Africa~ This will be LONG

Cole and I left for Africa 2 months ago...Crazy it's been that long. Life has been going full speed since then. I was thinking about Africa this morning. I walked the kids down the street to the bus and there was a smell in the air that put me right back. It was a good smell, maybe a flower scent. Most of the smells in Africa weren't good smells. Although one time when we were riding in the back of a Cami on the way to one of the bush villages we had a total downpour of rain. Complete hurricane style raining....everyone was completely drenched in seconds and laughing and singing. After the rain stopped the smell was so wonderful. Fresh and alive....how does something even smell alive? I don't know but it smelt like life... Cole and I went on the MOST amazing adventure. It was incredibly challenging and tough at times. God saw us through, kept us safe and allowed us to experience the fullness of each moment. From joy to pain, good times and the hard ones. It wasn't what I expected at all...it was more....

We had a real time getting there. Went from KC to NYC where we had to get to JFK from Long Island. We found the train and switched a couple of times with all of our heavy luggage(filled with food mostly) and made it to our destination. Then we headed off to London and spent a whole day exploring the city. That was one of the best days I have ever had. We had the best time..hopping on and off the Tube and visiting some of my most favorite places. Places I read about so often. It was such a good day. We headed off to South Africa and had a few hours there. Then off to Pemba, Mozambique. It had been three days of no sleep(for me) yet I felt very awake. Flying over Pemba was one of the most beautiful landings I have ever had. Landing in Hawaii is pretty sweet but this was more beautiful. The water and land were just breathtaking. Green and colorful. The airport was so, so tiny. The air was thick with moisture and it was incredibly hot. I've never felt weather like that before. We got our Visa's and were heading for the door...well until Cole's suitcase never arrived. It was missing. It had all his clothes, our shampoo stuff and food as well. We hoped it would arrive either before we left or it would get shipped back to the states and it wasn't lost for good. We got in the back of an army vehicle and headed through town. It was poor...trash all over the sides of the roads...people everywhere walking with no shoes and carrying things upon their heads. At the base we noticed it was surrounded by a large gate and security guards. There have been some issues with safety. We got checked into our room and Cole and I had twin beds in a room with sneaky bugs getting in. We had mosquito nets above our bed that were blue and some fans which because the power didn't go out while we were there(it does every couple weeks for days) we were able to have some hot air circulating a bit. It was better than hot standing still air. Our showers were filled with bugs, but we had showers! We had beds and toilets and showers! This would mean much more to us later in the week... We spent all day with the kids that day. It was Saturday so they had the day off. Cole made friends in the first minute of walking out of the visitor center. Swarmed with kids, hugging him and asking his name. Walking him around, showing him their home. I had kids on each side, snuggling close and my heart was full. This was and is my favorite thing to do. Look at a child and really see them.. hug them, hold them, hope in some way I can make them feel loved, wanted..important, that they matter. Having no personal space boundaries or issues are very important in a place like this!! The kids....(deep sigh) amazing. Smiles as far as you could see...hands reaching out just to touch some part of your skin. Cole was living like an African. No shoes, no clothes and no food....he was content and up for anything, except maybe the fish head.

We spent time in the baby's house, loving on them. They weren't like babies I had ever seen. They were all so quiet. Not a sound, except when they thought you were leaving they would whimper a bit. Other than that, they wanted to be in your arms, on your lap just...being. We met a baby who had just come the night before. Her mom had passed and she was orphaned. She was beautiful and I prayed over her while I held her in my arms. God had a purpose for this child. What a blessed child who is taken in and loved by this ministry. Big plans.....

Church with Heidi at the base. Out of this world...it felt more like church than any other church I have ever been too. Completely informal, full of people of all ages. Little flair but lots of spirit. The kids danced and sang, we worshipped and Heidi preached. But first it was testimony time. People talking about God healing them from extreme sickness. All of it just felt very old... like it would be how church was in our history books/bible..but how church still is for many around the world still. It was refreshing and simple. They didn't have to play simple, they just were. That's the difference.. Feels like we want to be simple here but we aren't simple so we look like phonies..ha ha Anyway, what do I know..clearly not enough.

Sunday's after church they feed the villagers that come for church...wonderful! Meeting physical needs..God doesn't forget that we need food/water to live here on earth. He provides for our flesh as well as our spirit! There were so many people. Visitors are suppose to go to the front of the line always. Cole and I looked at the line and the need and couldn't bring ourselves to walk in front of them. Not that we are saints or something, it just didn't feel right yet. I'm sure after living there a while it would feel more normal. We spent time with some kids and headed back to eat what he had in my suitcase..beef jerky and granola bars..yum yum. We got invited to a beach party that afternoon. They were saying goodbye to two IRIS girls who were going to the states for some school. This was an afternoon I will never forget. Cole's baptism... He wanted to be baptized in the Indian Ocean. He felt like God set it up for him personally. He wanted Heidi to do it.. I was sure that we could get him baptized..not sure if Heidi would even be at the base when we were there that week or that she could/would even have time to do that. Well Cole was right. God totally designed it and it was for sure in His will. Heidi was there and down the beach a ways. I told Cole if he wanted to ask her, this would be the ONLY time there was. He said, OK. and took off down the beach and took his destiny into his hands. He talked to Heidi and asked her and came running back and said.."SHE SAID YES!! AND BRING EVERYONE!" It was the coolest experience ever. The water was warm..the waves were strong and coming every few seconds. Heidi had Cole give a testimony...We all prayed over him. There was Portuguese, Makua, English and tongues happening. The Holy Spirit FELL and we were overwhelmed. She prophesied Eph. over Cole and said his nets would be FULL. She laid him back and prayed over him and let him rest in the water while he praised God. She had said...maybe God had me baptize you, so that I could baptize you a missionary. Cole told her that he wanted to be a missionary and have God take him all over the world. They were able to walk hand in hand on the beach and spend some time talking about all of it. She was amazing...Cole was blessed...I was in awe that God did this for him and it was more..just more that I imagined.

We visited the local hospital one day...wow. There were people laying all outside the hospital. All over the grass, on the pavement with their sick children or they themselves just being sick. The smell inside the hospitals were intense and the overwhelming need for prayer/help was evident. Cole and I went to pray for the babies. Most babies were sick with Malaria. The other visitors said most of the adults were sick with Malaria as well. The babies were miserable. We had a translator with us to ask if we could pray. This is a high Muslim area and we needed to ask permission. All the mom's said yes. They were tired and exhausted and worried. One baby had the malaria that spread to his brain and that was horrible to see. The baby's head just went from side to side and his little tongue hung out. Looked like a constant seizure. We laid hands on all of them and prayed for healing and for future's filled with hope, salvation and relationships with God. It was an important visit for Cole and I.

At the base, they not only take care of their kids but they take care of the village kids too. Everyday they feed about 700 kids lunch. Beans and rice for the masses.... All the kids line up at a gate and the guards open it and they all come RUNNING in and sit under a tarp/tent. Under the tent they give the kids a bible lesson..Monday-Friday. The kids come from all over the city. Walking far with no shoes and carrying babies with them. I saw many kids..4-5 yrs old carrying a brother/sister on their back or on their hips. So they could have a meal too. This was blowing my mind. I just thought...They are so, so capable. These are the strongest and most capable children I have ever seen. When I get prideful and think I am strong..think again. Think back to the babies carrying the babies across town for some rice. Melanie..think back, rely on the Father always. This was special and fruitful and wonderful. We got to feed the kids when they came out of the tent and they were grateful. Smiling and full of JOY! Lots of little hands tugging on you for a hug and a smile. Just the best. My heart...SO full.

Cole and I made sure to spend time with the kids any chance we could. One time we spent time with a group of about 30 girls. The girls were much harder than the boys. The boys were very open and social. The girls were much more stand offish and reserved. The girls and boys live separate and eat separate. The culture is very separate. The girls were staring at us and we waved and they just looked at us. I walked up to one girl and wiggled my hair in her face. That was it! That was all it took...2 hours and tons of laughter later we had made friends! They played in my hair for the entire time. One would get under my chin and put my hair over her head and her friends would look and laugh at what she would look like with hair! They loved this..they braided it, brushed it with their picks and kissed and pinched my arms and face. Just wanted to touch and be touched...It is true that there are many love languages...it's most true that physical touch with these children is the most important. You cannot communicate much, if you give gifts they will stop depending on God for things and look to people to hand them things..if you hold out your hand and give them a hug, It's filling up their love tanks...I was more than happy to do so. Being my love language, I was in HEAVEN...HEAVEN...HEAVEN!! Cole was amazing. These girls were ALL OVER HIM..in his hair, holding his hand and touching his dimpled chin. He was a champ. This kid kept surprising me at every new turn.

We had heard that Heidi set up a "Bush" outreach for all of us. There were about 13 visitors the week we were there. It's an unusually low number we came to find out and it was unusual that Heidi was there all week too. So, God has us there at an unusual and perfect time. I confess, I confess, I confess....I DID NOT WANT TO GO INTO THE BUSH...AT ALL... AT ALL! I journaled that I was mad, I talked to God about that I was mad...But they gave me a tent and sleeping bag and said.. Have fun! We were spending 3 days and 2 nights there. We would visit two different villages. God wanted us to experience this even if I was mad about it. I decided to get over it quickly and go with it. I thought if I tried to stay at the base that maybe I'd get swallowed up by a giant African mosquito and have to live in it's belly for three days. We all hopped in the back of the Cami and headed out. No idea what to expect... I can tell you now that there would be NO IDEA I could even have tried to imagine what it would be like...

We got to the first village and set up our camp. It was dark by the time we were finished. No lights in the bush..we walked down to a section where they set up the ministry part. They parked the Cami there which turned into a movie screen where they played a movie about Jesus that had been translated into their language. After the movie, Heidi preached and asked for people who wanted healing to raise their hands. Many, many, many people needed prayer. Before that, Heidi asked Cole to give a testimony to the people. It was his 11th birthday! The whole village sang and then Cole told them about a dream he had a few nights before. The dream was about Satan pretending he was God and telling Cole that the Africans shouldn't be loved. They were unclean and dirty and unworthy. Satan tried to flatter Cole by telling him that he should stay away and that his skin was white and beautiful. Cole told Satan to be quiet and that the Africans are worthy and he would love them..God loves them and would love them. Crazy dream eh? He shared it and the crowd cheered! The crowd was so big, I kept Cole on the Cami and we prayed for the people who came up. It was a strange experience. There were lots of people who were genuine...there were lots of men who were not. They would ask for prayer so they could get close enough to put their hands all over you. I mean ALL OVER you. It was hard...I was scared and thinking they could pull any one of us girls off the Cami in the dark in one second. God was faithful... it was a long night. People testified God opened their ears and they could hear now and there were other healings as well as many people getting saved. We did not feel safe..we just prayed and prayed God would keep us. God kept us... We ate sandy tuna spaghetti for dinner and slept in our tent. All the time spraying gallons of mosquito repellent on us every hour or so. And kicking tarantula's while waiting to go to the bathroom, which was the outside baby! Just a dirt hole and the stars in the sky.

The next day we had church and stayed for the pastors wedding. The villagers all live in mud houses and the church was a mud church and it was so tiny. Worshipping with them was OUT OF CONTROL! Just voices, a jimbay and the Holy Spirit and you have yourself in the very presence of the GOOD LORD! It was the best... We played with the kids a bit before heading out to the next village. The next village just never felt right. I'll just say it was dark. Must have had more witchcraft than the last one, not sure. There were more witch doctors that I saw this time. Kids cruising about with giant machete's and the feeling that this just wasn't going to be easy. Right away they were more invasive and the grabbing was more inappropriate and intense. Cole wasn't just being touched he was being hit, grabbed, hair pulled. This was definitely some intense stuff we were entering into. That night was one of the scariest nights of my life. Honestly didn't know if we'd make it through. We didn't have any leaders with us. Heidi was on another outreach and it was Cole and I. Some young people from Texas and a wonderful woman visitor from England. We had local bible school students from the base to try to help translate but that wasn't going well. This time.. they told us there were about 3000 people there. We got into the Cami and just prayed..it just felt hard and all we could do was pray. Pray for the people and pray for God's protection. I felt very vulnerable as a woman and with my child. Oh Lord, I thought I was being stretched pretty good before this?? Now I realize that there was more stretching and more west that was dying. I got hit very hard by a crazed African woman with a baby on her back. She was screaming in my face and she was so angry. I couldn't understand her and it looked like she was not right....LORD, HELP! The video played and she continued to harass us. Cole was started to buckle a bit now. I could see I needed to keep it together for him. Although inside I wished I could just go fetal and hide somewhere and wait it out. We prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed for the crowds after the movie. It was an endless sea of faces and there were only 9-10 of us. When we were done, it was scary. All of us girls and Cole had to stand in the middle of the Cami and all close so that the men couldn't grab us or at us at the sides. They were getting rowdy and we were trying to protect ourselves. I can honestly say that I was afraid for my life and for Cole. What could I do? Pray...that's it and that's all I did. Pray Pray Pray... That night in the tent we were all thinking we were getting machete'd and we were joking but the kind that you go..hey this could happen. I couldn't sleep and kept waking up seeing that there were dark figures in the tent..Oye..PRAY PRAY PRAY...Never was I happier to see the morning sun than that next morning! The light always, always is best! We found out that a witch doctor gave her life to God and had some of the group pray curses and the darkness off her.. Amazing! Cole had reached his capacity. He could only be hit, yelled at, hair pulled and have things thrown at him for so long. He was tired and overwhelmed. I looked at him and tried to imagine myself doing what he has been doing and I couldn't. I was so proud of him. We were having an incredibly difficult time yet God had arranged it and saw us through it. Time to take the bad...there has been good and now here we were in the thick of crazy. God will see us through...that's all I would say to him while him and I waited outside in the Cami for 2 hours alone protecting all the stuff while the others were inside the church. We got harassed for two hours straight and Cole got the worst of it. God will see us through buddy.. And God did. I just told Cole that bringing the gospel to people is going to be hard. There will be times like this and we can't be angry at the people. Lots of people got saved and had healings...you have to pray and just let God get you through the hard parts...He understood..But like the rest of us, he was tired and ready to get back the base kids. Who after this experience, you could tell how good they were emotionally/spiritually.

When we got back to the base..I started to feel sick. I had a fever right away and my body didn't feel right. I took some Ibuprofen and hoped it would pass. It was one of the longest nights of my life. Having not slept and now my body feeling strange was a bad combination for me. Emotionally I was drained. I cried and I cried and I cried. I drank gallons and gallons of water.. Hoping I was dehydrated. I cried and asked God not to send me to that village hospital and to get me home with my son. How could this happen when I was suppose to leave the next day to South Africa for a three day layover with my son. I felt vulnerable and afraid. PRAY PRAY PRAY....Trust God and pray. Oh man..long rough night. Thinking what if I have Malaria or something? What do I do? Stay? The next morning a nurse came to see me. They gave me some medicine thinking it could be a UTI..although I didn't have any of those symptoms. We packed up...said goodbye to everyone. Prayed for the kids..the kids prayed for us. Our time at IRIS was over..(for now) and now it was time to start our journey home. Three day layover in South Africa..back to London and then a full day/night in NYC before getting home to KC. Well.. it was a long way home. I never got better..I went in and out of feeling horrible to OK..back to horrible. We were able to leave SA a day early and start back. When in NYC we got to our hotel but there was NO ROOM AT THE INN! So, got a hold of my parents who came through with finding us another hotel close. I was so sick..scared....keep praying Mel, just keep praying. God got you this far right? He did..but I still was up all night sick and crying in the bathtub...Oh man, all this brought me right back to Kendall being sick and working through that with God. Scared- PRAY- CRY-PRAY.. know God works everything out. Your emotions have to work themselves out along the way too.

It was so good to get home... had tests and tests and tests.. I went through Malaria treatment and honestly that was 100 times worse than Malaria. I lost my hearing within the first hour and was terribly sick. My mom flew back out to help me through it. My friend Marie was on back up call if Mom couldn't make it. Mom took care of the kids and me while Nate worked and she was amazing. I am a terrible patient.....Lord help the nursing home or person who has to love me as an elderly. I had to come off one set of meds a few days early. Doctor said it could be damaging my hearing permantely...After that... I AM WELL! I have felt great and GOD saw me through and through and through..haha!! Oh man


I have been INFECTED!!! INFECTED with AFRICA!!! Malaria was horrible but worth it?? A million times YES! I am so grateful God allowed me to go on this journey with my son. This was such a priveledge. Spending time and loving on God's precious treasures. Cole blew me away. God is preparing this boy for something. His heart, his compassion and his openness. He was gentle with the babies and kind to the elderly. I was proud of my boy..who will soon be a man. I know God used this to shape a part of him..forever. As for me...sometimes as Mom's I think you can forget about your dreams. I had a dream as a child that God saw fit to have fulfilled. Doesn't matter the years that pass..If you dream and still chase.. God still fulfills! This trip was more of everything...It was so good. I pray this is just the beginning of times back.

Cole told Heidi he would be back...The possibilities are endless.

So this was a novel.. : ) God was the most faithful. Like He promises..Like He always is. His heart is Big and his world is Big.. His people are all different and the cultures He celebrates. This was an amazing experience that I will hold in my heart.. those kids were treasures and I hope to see them again soon.....someday.