Our time here in Port Elizabeth is coming to an end and I’m so thankful, yet so sad. As excited I am for Botswana, I’m going to miss everyone here so much. Love Story truly is a family and they invited us in, loved us and made us a part of their family. I hope and pray that I can love everyone I come in contact with the way they loved and served us.
Coming in to this trip I was most excited about kids and thought that would be my favorite part, but I NEVER expected to enjoy homeless ministry the most. It’s definitely not something I loved in the beginning, but it really grew on me. I was able to form relationships with some of the regulars and God has reminded me of something through them, to listen. He has been repeatedly telling me that listening to others is loving them and that listening for him is important. These dirty, homeless, and addicted people are often seen as and treated as animals, which is not how God views them at all. Most of them LOVE to talk. All you have to do is ask them how their day was and they’ll tell you their entire life story, which may include how many people they’ve stabbed. I’ve learned that just smiling and nodding to whatever they say makes them feel valued and loved, because they have nobody else that listens to them. I also found myself getting discouraged when I would see people we prayed with come back the next day drunk or high. I expected to see people be healed or miraculously changed, so when that wasn’t happening I felt like I wasn’t doing enough. I was reminded that it’s not my job to change people, but to love them. We don’t love people just for success stories, but we love them because Jesus loves us and he tells us to “go and do the same.” Luke 10:37
In John 15:1-17 Jesus uses the word remain 11 times. Last week I got this word tattooed on my wrist. This is something that God has pressed on me over and over for the last couple of years. Since I’ve been in Port Elizabeth, I’ve seen intimacy with the Holy Spirit, wanted it myself, and have been very frustrated because I thought I didn’t have it. Again God reminded me that all I have to do is remain in him and he will remain in me. All he wants is for us to be with him and remain in His great love for us. Even in relationships with people, spending time together is how communion and intimacy is formed. I love that we have a relational Dad that loves to spend time with His kids. Even when I’m 80+ years old I want to remain in constant dependence, love, and friendship with the creator of the world and the greatest father, because He is all we need and “apart from him, we can do nothing.”
Botswana, we’re coming for ya!
