Home is where the heart is. This phrase is very familiar to
us. Many of us may have these words hanging in our homes. It wasn’t until I
moved to South Africa that those words really took on meaning for me. I always
understood the phrase and knew what it meant, but it never really hit home for
me until now.
Last year I went on a short-term trip to South Africa. I honestly wasn’t
too excited about going to Africa in the first place. It was a last minute
decision I made, after being talked into joining the team. I wasn’t sure I had
made the right decision, but I was given the full amount of money that I needed
in less than a month of signing up, so I stuck to the plan. Even as we landed
in Johannesburg that night and made the drive to Polokwane, I wasn’t really
excited to be there. I had no idea the great things The Lord had in store for
me.
As we were driving to the village we were going to be working in, I felt
this overwhelming feeling that this was home. It was very strange, and I tried
to ignore it, because I didn’t understand why I felt that way. I had been on
several mission trips overseas, but I had never felt this way before. A peace I
can’t describe filled my heart. I loved every moment of the trip, and I fell in
love with the people of Africa. Every time I have gone on a mission trip, part
of my heart has stayed with the people there. Even when I served in Montana, I
was still in the States, but part of me never left and still loves the people
there dearly. I expected to fall in love with the people of Africa. I did not
expect to feel like Africa was my home.
Through this feeling and many other crazy things The Lord did in my
life, I knew South Africa was where he wanted me. It is home to me. Of course I
miss my family and friends in the States! I have already shed a few tears over
them. Life here isn’t easy all the time, but the undeniable peace and joy that
fills my heart as I do life here is so much greater than anything else. My
heart is in Africa, so Africa is my home.
