In the End...Jesus Always Wins.

This past week I got to talk on the phone with my brother for his birthday. We ended up talking for 2 hours, which is no surprise....my Lou likes to take his time...and I love to know what's going on in life. After talking to him about life, he began to tell me what's been going on in the world. Everything to from with Israel and it's surrounding countries to Obama and the upcoming elections. Pretty much just telling me that Jesus is coming soon and very soon! After hanging up with Lou, I informed my roommate about what I had heard from my brother about whats been going on back home in the States. As you can tell...we are so exluded from news and civiliation (in a way)....living-in-the-middle-of-nowhere-Kenya/Africa, that it's a shock to hear all these things from back home. Before calling my brother, my roommate, Bella, and I had just finished listening to a sermon by her pastor on Matthew 28 and how "All authority in heaven and on earth has be given to Me [Jesus Christ]" (verse 18). The pastor talked about His sovereignty and authority over all things. Here on earth, whether it be something like the elections or war, even the enemy himself...He has the authority. I loved one thing that he mentioned and it was something like this, "Yes, Satan is a power creature, he is more powerful than humans, but he is only like a dog held by a leash, and God is holding that leash." He is in control of ALL things. In the end, Jesus wins. Jesus always wins.

This week I started reading M. David Sills' The Missionary Call, Bella let me borrow it. It's been very encouraging to read. I'll share a few qoutes with ya'll that have hit home:

"When God calls His child to live a life of a missionary, He gives him the desire with the calling." -David Sills.

"It is impossible to know God's specific will unless we are willing to bring our lives into comformity with His general will." -J. Herbert Kane.

"The aim of the missionary is to do God's will, not to be useful. not to win the heathen; he is useful and he does win the heathen, but that is not his aim. His aim is to do the will of his Lord."-Oswald Chambers.

And one of my favorites, "Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn't...Missions begins and ends in worship." -John Piper. (Let the Nations Be Glad).

This morning I had a dream with Lars Gren and Elisabeth Elliot! And it was something like this:

It was late at night and we had to go to Nakumat (our BJ's or Costco). We went and while the Medlins were making the line to pay...I noticed that there was a cute old mzungu (white person) employee and he was standing near the electronics. I go up to him and asked him if he worked the night shifts (since Nakumat is open 24/7). He said yes. I engaged in a nice concervation with him...and found out that him and his wife were missionaries and settled down here in Kenya after many years. They lived in the outshirts of towns. He invited me over to spend time with him and his family and talk about missions and Jesus. I replied, "I would love that!" It was time for me to leave Nakumat...so I began walking over to where the Medlins were and I was told that the old sir I was talking to was Elisabeth Elliot's husband! I was talking to Lars Gren and he invited me over to talk to him and Elisabeth. A couple of days later I ended up at their beautiful home. Elisabeth and her daughter Valerie were home and invited me in. We all went out to this beautiful restaurant for lunch. The whole time I was in shock that I was actually face to face with my mentor LOL! Elisabeth and I got to talk about life. I asked her questions about all her life experiences and asked for advice concerning my life and decisions.

I woke up and wished it was real life. It was such a interesting dream! I would love to meet Elisabeth Elliot and Lars Gren one day and talk about missions and Jesus and life.

Anyways...yes, this was a weird blogpost, but I just thought I would catch you guys up.
In exactly 2 weeks I'll be all packed and ready to head home. Crazy how time has flown by.
I just pray that He would give me the strength to say goodbye to everyone.
Praying about coming back and seeing them all again next year.