I can't even begin to tell each and everyone of you how excited I am to be here right now. I am loving every single second of this experience.
In the moments before I got into Johannesburg airport, I was feeling such a crazy mix of emotions. I was about to get off in Johannesburg, get onto a domestic flight to Durban, then take the familiar African Enterprise bus to Haniville and Walk In The Light. All that I could think about was what God's plans are for our team, and what God's plans are for Haniville. I found myself in a state of desperation, a desperate need for an answer from God, a sense of peace. That peace is what I found as soon as I stepped off the plane.
As soon as I got off the plane, my immediate thought was that I get the opportunity to worship again soon. I would get to reexperience the joy and hope that I once saw displayed so vividly the first time I was here. I again was desiring to see Him move and reveal why I am here again. What is His purpose with bringing me back? I know that I was supposed to come back. And here I am. Ready.
One of the most exciting things was getting to walk through Haniville on the first day here. Just getting to see the girls that I had grown to love in Fall 2009, yet they had mysteriously grown up. Seeing how the girls had changed and how their families had shifted and swayed under and around them. One of the girls I had gotten so close to, Ayo, had lost her grandfather recently. She had already lost her parents many years ago to HIV/AIDS. Now that her grandfather has passed away from TB and AIDS, she is now left with her grandmother and older sister. It is so unbelievable to imagine the pain that so many people experience here on a daily basis. It hit me hard, I am back and things are still painfully the same.
I realize that I am already missing my church, the girls from camp and VBS, and all my friends and family at home. It is in this moment that I realize that I am supposed to be here. He has called me to carry my cross (Hebrews 12), and I hope that this is what He meant when He told me I was to be coming back. I am feeling a sense of peace in this obedience. I know that He desires me to be back and I can't wait to see what He will continue to do in the next few days. Perseverance, Faith, and Love... these are things that He calls me to--press through to the VERY END and live each moment with love, awaiting the next with faith. He knows what He is doing.
As Reg Codrington said when I got off the plane, "Welcome home." Yes, I am home. Fresh off the plane and home. I miss my other home, but indeed, I am home.
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