Michelle's African Missions: My little friend dancing in the township

My History in Missions

Here's a quick summary of how I got into missions and where I've gone from there.

I've felt called to the AIDS orphans of Africa since High School. Promptly after graduating I spent all the money I'd been saving since I was 15, on what it was intended for: a plane ticket to Africa.

My first African experience was a six week long trip with both my parents to Mozambique, where we spent 3 weeks in Maputo (the capital) with Iris Ministries (www.irismin.org) at their children's center in the Zimpeto district. We then traveled to their rapidly expanding base in northern Mozambique (Pemba) and stayed for another three weeks at the children's center there.

My first trip to Mozambique wasn't with out it's challenges. Most of the children Iris takes into their centers are off the street. They know how to survive in the toughest conditions, living in boxes, sleeping on cardboard, being chased by the cops, begging for food... and they certainly know how to manipulate and take advantage of a giving westerner. Though slightly disillusioning at first, one can quickly come to understand why a child learns these begging tricks. (They had to). In the end it kept bringing me back to the most important thing: Unconditional Love. How does one show unconditional love to a misbehaving and manipulative child? How does one guard their heart from being hurt and at the same time reach out? I haven't found all the answers yet, but God is teaching me His way of 'agape' (love) little by little.

My second trip to Africa was in September 2006. This was a combo mission trip, with a team of 12, spending a month in Malawi holding babies, visiting children's centers, preaching and leading worship at lunch hour gatherings, churches, local prayer meetings, youth meetings, a conference, and even a refugee camp. I spent another two weeks in Malawi after my team left, one week with Children of the Nations (www.cotni.org) visiting their children's programs.

Next stop, Mozambique, the Pemba base of Iris Ministries once again. This time however, for two months! I attended their Missions School and met scores of other students with similar hearts for the poor and hurting, not to mention learning so much about the do's and dont's of cross-cultural mission work.

This last trip (October-February 08-09) has been an amazing experience with the opportunity to visit even more African countries. I arrived in Mozambique with a team from my church, and stayed behind after our 10-day outreach, to staff the Mission School I attended 2 years earlier. It felt so good to be back in Africa where my heart is I didn't want to leave. Leaving the passionate "lets-change-the-world" culture, and new like-hearted friends made at the school is always difficult. The relationships made in such a enviroment are precious and treasured for a life time.

After 2 months of living and working with students from all over the world I headed out to Sudan with a small outreach team (3 of us) and stayed at the Iris Sudan base (www.iris-sudan.org) for one month. It was such an amazing experience, receiving an African name, being there when they found baby Josiah 'Doga at the gate in the middle of the night, learning Arabic and Kakwa, talking with Sudanese people who had lived through the atrocities of war in South Sudan...

After a month in Sudan I headed back through Uganda on my way to South Africa, where more amazing people and experiences awaited me. I stayed for a week with a family in Botleng township, joining a local pastor in his day-to-day ministry, and getting a feel for township life.

I find these by far to be some of my most valuable life experiences. They are stepping stones in the journey to becoming the person God created me to be; learning to love like He does, learning to care like He does, reaching out to those sometimes forgotten and uncared for.