Joyful 27th!

Sunday June 19th consisted of me going to my church for the last time. Ami came for a short time to take some pictures and then the rest of the team headed out to their church plant locations. If I had to be honest, I was happy to attend my church for the last time as I had for the majority of the 4 months…my church body and me. Please don’t get me wrong—I would have loved to have any of the team members there with me, but there was just something special about my last time being “normal”. I didn’t want a big deal made out of me leaving, and I was grateful it was a simple announcement that I would be going and they prayed for me.


Sweet simplicity.

I walked across the road back to the compound after church with a heavy heart of gratitude. The compound was so very quiet...as it usually was on Sunday afternoons, since the team was out still. I sat there on the step outside my room just reflecting. This was real. 4 months had actually already gone by. It felt good to just sit and allow all of the memories weigh on me.

I thought I might try and take a nap, lied down, and heard voices. Half of the team got back so I went and visited with them for a bit. It wasn’t until around 5 or so that everyone else got back to the compound. They had a VERY long day. Apparently they had church, which lasted longer than usual and then hiked out to do baptisms. You could tell they were wiped. It was beautiful to hear their stories of salvation and baptism.

Everyone just kind of hung around the compound and then around 730 or so the land cruiser pulled up and out came Grant, Norma, Barbara, Stephanie, and Saqib!!

I smile as I type this…Jenn had arranged for a surprise birthday party for me!!! My birthday was a few days away but she wanted me to be able to celebrate it with those I love in Africa before I left. I know, she’s amazing. She is constantly blowing me away with her thoughtfulness. The truth is, I had a feeling something was up when Norma called my phone earlier that afternoon asking for Jenn and then did her best to play it off. Haha. Well, it was all clear when Grant walked over and yelled HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! before Jenn could even try and get it all together as they drove up! Haha. Those things make it just that much better!!

So, that evening I celebrated my 27th birthday with my dear friends over rice and beans. They had even gotten me gifts!! Yet again, I couldn’t help but step back and remind myself that this was indeed my life. Blessings upon blessings.

Oh, I can’t forget the actual surprise!! The team managed to bring over 2 boxes of angel food cake!!! Jenn knew it was my favorite type of cake…AND Norma and Barbara spent the time cooking it AND making a pineapple sauce to go over it!!! I was beside myself. It was so yummy and my African friends got to try Angel food cake for the first time!

The best gift of all though was stepping back and watching what was before me. I had so many of my close friends from all over the world fellowshipping and simply enjoying the company of everything. Never in my life would I dream that 2 of my best friends would be WITH me at the end of my 4 month journey in South Sudan. Not only that, but that they would be able to love on Norma—one of their dear friends, too! I got to share my Pakistani friend with them and them with him. It was the best gift a girl could receive.

I sat down that evening next to my Pakistani friend and thanked him for coming. I wanted him to know just how much I treasured his friendship and the many, many conversations we had. Above all, I wanted him to know the extent of love Jesus has for him. That’s when he looked at me and said, “Jessica, I look around and I see all of your friends and how they love you and the joy you have…I want that…I want that joy.” The Lord had allowed for such a relationship to form that I was able to say gently yet with the utmost conviction that they joy he seems comes from Jesus alone and that he, too, could have this joy. I told him, not for the first time, that what he sees goes so far beyond circumstances and that its root is in the understanding that while undeserving, Jesus died for me. That Jesus has provided a life for me that I could never get for myself. He respectfully listened as he always had, his eyes gleaming with the awe of this hope I have. He shook his head, understanding that I told him these things out of my love for him yet not fully being able to grasp them. He smiled and thanked me for sharing my heart with him and being such a good friend.

The night began to come to an end as everyone was saying their goodbyes. My Pakistani friend came up to me and held up a 10,000 shilling bill in front of our faces. He then explained that in his culture when dear friends are parting for whatever reason they have a tradition they do. He then ripped the bill in half. He went on to explain that one half was his and as he put the other half in my hand, said it was mine. He said that they say whenever the next time they meet, whether on this earth or not, they will tape the two halves back together and get a meal of coffee together to catch up. He then said, “Dear friend, I wills see you again, and we will catch up.” Everything in me wanted to break down into tears, but the sheer honor of what just unfolded in front of my eyes kept me together enough to thank him, give him the firm handshake he was always so faithful to do, and wish him well. It’s now, as I type this, I find myself overwhelmed with emotion. True beauty touches the soul in a way that can’t be explained.

I begged and pleaded the Lord that night, and have many times since then, that if it isn’t on this earth that I see him next, that it will be in Heaven as we are proclaiming the majesty of our King Jesus….together.