When ebola is at your backdoor...

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!