oh the joy!

Nothing other than… you gotta love Africa!
This weekend has been so exciting and amazing! I just want to share a few things about Africa. Some are funny, some are just so you know how I’m living! And then I want to tell you all about Sunday!!!
Here are the crazy different things about Africa…
1. We have to make sure are clothes are COMPLETELY dry so that we don’t get worms or flies won’t lay eggs on our clothes.
2. Blue-tailed lizards are everywhere! Sometimes even in the kitchen….
3. Bats fly around at night. I can’t get used to them… eeeeek!
4. Don’t leave the trash outside at ANY time because rats WILL come and go through it. It’s happened to my house twice.
5. Our feet aren’t tan… it’s just dirt…
6. Make sure all the cockroaches are out of the shower before you get in but wear shoes just in case!
7. We have to be careful when you eat the rice and beans because there might be some little rocks in it…
8. Tuna and spaghetti don’t go together…
9. Normally in the states I’d freak out if there were bugs in or on my food… now, it’s just “bug get off my food! Or I just pick them out…. Or sometimes it’s too late!
10. I think sand ALWAYS ends up in our food. We probably eat 10 % sand!
11. Random things are good here… things I would never eat at home are good here! For example… butter and crackers are amazing. I would never eat that at home for a snack!
12. Everything is on African time. If you tell an African a certain time… they are at least one hour later. They are EVENT minded, not on time.
13. Ha… this one is lovely. So, Africans believe that when you go to a restaurant with people you want to sit and talk and socialize with your friends for a WHILE before you get your food. That’s what they do so that’s what they think we want to do. So, they basically wait like 30 minutes after you order to start preparing your food. So, you usually get your food about an hour and a half after you order it! OR, you can order chicken and they go buy it, thaw it out, THEN cook it and somehow it takes 3 hours… gotta love it. Nothing surprises us anymore!
14. Wednesday nights are one of the highlights of my week because I get chicken and the good rice!
15. Hot sauce makes everything better here!
16. Going to the beach is not a resting time… it’s a time where you go and village kids attack you and want to touch you. Please remind me to tell beach stories when I come home….
17. Spending time with Jesus in the early, cool morning is the best thing on the planet.
18. Watch your laundry dry or it might get stolen….
That’s all I can think of right now at 5 am… but I will keep thinking! I will have the best stories when I get home.
Oh! Oh! Oh!!! So, some groups went on outreach this weekend and one group prayed for 8 deaf and 2 blind and they are COMPLETELY healed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! One of my friends prayed for one of the blind boys who was born blind and then now he can SEE!!!! JESUS!!!!!!! I have the BEST pictures to show you the transformation!!!
SUNDAY-
Well, it was Laura’s birthday(one of my friends here) so we celebrated!! When it’s your birthday here you are supposed to wear a sign that says, “Prophecy over me, it’s my birthday!” so she got some amazing prophecies yesterday!
So, we went to church and Heidi came and told us good morning… she is the sweetest, most patient, most loving woman. I am so thankful I get to learn under her!
Missionaries and amazing speakers from all around the world are here! We are LOVING it and in complete awe of what the Lord is letting us stand in and be a part of! I mean I just turned around and Bill Johnson and Supresa are just chatting. Like what??!!! If I haven’t told you anything about Surpresa… he is AMAZING. he’s raised NUMEROUS people from the dead. He SO believes the Word and just knows God will fulfill what He says. He is the most joyful man I know. He did speak 4 languages then got downloaded 10 more to him so now he speaks 14 languages fluently! And if he shows up in a village and he doesn’t know their language Jesus gives it to him and he starts preaching… c’mon!!
So, after ALL the missionaries introduced themselves we had worship! Usually the songs are in Portuguese or the tribal language but this morning one of Heidi’s daughters was singing in English. She sang Rick Pino and another song. Well, I wanted to dance(ballet) so badly so I found a spot and did it!! You have no idea how much I miss dancing… it’s in my blood now and so a part of me and when I don’t get to do it all the time it’s hard! Anyway, I got to!! And when I did about 10 little girls(around age 8-10) all came and sat in front of me and watched. They were precious. So, I asked them in the best Portuguese I know, “do you want me to teach you to dance like me? Will you dance with me?” and they said YES. They were shy but they put smiles on their face(a lot of the little girls don’t smile…). So, we started dancing together. I taught them how to twirl and point their feet and all kinds of things. They were the sweetest little things. I LOVED every second of it! The village girls here have it VERY hard… they don’t get a break but for 10 minutes yesterday they got to dance and smile and not have a care in the world. They felt free….and it was beautiful!
After that, Bill got up and spoke. Short little 10 minute message that changed my life. The wisdom that comes out of that man is astounding! He spoke on how the presence of God should be on us ALL the time. That even our shadows should heal people. Such a great message! Then he wanted us to pray after and put our hands up to receive that anointing. So, I did of course. He came and put his hand on my head while I was praying. The Holy Spirit was definitely doing something in me. Then Rolland comes by and prays for me. Like who gets Bill and Rolland to pray for you on just a typical Sunday??? Hahaha! Thanks Jesus!
After church I went to talk to Bill and told him I was one of the “MS stalkers”! He just laughed, hugged me and said “y’all are everywhere!!!” (I told him I wanted him to come to our church… don’t worry!)
So then it was BAPTISMS in the Indian Ocean!! Stacy Campbell, Mel Tari, and Heidi all did baptisms! HUNDREDS of people got baptized. It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen in my life! I was taking pictures and praying over people. Heidi asked the students to pray over the people after they were baptized because many of them get severely persecuted afterwards. After taking pictures and videos for students that were getting baptized I went over by Heidi and stood by her. After she baptized, I would pray over the kids. She changed many of their names yesterday. (remind me to tell you about that when I get home…) I cry just thinking about it. It was a beautiful thing to see these kids get baptized and have their names changed and then it was an HONOR for me to pray for them after! Watching those baptisms changed my life forever… I just can’t put into words how AMAZING it was. I have great pictures so maybe you’ll understand after you see them!
Also, I got a picture with Bill and Mel Tari! If you don’t know about Mel Tari well you need to! The man changed my life. You NEED to read his book, “like a mighty wind!” The man has experienced pretty much every miracle in the bible. He has walked on water, drank poison from village people and just knew God wasn’t going to let him die because he had to preach, turned water into wine, and the list goes on and on. I will sit and tell you all about him when I get home. He is AMAZING!!! I have so much honor for this man. He is precious and speaks with such authority! Well as I was just standing on the beach we happened to be beside each other so I introduced myself and got a picture with him. He is so sweet. I can’t wait for him to speak to us!!
After eating supper out and hanging out with friends we had a prophesying party over Laura!
It was an amazing day! I wouldn’t have changed one thing! I think it’s been my favorite day in Africa so far. Kids are starting to come up to me all the time just to get a hug and for me to hold them. I get handed random kids all the time. But I just love on them. Sometimes I feel like I have a huge sign on me that says “I will love on you if you need a hug”… but I love it. If kids need love, I have it to give. We’ve met some girls that are 12 years old that already have 1-3 kids…. They need love. Oh Jesus…
It’s going to be an INCREDIBLE week FULL of speakers and FULL of God’s glory FALLING on us. Can’t wait!!!!!!!!