How South Africa Saved My Life

Are you ever just so overwhelmed by what the Lord has done in your life that you can barely stand it? Well, today was one of those days. This morning began with chapel (student-led chapel), and considering it was our second to last time having chapel as a community on the African Enterprise campus here in Pietermaritzburg, we did an “affirmation circle” type thing for the main staff that’s been with us from the beginning (plus Francis, our incredible Kenyan Community Engagement teacher and mentor). The staff seated in front of the room made up a total of six people--Reg, Francis, and our 4 community life coordinators: Leizel and Reagan (they’re married), Cynthia (Reg’s assistant and a community coordinator), and Janet. This affirmation circle (or line more like it) was planned last minute by the student chapel committee. It was the opportunity for us as students to thank and affirm the team that has taken such amazing care of us from the moment we stepped off the plane in Johannesburg (and even before, planning this semester at the beginning of 2011 and covering us in prayer throughout the summer).

The affirmations began, and the tears started to flow as, one by one, student after student stood up and thanked the Azusa Pacific International staff one at a time, pointing out the strengths of each one of them and highlighting this or that memory, whether serious or playful—it was just one of those moments, ya know? The kind that sticks in your mind forever because the love in the room is so evident, and the presence of the Holy Spirit is undeniable. There were a couple of words spoken that made me completely lose it, especially when those comments had something to do with Reg, who, according to one of the girls, “spits wisdom.” I would have to agree with her on that one. Fortunately, a pile of napkins was being passed around so we might dry our eyes.

By the time Reg got up to say a few words (after over an hour of “affirming” had gone by), the napkins weren’t doing much. Mine was torn and soaked, getting more soaked by the minute, as Reg stood, with tears in his eyes, and thanked us for being a semester that had restored his hope for the Azusa Pacific South Africa Semester. He thanked us for doing as much, as a semester, for him and the staff as they had done for us. He let us into a little secret of his as well. He said, “You know how I judge how the semester is going to run?” We all waited with bated breath as he stated, “I can tell by the end of the first chapel, and I knew, after that first chapel, that this semester was going to be a special one.” At that point, I was literally bawling, like the kind of bawling that should not be seen in public (chest heaving, throat squeaking etc). Thank goodness I wasn’t the only one. I’m not sure there was a dry eye in the room, boy and girl alike. 

I was crying because I was so hit in that moment with an overwhelming sense that the Lord had literally “Pulled me out of the miry clay and set my feet upon a rock” by taking me from Azusa to South Africa right when I needed it. Over the summer and going into this fall semester I was going through one of the hardest seasons of my life, asking God lots of questions, wondering why I still felt a burden, an uneasiness, and a brokenness I just couldn’t seem to shake. Throughout my time in South Africa, I’ve been asking the Lord for restoration and healing (if you can’t tell, it’s been a theme in a lot of my blogs), but I had become frustrated at times because I couldn’t seem to figure out why it wasn’t happening (to the extent I had expected) already!

The Lord, over the past few days had been bringing a few verses to mind. The first is found in Ephesians 6 when Scripture talks about putting on the full armor of God and praying at all times. This is something I began to do as I woke up every morning, being aware that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12), and being even more aware that the devil “prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour” (I Pet. 5:8), and I refused to be that “someone” any longer!

Anyway, that had been going on in my head for the past week, and other verses

…like Heb. 12:11

“All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

…and James 1:2-4

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.”

…had become repetitive staples in my daily diet of Scripture verses. What I realized is, even if my struggles had not magically disappeared like I had wanted/expected them too, it didn’t mean that I was somehow doing something wrong or being utterly defeated. That wasn’t the point. The point was to CHOOSE LIFE and CLAIM MY VICTORY amidst the suffering—to persevere. After all, it’s in the testing, the trials, and the brokenness that HIS strength is most seen, isn’t it? It’s in the pain, the heartache, and the tears that the training takes place, so that, in the end, we might grow and bear fruit, being “mature and complete, lacking in nothing.” So I can REJOICE in the trials! I can glory in my tribulations knowing that “afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

Additionally, because God is just that good, he has used me in spite of my brokenness. He has taken my tiny, pitiful offering of a broken heart and made it big in His kingdom. He has used me in the short time I’ve had here to touch others and be touched by them, whether it’s the people I live with here on campus or the community around us. Whether we are having a worship night or just lounging on the grass outside during teatime—He truly has been IMMANUEL, God with us, all the time, not letting go for one second.

Today is 11/7/11, if you haven’t noticed. 11:11 is my favorite time. I’m not exactly sure why, but it just is. When I see those numbers displayed on the clock I always remember the phrase that I wrote out a moment ago, “Immanuel—God with us.”

Seven is also my favorite number. Maybe it’s my favorite because it is a number of completion. Regardless, today is 11/7/11, so I’d like to see it like this...

God is Alpha and Omega, He is the elevens on either side of the seven. The seven is me--smack dab in the middle of his perfect plan, being strengthened, healed, restored, and brought to “completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 1:6).