Heyyyyyyyy Y’all,
I don’t want to say this because I am afraid of it being a reality but the summer is coming to an end. We finished our last big event the other day and now we are heading into a time of debrief. It honestly feels like this summer just began and I really don’t know how we got here so quickly. Regardless of it all I wouldn’t change a thing. I have been so blessed and encouraged knowing that I have some of the most precious friendships and memories that anyone could ever ask for.
I want to share a special and touching story about my birthday. I am 19 years old now. (I’m not gonna lie, I put 199 years old on accident and barely caught it before I submitted it) I think this was one of the coolest birthdays I have had in a long while. I had never met anyone with the same birthday as me until I came to the Institute and met one of the girls named Lydia. I thought it was pretty cool that I shared with someone, but then I came on this internship and met not 1, not 2, but 3 more who share my birthday! Mama Ruth, Ssuubi and Rhema. So there were 5 of us that celebrated our birthday on July 17th. That was so fun.
Anywho, we were traveling back from Mombasa the whole day in this crazy bus with some crazy drivers which was a really fun experience. (Ask me about it anytime, I would love to rant about it) And sometime in the mid morning we stopped and got onto another bus for transportation. We drove down the craziest and bumpiest road I have seen in Africa yet. There were multiple times where I thought we were going to get stuck in the mud or rivets but our driver was such a pro. I don’t know how anyone else felt about it, but I thought it was really fun! It was a pretty long drive and I didn’t know where we were going of course so I started to pay as much attention to the people and the scenery as I could. As I had seen many times in Africa, there were many children walking. Some were just walking home from school, some were walking with their friends, some were trying to sell things, but most of them were either young kids who were playing with each other in the dirt or hauling heavy containers of water. This is something that I have seen a lot here. The young children have to help to fetch the water and it is normal for them to be dragging them for many miles because they are so much bigger than they are.
After a little while we got to the church. The pastor had rented and set up some tents for us on his property. It was so humbling to see that incredible act of love for us. We had the sweetest time of worship and testimony. They started the church service with a couple songs of praise and I was loving being able to magnify the Lord with everyone. The moment was so surreal! I could not believe that I was in this tiny town under these tents that someone who had nothing had been intentional to prepare for us as a way to honor us being there. I felt so humbled and honestly unworthy of their kindness and hospitality. We were able to sing a couple of songs for them as well and it was just so encouraging to see the unity between our team and the church members.
Then we were blessed to hear from the pastor about how the church came to be. It started with three members and now it has nineteen members. The story of faith and perseverance and how their pastor has given so much of his own funds to support the church and its members even though he has a large family of his own was so touching. He works so hard and does many side jobs just so that he can continue to fulfill this ministry that the Lord has called him to. His faithfulness and the faithfulness of his church members was so so humbling.
After the service our whole team and their church family walked through the town to see their church. The second that I saw it, I started to tear up. It was this tiny all metal building with two benches, a small pulpit, and some colorful sheets draped across the wall at the front. Outside there was a cloth that was hand painted that said, “Community church for GOD.” If you don’t know, GOD Intl has many different Community Churches for GOD in every one of the regions that we serve in. This church had not officially been added to our list yet but they had stepped out in faith and made that sign themselves. It was the most special moment for me as I was able to be a witness to how deeply this organization has impacted people.
The joy that I felt when I stepped into that church was unmatched. I saw the most sincere looks of joy on each of their faces and their excitement that we cared to come and see it was so special as well. Before we left, our whole team stood around the church and prayed over it and its members. The majority of the rest of the day was spent traveling but we got to celebrate all the birthdays the next day with a really sweet dinner. It was really nice. But overall I thought that time spent at the church was the coolest and most humbling way to spend my birthday.
Here’s to many more birthdays in Africa if the Lord is willing!!!!!!
Love you guys so much!
Anthem Bloyer
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