Today I am leaving. I am heading back to the States, back to California and then Michigan to the places that I should call home. Today I am leaving my home. I cannot explain to you how or when the transition took place, however I can tell you without a doubt that I call Zimbabwe home.
I am excited to get back to see my friends and family, but as always, leaving is bittersweet. I no longer have a life back in California. I have friends (and Rocky) who are really excited to see me, and I am more excited than I can express to see them, but I don’t have a routine, I don’t know how I will fill my days. It is like a vacation. I need a vacation. Bheki said to me today as we were locking up my house and saying good-bye to my neighbors, “You will be new in America, won’t you? Don’t worry you will have a good visit and come home soon.”
People ask why I love Zimbabwe so much. I wish that there was an easy answer. There are so many reasons that people love this place: the incredible land, the amazing adventures to be had, the beautiful people, the spiritual fullness. All of these things have impacted me. I have spent the last 2 years trying to understand this place, but what affects me more personally is how God has used Zimbabwe to change me. I am very little of the girl who first arrived here. I am more of the little girl that was left behind when I got off track. In the past two years, God has taken me through a process of healing and restoration and I am not sure if it is finished, but I am a lot closer than I was a few months ago.
I have learned who I am in this place. I have learned who God is in this place. I have learned how I want to live my life: what I am willing to fight for and what I need to let go of. In Zimbabwe I became a warrior princess.
Not only am I visiting friends and family, I am attending the global summit on AIDS in the church, I am so excited to hear what is happening in the church in other parts of the world, we are on the front lines here. But this trip is really for a specific purpose: WORK PERMIT. I have to leave Zim to apply. Immigration says that this process could take a minimum of 6 weeks and I want you to join with me in prayer. Every fact says that I should be denied, the circumstances are bleak, but the truth is that I am called to Zimbabwe. I know it, the people here know it, the people who have been here with me know it, and a lot of you know it. The truth is that God can suspend the rules and that He doesn’t worry about the facts. Please stand in prayer with my that I get my work permit, in not one day over 6 weeks. This document will change my status in the country and allow me to not only work with the boys, but to counsel and train! It is important, and I am fighting for it. I am a warrior princess!
To my friends in the States, I will see you soon! I land Monday at 2:45pm!
Gigi
No comments:
Post a Comment