preparing to fly to South Africa in a couple of short hours.  I will spend the next 4 days there in Debrief.  I will then be flying home to America on a not-so-short flight :)

Oh the journey God has brought me on in my time here!  The struggles, the difficulties, the victories, the pains, the discomforts, the triumphs, the joys, the love, and the sanctification.  It has certainly been a journey!  But for now I say good bye to Dar es Salaam.  Even though I am leaving I will never forget and I will always cherish my time that God has given me here.  He alone is good!!

"Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!"    

Psalm 34:8

I will try to update one more time prior to flying out of South Africa to the U.S.!  Love to all of you!

One constant

As I sat down this morning to spend time in God’s Word, it hit me.  I only have two days left in Dar es Salaam.  Two short days.  Forty-eight hours (give or take a few).  That’s it.  That is all I have left in this place that God has called me to spend the last 5 months of my life in.  What a surreal feeling.  What a bittersweet reality.

So often in my time here I have I longed to be back at home with the luxuries of my country that I have so clearly taken for granted.  So often I have craved air conditioner, clean water, consistent electricity, Internet, and water, clean produce that I don’t have to fear becoming ill after consuming, and the thought of not having to take medication every day to lessen the odds of contracting malaria from the mosquitoes that constantly feast upon my body. 

So often I have longed to be able to walk out my front door and jump in my car to go to the grocery store and buy whatever my stomach desires, or pick up my phone and call a friend to share what God is doing in and through me, or cuddle up next to Rob while watching a movie, or seek wise counsel from a mentor when I am having a tough day and could use some guidance.

All of these things I have taken for granted and all of these things I have longed for at some point in my time here in Africa.  But then I think about what I will miss when I return home and I am sweetly reminded of the luxuries that I have had here and hope to never take for granted… 

Walking out my apartment door to a chorus of children chanting “Teacher Webber” (teecha wayba) and running full-speed at me

constant smiles and laughter

endless hugs and kisses and nakupenda’s (I love you’s)

walking down the dirt road that leads to our apartment and being greeted with a smiling “Mambo” by every African that passes

women walking down the streets with baskets full of produce on their heads while their babies are strapped on their backs with a colorful kanga

Friday night Bible study with the girls filled with worship, prayer, teaching, and fellowship

one on one meetings with the girls that I walk away from being so encouraged and refreshed by their desire to know Christ in a deeper and more intimate way

week day mornings spent at the primary school soaking wet in sweat as I jump around singing Father Abraham with children and teaching them about Jesus

the splendor and glory of God’s creation all around me from the magnificent Indian Ocean to the variety of different people groups represented here

Such are the joys of my daily life in Tanzania.  Everyday is different, every day is exciting but through it all there is one constant – God.  His grace, His love, and His mercy are so evident in every minute of every day here. The simplicity of this place and the lack of so many luxuries I am accustomed to back home have driven me to depend on God in a different way that I have ever before.  Dependence on Him in my every struggle and my every victory.  Not on Rob, not on my family or friends, not on my mentors, not on my comforts, but on God.  This is where John 15 has come alive and incredibly real for me...

Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches.

Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit,

for apart from me you can do nothing.”

John 15:5

He says, “abide in ME”… not religion, not church, not friends, family, or your job or money.  But ME.  Oh the simple, straightforward instruction He has given us here.  But oh the difficulty we find in it when we are so consumed with the comforts, pleasures, and stuff of this world that we are unable to see the only way that we are able to do anything of any eternal value or worth.  So this is where I rest.  Abiding in Christ.  Abiding in Him in Africa as I dread and fear saying goodbye to the people that have become so dear to me.  And abiding in Him as I return home to embark on the next journey He has for me.  No matter where God has me or takes me, this I know, I must abide in Him.

 Birthday dinner with the girls

 Bible Study

 Sweet Delphine and Kamphat

On the ferry heading to South Beach

 Miriam and I being silly at my birthday dinner celebration

 South Beach with the girls

 Nate, teaching our Bible Study on relationships from a godly man's perspective

 Meeting Asha's one week old baby brother for the first time

 Asha enjoying some "pipi" (sweets) that I brought her while having her hair braided

 Wish I could bring this girl home with me!

Sweet neighbor tending to her cows

 Mama carrying her baby on her back

 Beautifully colored kangas

 Another visit to Asha's home

Ochu and all of my babies waiting for me :)

Some of the children I have been so blessed to teach and love on

skipping off to "dining" for some morning porridge 

Vero refusing to let go of me while I take pictures :)

Nancy and me

My sweet Usraf waiting on her porridge to cool 

Junior

 Boys will be boys... no matter what continent they live on :)

 Teacher Anna & Teacher Nancy dressing me up in my new African "gear"

 My new kangas and sandals from Anna & Nancy

 My Tanzanian sisters in Christ - GOD IS GOOD!!

Anna in the bajaji with her new fan and home supplies that I gave her

Happy feet 

As I have begun to pack and prepare to return to the U.S. I have been able to reflect on my time here and the incredible and constant encouragement I have received from friends and family back home.  I am absolutely humbled by all of your prayers, emails, letters, and uplifting facebook messages that you have sent.  You have shared with me in carrying my burdens and shared with me in celebrating victories in my time here.  Even when I have not been able to respond or thank you for weeks at time or even ever, you have still been faithful to encourage and pray for me.  This has been a beautiful picture of the body of Christ in action for me.  Thank you.  Thank you for your financial and prayerful support to help me take the gospel to and make disciples of Christ in Tanzania.  God has been so faithful and merciful to hear our prayers and has blessed me abundantly along the way.  I pray that you too are blessed in knowing that you have played a significant role in making all of this happen!  

Nakupenda, Mungo akubarike!  (I love you and God bless you)

"Great is thy power!"

                            "The devil never reckons a man to be lost so long as he has a good mother alive.
                                                            O woman, great is thy power!"                     
                                                                      -  Charles Spurgeon

Being a mother is not always easy.  There is no profession in the world that requires more work and greater sacrifice than motherhood on a day-by-day basis.  This love requires deep demands.  Deep demands to care for a child spiritually, physically, and emotionally.  Here’s the picture that Titus 2 gives us in regards to motherhood:  no woman is capable of the kind of love described in this passage, apart from the gospel and the grace of God in them.  It is the grace of God in them that enables them to be the mother that God has designed them to be.  It is ALL based on grace.  It requires deep demands that send them to God saying, “God I need your grace to do this!” 

Apart from God’s grace my mother, Becky Woodruff, could not have raised me the way that she did.  She gladly and joyfully sacrificed everything in order to be the mother to my siblings and me that God called her to be.  There is not one time in my life that I can recall my mother not being there for me.  She has encouraged me, loved me, disciplined me, supported me and mothered me through every single up and down and ebb and flow in my life.  And she has done it with such GRACE. 

So today, I celebrate my mother and the grace that God has so clearly lavished upon her to be my mother.  I celebrate the gift of motherhood and I thank her for the constant and continual sacrifices that she has made for me.  I praise God for her constant trust in Him to provide her with the grace to mother me in the way that He designed her to.  And most importantly, I thank her for being so diligent to pass the gospel on to my siblings and me. 

As I finish up my time in Africa, I can only pray that God will bestow the same grace that He has given my mother, to the mothers around me here.  These women have a responsibility that is greater than just caring for their children physically and emotionally.  But they have a responsibility as mothers, to pass the gospel on to the next generation in their children.   If my mother had not been so intentional and obedient to pass that good news on to me I would not be here today.  And I more than likely would not know and trust in Jesus as my Lord and Savior.   So please join with me today in praising God for all of our mothers and then join with me in asking God to give grace to the mothers in Africa and around the world that do not know Him and trust in Him as their Lord and Savior, to pass the gospel on to their children and grandchildren.  We as Christ followers desire to see the gospel passed on by mothers to the next generation!  

Happy Mother's Day Mom!  I love you and am more grateful to you than you will ever know.  And to all of the mothers out there... today, we celebrate you and your efforts, your commitments, your sacrifices and your obedience to obey God's design and purpose for you as mothers!  Thank you.

Just a few "shout-outs".... Happy Mother's Day to my two amazing Grandmothers, my sister Caroline, my cousin Caca, my future mother-in-law Sandy, my friends and mentors Elizabeth and Kari, and all of my mother's friends (you know who you are) who have not only raised your own children but have also played such a positive role in my life as you have loved me, encouraged me and supported me over the years.  May God pour out His blessings upon you for your obedience to Him!  Thank you for all that you have been and are to me.  I love you.