How Did I Get Here? Part 2
I, Valerie Cross, am going to Zambia in 46 days!
This is Part 2 of how my life was interrupted (in a good way) by God and how I now find myself preparing to get on a flight to Africa in less than 2 months.
I didn't hear anything back for 2 weeks. After 2 weeks, one morning I thought to myself, "Maybe I'll never hear back, maybe this was just a test from God to see if I would obey. Maybe nothing will come out of it and I won't go but God just wanted to see if I would follow where He led and I did it, I applied, I stepped out, I did what I could."
That same afternoon, I was contacted by the coordinator to set up a phone call to ask questions, get to know me better, etc. Of course, God stepped out right when I was about to give up on it. We spoke on February 3rd, right before I needed to leave for a Chi Alpha retreat. And that phone call was just as equally encouraging as it was confusing.
Remember how I mentioned in the last post about how I had found some good options in Ecuador and Honduras? But, ya know, God decided to change that a little bit? Yeah, so that's where the story gets kinda cool. As I was talking to the trip coordinator, she asked me how I found out about Love Africa Mission. So, I told her the story. After telling her, she said, "You're joking, no way, the same thing happened to me! I didn't think that happened to anyone else but I'm not kidding. I was looking at trips to Ecuador or Honduras (whaaaatttt?!?! same!) a few years ago and Love Africa Mission kept showing up."
Okay, woah God, You're doing something. You always have been but this is so clear. The rest of the conversation mainly consisted of asking questions about my life and my walk with Jesus. Then she mentioned something that changed the trajectory of all of this - again.
She said that she noticed I put down Kenya 1 as my preference and asked why and also how flexible my dates of travel in the summer were. I could tell in her voice that something was about to change. I told her my reasoning behind that time frame because of school and weddings and work. She said, "Ok, I'm asking because Kenya 1 is actually full now so we can't add you to that team. But here are the dates of the other open teams." She gave me 4 more trip timelines, 2 of which were immediately out of the picture due to them overlapping with a wedding I'm in.
I was kind of bummed but still had a little hope and said that I could see what I could do, pray about it, look at my work schedule and try to make something work for later in the summer.
*Cue Zambia*
She proceeded to tell me that there was another opportunity she wanted to tell me about. Because I had been on multiple missions trips, had lived in a foreign culture in Guatemala for 2 weeks, and had a heart to simply go where God called, she wanted me to consider going to Zambia instead of Kenya. She gave me some more information, told me about how they focus their Zambia trips all around relational ministry and serving wherever they are needed. I thought, "oh, cool, yeah that's an option but I was kind of set on and planning on Kenya, that was in the blueprint. So this was unexpected and I don't know what to do but we'll see." I asked when that trip was. And what do you know? It's the 2 weeks after school gets out in May until the beginning of June. The exact same dates as the Kenya trip I had originally applied for.
The phone call basically ended with us both agreeing to pray about it, to seek God, ask Him which team would be the best fit, and for me to contact her when I was ready to talk through it again or make a decision.
If you know me at all, you know that I am an indecisive person and having my plans change is not my favorite thing. Now, I found myself with too many options in front of me, the idea of a different country, and a fear of choosing the wrong one.
This is Part 2 of how my life was interrupted (in a good way) by God and how I now find myself preparing to get on a flight to Africa in less than 2 months.
I didn't hear anything back for 2 weeks. After 2 weeks, one morning I thought to myself, "Maybe I'll never hear back, maybe this was just a test from God to see if I would obey. Maybe nothing will come out of it and I won't go but God just wanted to see if I would follow where He led and I did it, I applied, I stepped out, I did what I could."
That same afternoon, I was contacted by the coordinator to set up a phone call to ask questions, get to know me better, etc. Of course, God stepped out right when I was about to give up on it. We spoke on February 3rd, right before I needed to leave for a Chi Alpha retreat. And that phone call was just as equally encouraging as it was confusing.
Remember how I mentioned in the last post about how I had found some good options in Ecuador and Honduras? But, ya know, God decided to change that a little bit? Yeah, so that's where the story gets kinda cool. As I was talking to the trip coordinator, she asked me how I found out about Love Africa Mission. So, I told her the story. After telling her, she said, "You're joking, no way, the same thing happened to me! I didn't think that happened to anyone else but I'm not kidding. I was looking at trips to Ecuador or Honduras (whaaaatttt?!?! same!) a few years ago and Love Africa Mission kept showing up."
Okay, woah God, You're doing something. You always have been but this is so clear. The rest of the conversation mainly consisted of asking questions about my life and my walk with Jesus. Then she mentioned something that changed the trajectory of all of this - again.
She said that she noticed I put down Kenya 1 as my preference and asked why and also how flexible my dates of travel in the summer were. I could tell in her voice that something was about to change. I told her my reasoning behind that time frame because of school and weddings and work. She said, "Ok, I'm asking because Kenya 1 is actually full now so we can't add you to that team. But here are the dates of the other open teams." She gave me 4 more trip timelines, 2 of which were immediately out of the picture due to them overlapping with a wedding I'm in.
I was kind of bummed but still had a little hope and said that I could see what I could do, pray about it, look at my work schedule and try to make something work for later in the summer.
*Cue Zambia*
She proceeded to tell me that there was another opportunity she wanted to tell me about. Because I had been on multiple missions trips, had lived in a foreign culture in Guatemala for 2 weeks, and had a heart to simply go where God called, she wanted me to consider going to Zambia instead of Kenya. She gave me some more information, told me about how they focus their Zambia trips all around relational ministry and serving wherever they are needed. I thought, "oh, cool, yeah that's an option but I was kind of set on and planning on Kenya, that was in the blueprint. So this was unexpected and I don't know what to do but we'll see." I asked when that trip was. And what do you know? It's the 2 weeks after school gets out in May until the beginning of June. The exact same dates as the Kenya trip I had originally applied for.
The phone call basically ended with us both agreeing to pray about it, to seek God, ask Him which team would be the best fit, and for me to contact her when I was ready to talk through it again or make a decision.
If you know me at all, you know that I am an indecisive person and having my plans change is not my favorite thing. Now, I found myself with too many options in front of me, the idea of a different country, and a fear of choosing the wrong one.
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