Africa: A Look Back

Yes, I know April is a little late, and I have been back for a few months now, but I wanted to write one final blog while Africa is still very fresh on my mind. I don’t want to be repetitive, but I do desire to highlight a couple of the huge things that God did in my life while in Africa and since I have been back. I would also be remiss if I did not use this last entry to thank everyone who was a part of the trip. Some gave financially, some prayed, some encouraged, and I am indebted to you all for any type of contribution that you made. My life has been changed, and God has poured out His blessings on me since I have returned—not because of anything good I have done but only because of His grace and mercy!

I returned to American soil about a week before Christmas. The end of my time in Africa was an absolute whirlwind. The missionaries threw us a surprise going away party, and we said our emotional goodbyes. I made some very deep and meaningful friendships while I was in Nairobi, and I hope that those relationships will continue to last. I think very fondly of the people I worked with, and I want to go back and see them!

I can’t even begin to describe my journey back to America. It was very stressful, and it seemed like it took fooorever. I was in such a great hurry to see my family again for the first time in nearly half a year. I missed them so much. My two suitcases were both over the airline weight limit by a few pounds because of the African trinkets I was trying to bring back with me. The Kenyan Airways worker in the Nairobi Airport was trying to charge me a lot of money for barely being over the limit. However, he said I could just give him a $20 bill and all would be forgotten. Before you accuse me of bribery, this type of thing is customary in Kenya. Ok, moving on…

I actually made a really cool friend in the Nairobi airport, and I also hung out with her in the Dubai layover. From Dubai, I went to London, Houston, and finally Orlando. Yes, that was a Nairobi-Dubai-London-Houston-Orlando trip, and it was exhausting and long. I was in the air for a total of approximately 30 hours. Not the most direct route to say the least!

Seeing my family for the first time in a long time made me so inexplicably happy. I can’t properly put it into words! I was picked up by my mom, my dad, and Justin, along with two great friends, Ashley Herrera and Katie Caulfield from the University of Florida. I was back home and loving it!

Well, since then, I have still been loving it in America, but after a few weeks I did have my first significant feelings of missing the children. I do have a desire to return as soon as I possibly can! I know a lot of you know what the Lord did in my life in Africa, but I want to hit on a couple of key things that God revealed to me during my time there…

First, God taught me what it meant to be wholly dependent and completely reliant on Him. I was taken from a place where I knew everyone and was in a total comfort zone to a place where hardly anyone spoke any English at all. It was physically challenging because of the lack of running water, electricity, indoor plumbing (i.e. toilets), and the mattresses were extremely thin. I also never got used to the African staple food of ugali. It took a toll on my body. It was emotionally difficult because of Satan’s attempt to attack me with intense feelings of loneliness and homesickness. I grew up in Port Orange, FL and went to school in Gainesville, FL. This was my first time out of the country, and it was for 5 months halfway across the world. For the first month, I really struggled with those feelings of loneliness and longings to be with family.

But do you know what happened? For the first time in my life, I truly understood what it meant to be dependent on Him for everything I needed and for all my satisfaction. The Lord had been my Savior, my Counselor, and my Father, but He finally became my best friend. What a novel idea: I talked to God throughout my days. Isn’t that the idea? When I had to walk a half hour to the nearest store, all I had to talk to was the Lord. The more I talked with Him, the more His joy grew inside of me. That is what I want to bring back with me to America. I want to be putting myself in situations where I have to depend on Him for all that I need. Every day that I wake up, I want to tell Him that I need Him so desperately for everything in my life. I challenge us all to step out of our comfort zones, for it is in times of discomfort and difficulty that God changes us and molds us. I learned that lesson the hard way in Africa. After I learned that, I was filled with joy for much of my time there. I still dealt with homesickness, but I had Jesus as my best friend.

God was also dealing with me on the issue of contentment. I have still not mastered it, but He was teaching me about truly being content in every situation. I saw children and adults in communities with next to nothing. They barely had enough to make it through the day. Here in America, there are many people who work a little and have a lot, but in the village where I lived in Kenya, a lot of the people worked all day for very little. They must work to simply stay alive. Here we have so much and yet there are so many miserable people walking around. In Kenya, I saw some of the happiest people I have ever met in my life. They get it. They understand what is important and essential and what is not. They get so excited when they get any sort of gift and are so appreciative because they live on so little. The Christians are especially filled with joy. The believers there understand that they have to live for the life to come. They cannot live for this world, because there is very little hope of escape for the people physically. Their hope is in Christ alone and life eternal. They understand that this world is not their home!

I want to understand that. I want to grasp that truth. Even now, I am trying to spend more time praising the Lord and being more grateful for everything that I have here in America. People say that it is politically incorrect to say that we live in the best country in the world. Well, you know what? Although going to Africa opened my eyes to the fact that America is not all there is in this world, I can also say that we are extremely fortunate and blessed to live in this country. This really is the most amazing and blessed country on the planet. I am so thankful to be here, and I hope we will all praise Him for what He has given us.

I cannot express the joy in my heart over my trip to Africa. From seeing souls saved to seeing physical needs met, I experienced a deep happiness that I cannot explain. God moved in a mighty way. He brought me to a state of weakness, so I could completely surrender to all that He was doing. I pray that He will rock our worlds and break us of everything that we rely on in our lives. As much as I love family and friends, sports, and good TV, I want my satisfaction to come from Him alone. I don’t want to allow those things to get in the way of a daily, deep relationship with the living God. I pray the same for you all!

Thanks again for everything! I never could have gone to Africa without the financial support of friends and family, the prayers of His people, amazing home churches in Daytona and Gainesville, and the love and care of an incredible family. I want to stay in touch with everyone who helped make this trip happen! I am now in Houston, working at Champion Forest Baptist Church for an incredible pastor—Dr. David Fleming. God has opened up some amazing doors, and I am blown away by His sovereignty. I am constantly reminded about how good He has been to us all! Please keep me posted on what is going on in your life. My email is mseitz@ufl.edu, and if you email me I can give you my number if you want it. I love all of you! May God change us all to become more like Christ! I hope God has spoken to you through some of these experiences as He undoubtedly did in my life. To God be all the glory!