As I tossed
and turned last night in my moderately chilly room in Sakété, Benin, unable to
sleep with my mind filled with worry over various situations I found myself
praying. God, please be with this situation. God, please bring justice in this
other situation. God, please bring peace to my friends. God, please give us
wisdom to know what to do to best care for the 30 orphans You have put in our
charge with Ebola sweeping across West Africa.
To be quite
honest, there are many things I anticipated experiencing my first year living
in Benin, West Africa. I anticipated struggling to learn a new language. I
anticipated having difficulty acclimating to a new culture. I anticipated
sweating, a lot. I anticipated being exhausted more often than not. There are
many things I anticipated.
But above
all the things that I anticipated there was one that topped my list: Love the
children and staff of Arbre de Vie and love them well. Period.
Of all the
things I could have possibly anticipated, an Ebola outbreak in West Africa with
enormous death rates is not something that was even remotely on my radar. But,
here it is.
And now
what?
As I said,
my #1 priority has been and continues to be to love the children and staff of
Arbre de Vie and love them well. So what does love look like? Does love look
like being filled with anxiety over a virus that has swept and is continuing to
spread across countries near us? Does love look like irrationally making
decisions without prayerfully seeking wisdom and guidance first? Does love look
like packing up all my belongings and going back to the United States until
this Ebola epidemic subsides? No. That is not what love looks like when I think
about what my number one priority was in coming to this country and
volunteering alongside this organization.
For my life
and my situation, love looks a lot like staying. I don’t know what lies ahead.
Do my eyes fill with tears at times being overwhelmed with the possibility of
the unknown? Yes. Does my heart race and do I look over across the table with
worried eyes at Ashley and say half-jokingly, “So, I think I might need a Xanax
right about now.” Sure! Does my soul ache at the thought of one of these
children I love so much becoming sick with this deadly virus and then wondering
what I can do to help them in their suffering? Absolutely.
But all of
these questions and unknowns don’t change anything in my mind, in my heart and
in my soul…I am here to love these children, these staff members and my fellow
colleagues. I am here to minister to these people and I know with every single
fiber of my being THIS is where God has called me.
And none of
this is a surprise to Him, is it? In all my anticipation and questions with
preparing to come here and live here He knew all of this was down the road. And
He’s already been with me, with us, each step of the way and I know He will not
leave us now.
So I will
continue on. Loving these children. Loving these people. Serving these
children. Serving these people. We will continue to educate our children and
our staff on needed precautions for this virus and we will continue
implementing procedures at our orphanage to keep those who call Yedidja home
safe.
Jon and
Ashley have only the children’s best interests in mind at all times and I
always support them 100%. We will also continue to support those in ministry
alongside us here in Benin. We are blessed with incredible friends and ministry
partners and I will always 100% support them and the decisions they make for
their families and their ministry. Just as they support us and our family here
at Arbre de Vie.
It’s no
ones place to judge. So please, instead of asking me to come home or wondering
why I don’t “get the heck out of dodge”, pray for me. Pray for guidance. Pray
for our kids. Pray for Jon and Ashley. Pray for our fellow missionary friends.
Pray that everyone makes the best decision for them and follows boldly after
the Lord and what He’s calling them to. Please. You are right here with us. Your love and support is important and incredibly vital in our life and ministry here.
And please
pray that Ebola continues to stay at our backdoor because this nasty virus is
not welcome at our house and we will continue to do everything we can to keep
the door bolted and closed!
