God asked me to go on an adventure…and I said, “let’s do it”!
The Last Chapter of Danielle’s African Discoveries… my God led Southern Sudanese adventures
Over a year ago, God asked me to go on an adventure and I said sure. That adventure led me to a place I said I would never go and do things I said I would never do. My life has been definitely an adventure this last year from having malaria, eating bush rat, learning Arabic, seeing donkeys eating trash, new friends, AK 47s, to an appendices. I thought that adventure would pertain to Southern Sudan, but my life truly is an adventure with the Lord. He has a plan and I am learning to let Him fulfill it, because it is perfect. Praise the Lord!
Yes, it is December and I am just now sending out my final support prayer letter. I know, I am the queen of procrastinating. To be quite honest I have started and deleted this letter about five times. Needless to say the last four months have been a whirl wind. I have been thrown in so many directions since I have returned, sometimes I have to force myself to sit down and reflect on where I have come from. So, that is what I will do now , I want to invite you to reflect with me on the last year. Most of you followed my ups and downs and twists and turns in the last year. You cried with me, rejoiced with me, prayed with me and for me, and praised the Lord with me. Thank you! Thank you for walking through this last year with me and teaching me how to lean on the Lord. I have learned so much this past year. As I reflect on my time in Southern Sudan I can safely say that it was an unexpected year with unexpected dilemmas and unexpected hoorays. Through those dilemmas and hoorays I learned three main things, LOVE, GIVING, and HOPE!
LOVE… No matter how loving I think that I am and how easy I think it comes to me, God is more LOVE. God is LOVE(1 John 4:16). Jesus said in John 13:34”…love one another; just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” Loving people (especially when they're not even one's enemies) should be easy, right? No, not so easy. Especially when culture comes to play and all you want is privacy, quiet, and to be called your name for once and not “white person”. But, who am I to say it is not easy to love? They love me and I am full of faults. I am so different than them and when I try to fit in I make a mess of everything (dilemma), yet they still love me(the hooray). They do not understand my need for quiet or privacy, but they still give it to me and they still love me. I had to learn what love truly was. Love is unselfish, love is accepting no matter what, love is patience, and love is second chances. I was given a family in the last year. A family that loves me when I say the wrong word in Arabic, I do not greet people the right way, I carry something wrong, or laugh at the wrong time. They love me and I soon learned how to love with thinking and loving through the eyes of God.
GIVING… I always thought I was a pretty giving person. Little did I know that my giving was usually within the perimeters I had set to make myself comfortable. What would happen, when giving took me outside of those perimeters and outside of my comfort zone? Giving without thinking or second guessing: what’s that? I will tell you what that is. Sudanese culture is a giving culture. If you give me something it’s ok, because I will give you something when you need it. No second thought, we help out others because they will help us out. Oh, is this hard to learn (dilemma). God challenged my heart (hooray). It is no secret that one of my biggest battles this last year was illness. Well, that was no secret my Sudanese comrades either. They felt bad for me every time I was ill. They gave to me when they had nothing, not because they were expecting something back, but because they loved me. Giving should not be an afterthought; we shouldn’t even have to think about it. If we see a need “Boom”!
HOPE… Hope is in the eyes of women walking down the hot, red, dusty road with 10 gallons of water on her head and a sleeping baby on her back. Hope is in the eyes of the man who is slashing his grass trying to make room to grow maze in order to keep food on his table. Hope is in the wide eyes of a child climbing a mango tree in search of a juicy snack, or maybe providing just a meal. Hope is in the hearts of every Sudanese man, woman, and child. Hope that freedom from the North is on the rise. Hope that providing for their families will soon come. Hope! Hope in the Sudanese Christians looks a lot like Jesus. Hope is the answer to the Sudanese question of love in action for their people. Hope in Sudanese Christians looks like giving. They give hope, they give love, all through the example of Christ.
That is what I have had the privilege of being part of this year. I was part of the ECA family consisting of American teachers, Sudanese Christians and children whom loved, gave, and hoped in Christ for a better tomorrow in Sudan through the power of the Gospel. I am so thankful for this past year and what I was able to be part of. Thank you!
Since I have been back in the States I have been teaching at North County Christian School in St. Louis, Missouri. I have enjoyed it. I do miss Sudan and I miss my friends and students in Sudan. I am not sure what this next year holds for me, but I do know that God has a definite plan for it. I am so excited to see what He is going to surprise me with next! Over a year ago I said that I was going on an African adventure, turns out I am always on an adventure. It’s my life with God!
Zephaniah 3:17, “The Lord your God is in your midst a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.”
All because of God’s amazing grace,
Danielle Olson
