Sunday, May 13, 2012

I'M MOVING TO AFRICA!

I had a dream the other night where I was at the airport frantically filling out papers, trying to get everything ready before my plane was supposed to leave. I felt so scattered and hurried, and then Jesus and the Holy Spirit came on the scene, and informed me that Jesus was coming with me. He didn’t have everything together yet, either, so the Holy Spirit was helping us get everything worked out.

What if I told you that my dream is coming true?

Last week, I was emailing with our missionary contact in Sierra Leone, asking him a few of the many questions I have about living in Africa. He was asking me questions, too, and wanted to know when I was planning on moving back over there. Then he said, “Please don’t say in the fall. Elections are in November, and it’s not safe to be here then.” He told me that he takes his family back to the States every time the elections happen, because it can get pretty dangerous when/if riots break out.

When he told me this, it threw me off a little bit as I started thinking about the timing of it all. It doesn’t make sense for me to make a 3 week trip beginning next week, come back here, then go back to Sierra Leone, and then come back again when the elections happen, and then go back again after the elections are over. (Whew!)

What DOES make sense is for me to go over there, stay until the elections, come back home for the Holidays, then go back over to Sierra Leone for good.

So that’s what I’m going to do. I’m moving to Sierra Leone on Wednesday.

And that’s why I feel like my dream is coming true. I feel pretty scattered right now, as I’m trying to get everything done before I leave. But the good news is that Jesus is coming with me, and Holy Spirit is helping us get everything together before we leave.

The presence of the Lord is always Good News.

I plan on living with our missionary contact and his family for the next 4 months as I adjust to life in Africa, learn the language (Creole), get to know the people, and get settled in my role there. I will then come home in September, before everything gets messy in Sierra Leone, and then go back for good in January-ish.

They should be laying the foundation of the orphanage in the next few weeks, and it should be completed by the end of the year. When I move back to Sierra Leone in January, I’ll plan to live in the orphanage, and raise the children who live there.

Even though this is so sudden, and I feel a little scattered, I KNOW that it’s right. I'm excited about coming into the calling on my life to be a mother to the nations ... starting next week!

Right now, I have enough funds to get me started over the next few weeks. But I’m going to need all the support I can get as I begin life in Sierra Leone. If you’re interested in supporting me financially as I live in Sierra Leone, here’s how:

You can write a check to “Lifegate International,” and put “Maribeth Ward – Africa” in the memo line, and send it to:

Lifegate International
1860 Ridgedale Dr.
Snellville, GA 30078

Or you can go to www.lifegateinternational.com, and use their paypal account to make a donation. If you donate online, be sure to email lifegateinternational@comcast.net to let them know that you want your donation to go to me, because there’s not a place to specify where you want the donation to go on the website.

Your donations will all go to me directly, and they will be tax deductible.

Please please please be praying for me as I make this big transition. And pray for my family as they adjust to the idea of me living so far away. And pray that the Good News of Jesus permeates the country of Sierra Leone.

I praise God for each of you. Be blessed.

2 comments:

  1. Wow, Maribeth!! That is awesome (and yet a little scary) news!! I am so excited for you. You are gonna be an AWESOME mama to those orphans. I will be praying for you in the next few weeks as you get over there & get settled. Can't wait to read about your work over there once you get started!!

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  2. We as parents are so blessed to have children who have a heart to serve God in great ways. Renae & Matt are in route to Riverhead, NY now to work with the Timothy Hill Children's Ranch. They quit their jobs to move there to work with the boys. May God bless you and your work there. May Jesus become a part of many peoples lives because of your love for them. Hugs & prayers go with you.

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