Hearing God's Voice

So, I was trying to decide which of the two mission trips to go on.  And I really wanted to be able to talk to Joey and Anissa Haywood, since it was their blog originally that connected me to First Love and I knew that they were talking about going on a trip again this summer.  Over the holidays I knew they would be around to visit family (they live in Wisconsin) but it just didn't work out that we could meet up-they were busy the whole time they were here. 
Then, on the last Sunday of the year, WCC didn't have services.  So late Saturday night I was trying to figure out where I should go to church the next day and I decided to go to Christ Covenant, kind of out of the blue.  I hadn't gone to a service there in probably 6 years but I got up that morning and went and sat with my friend Cassidy.  The pastor came up to speak and mentioned that he wanted to call special attention to Joey who was there at church that day as a guest, even though the family he would have come with was home sick.  And I looked over to my left and realized that sitting there was Joey Haywood.  Who I had been hoping and praying to meet up with for weeks!  I was able to speak to him a little bit about the trip.  I kind of thought, hey that's cool, but my friend Cassidy (who I would consider to be on my cabinet, more on that later) pointed out how I had just happened to come to CCC that day, and the pastor just happened to mention Joey as a special guest, and I just happened to be sitting in a place where I could see that it was him.  Cassidy doesn't believe things just happen.  Maybe this was God's way of telling me to go with First Love?
I will admit I have a hard time hearing God's voice.  I never know if I'm hearing Him, or me.  A couple of friends and I were discussing it and someone suggested that it was harder for an introvert to hear God's voice because we have voices going on in our heads all of the time.  She said that as an extrovert she didn't have that problem because whatever she thought just came out her mouth and there was never a voice inside her head.  So if she heard a voice, it had to be God!  And maybe that's it, I have too many voices in there to hear the true one.
Or, I like this idea I just read about in the Love Does book by Bob Goff :

"God doesn't speak to me with a voice to make audio needles move, but there are times when I've sensed something down deep, almost like a tuning fork has just been pinged in my soul. . . .you know those things that have pinged you? Those gifts that are beautiful?  Those countries and people who are most important to you?  The God you love?  Keep moving toward those. . . . add your whole life, your loves, your passions, and your interests together with what God said He wants us to be about, and that's your answer."

He also says "When I don't know the answer to where I am or what God wants me to be doing, which is often, I try to get a bearing on at least a couple of fixed points that I can trust.  One is Jesus. . . The other fixed point I use is a group of people I feel God has dropped into my life, kind of like a cabinet.  These people have their particular areas of wisdom and experience, and I use them to bounce ideas off of and get their input.

So maybe God pinged my soul for Africa (and the Dominican Republic?).  And who wouldn't want to meet this little guy:

That's Luche holding a photo of me and my family after I wrote him his first letter

How did I get here?

How did it happen that I'm going to go to Kenya, Africa in 2 1/2 weeks?  Well, in December of 2011 I had some time off work around Christmas, so I decided to go to Martins for the day and read a blog that my coworker recommended about her sister and brother-in-law's trip to Africa.  Now, I had never been a real reader of blogs, but I spent hours pouring through their story.  God led me to want to be involved with the ministry in Kenya that they went with, First Love International, so I decided to sponsor a child.  This is his story and it came with this great photo of him where he looks halfway ornery:

Luchipereti Ebei

Luche is 4 years old and the youngest of 4 siblings.  He was born in the northwestern part of Kenya, Turkana, where the primary livelihood is raising livestock.

After giving birth to Luche, his mother passed away, and he and his siblings were left in the care of their father who took them to their grandmother's house.  Unfortunately, during the many skirmishes in that area, Luche's grandparents, his uncle, and his aunts were killed.

Life became extremely hard as Luche and his siblings had nobody to care for them, as their father had to go to work as a watchman to earn a living.  The children had reached school age but were not able to attend due to lack of fees.  This is common in Turkana – the children are left to look after the livestock.

First love was notified of the situation and chose to give Luche a chance to attend school and find a future and hope.  He moved into the First Love home in December (2011) and is adjusting well to his new surroundings and many First Love brothers and sisters. 

Also through the Haywood's blog I found The Place Called Simplicity blog which I now read consistently.  It has inspired me in many ways and hopefully that will come into play later some day.  They also run a mission organization in Africa, in Uganda, and they had a trip at the same time as this one so for awhile I struggled with which one I should go on. . .

What's in a name?

I've thought long and hard about what to title this blog.  I've considered names having to do with the kids in the countries I'm visiting- Kings and Queens, The Least of These, Sons & Daughters (John 1:12) I've thought of names that have to do with God's purpose and the journey of obedience- Be Still (Exodus 14:14), Earnestly Seeking (Hebrews 11:6), Good Pleasing and Perfect (Romans 12:2), Seek First (Matthew 6:33), Seek With All Your Heart.  Names having to do with God's transformation in our lives- Unveiled Faces (2 Corinthians 3:18).  Names about going- Therefore Go (Matthew 28:19), To the Ends of the Earth (Acts 1:8), and names that are current song lyrics- Strangely Dim, Already There, A Beautiful Life I Live, Kings & Queens.  And it's hard to choose one because I want to challenge and encourage people in all of these things- to serve the least of these, to seek God's purpose, to be transformed by God's work, to go if it's across the world or outside your comfort zone.  So what's in a name?  Does it really matter, will it make you read more?

Complete in Us.  I chose this name because that is what all the mission organizations I love and what this trip is about, God's love being made complete in us.  That while we may hope to alleviate poverty, and feed children, and make sure they're educated, and save them from rough situations, it's all in vain if it's not done in God's love and not done to show God's love to them.

No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, 

God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.  1 John 4:12

So while this is a blog for my trip to Africa and maybe other trips after, and while I'll probably share about the scenery or the crazy food I'm eating because I love those things, it will be a blog about the ways God is working in the world. 

Over the past year, God has blessed me with friends who continually share God's faithfulness in their lives and that's such an amazing thing to have in front of you- that God is always at work.  And He always wants to use us in that work.  Even if you can't see Him working presently in your life, surround yourself with those who will remind you that He does.