Remember

Not a day goes by without Africa coming to mind. Social network is partly to blame (or thank), depending on what that picture or comment about Africa stirs up in me. Most of the time, its homesickness for the beautiful continent. Its also endless joy when I am reminded about the people I have met and the places I have visited on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. As the M/V Africa Mercy sails to the next outreach, Mercy Shippers world-wide are sharing their thoughts of each country visited by the ship. Over past the four and half years (should I round up or down to make easier?) I have had the amazing opportunity to travel the shoreline of West Africa visiting Benin, Togo, Sierra Leone and Guinea. Each place I saw God work in tremendous ways through what we did on the ship and eventually I would share them on this blog. Thank you for all who read so faithfully and encouraged me to continue to write even if sometimes I had no words. I definitely have favorite entries that I wrote in minutes compared to those drafts that painstakingly lasted through the night. There are days that I am homesick for Africa and I cherish those memories quietly in my heart. Other times, I can talk your ear off about my wild adventures. Just because I love sharing how God changed not only my life, but countless others.
So tonight I was supposed to be either A) Studying for the GRE (errr, grad school) or B) Packing for my Guatemala trip that I leave for on Saturday (more on that later). Instead, the procrastinator in me read through past entries to share a few with you. It will do my heart good to remember...

Mawulolo... broke my heart, but God is great.
Oh I can't ever forget about Afi and seeing her again.
One from my VVF ladies in their own words.
Remember when God did the impossible in Georgette's life?
And just one more. At the end of the outreach we had countless pink sheets of those people we couldn't help and we asked for prayer for them. Little did we know that the ship would return two years later to Togo where those prayers were answered.

I had planned on doing every outreach, but I think Togo will be sufficient reading for tonight. Looking into the past and seeing how God moved reminds me that He's still working in the present wherever I may be thinking of Africa.