But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as He chose. But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. (1 Corinthians 12:18-20)
According to the handy Apple dictionary downloaded onto my phone the definition of the word impact is: the action of one object coming forcibly into contact with another
The words “forcibly into contact” seem to pretty much sum up most of my life these past 40 days.
Forced into contact with my teammates, with hosts, with the hot Africa sun, new people, a new language, with spicy foods (if you know me, you know that one hits deep and hits HARD), forced power outages, team times, feedback sessions, hectic grocery shopping, being caught in the middle of a tik tok meet up with literally hundreds of teenagers running around the mall.. new card games, new bugs and much more.
At first i wasn’t too sure how i felt about it all. But in newness comes a lot of learning.
I learned a lot in too fast 24 days I spent in the city of Johannesburg. I learned about the culture of Africa, the languages spoke, the beliefs and traditions of the African church, how to wash clothes by hand, how to dance my HEART OUT to Waka Waka in 95° heat every Friday afternoon despite my second degree sunburns, how to fall in love with Scripture again, how to play Spicy Uno, how to not be afraid to walk into someone’s home and say the truth of Jesus in full confidence, how to practice the gifts of the Spirit even if I don’t see results, how to live in community, how to dig to the heart of people and really get to know them, how to love people better and ultimately how to love my God better.
But I learned specifically about impact. More specifically about how big of an impact people have.
In case you (the reader) didn’t know my time in South Africa was partnered with an organization called Impact Africa. They run five major ministries including a baby rescue facility, being in front of hundreds of high school students throughout the week, running and sustaining multiple preschools, hosting short term mission teams, doing consistent community outreach and raising up interns to know more about living life on mission.
I spent basically the majority of my days immersed in community outreach. We used our time in the squatter camps to go door to door, meet people, run kids programs on Fridays, wash clothes, do dishes, learn about the culture and simply build relationships in order to love people closer to Jesus. This was dive in heads first, thrown into complete full blown evangelism. We saw baptisms, healings, demons cast out, speaking the Words of God over homes and families in four different communities. All in the first few weeks. We saw transformation. We saw the Kingdom come. We were part of Kingdom come.
We had translators who traveled with us from community to community. They were some of the coolest people I’ve ever met. They not only had a love for the Lord but it was so evident they loved the people of Johannesburg. Simply showing up everyday to help break down a language barrier was their big act of obedience. They were missionaries in their own Jerusalem. And I got to partner with the work the Lord is already doing through them. It was so humbling and rewarding to walk alongside them and see Jesus’ kingdom brought to light in JoBurg.
My team and I lived with fifteen interns who arrived the day before we did at Impact Africa’s base. We all began to learn the ropes of this whole mission thing together. I still remember the first morning meeting them. I had no idea all that the future would hold with them.
Let me tell you, these guys are something so special. It was like a big party all day everyday (in the best and most God honoring way possible). Each and every one of them influenced me in a new way and taught me something different. I have been challenged and changed for the better because of the way they love God and the way they love me. I formed deep, vulnerable and real friendships with them. Through worship, ministry, meals, games, bonfires, singing and dancing flash mobs, pool parties and so much more. I felt like I’d known these people my whole life, not a week and a half.
Simply doing life intentionally alongside one another displayed how the church is meant to be. I felt intimacy with the Lord through intimacy with those around me. I saw the Kingdom manifest itself in each heart around me.
Suddenly, that little property in South Africa began to feel like home.
Not because of the bunk beds, the pool, the giant chess board, the continual yet random hours of load shedding, celebrating my 19th birthday halfway across the world, the lack of water on a weekly basis, the driving on the left side of the road, none of that. Because certainly none of that is anything like what I have at home.
It was because of the people.
The welcoming arms of the people in the communities. The smiles on the kids faces as they ran to the field ready to jive with us every week. The jokes and laughs with the translators and staff as they attempted to try to teach us how life works down in JoBurg. The thousands of laughs and memories made with my team and the interns. The experiences shared and lived out with those around me.
That’s what made it home.
I keep attempting to write a few sentences here about how thankful I am to have met each and every person in those 24 days, but I can’t quite find words to sum it all up. The Lord perfectly ordained us meeting in the perfect time I needed them. The Father provided words of encouragement, testimonies of victory and simply just them being themselves.
I learned how to be honest about how I feel, I learned to embrace the messy parts of life, I learned to just give the Lord my “yes” before even knowing what I am saying yes to, I learned to just be myself and have fun with all the crazy things this life throws at me and I learned the value moments intentionally spent in community.
I am now better because of this. I am now better because of them.
I met my team, the interns, the staff and the people of South Africa having no idea who they were and what their life before me was like. But despite any differences, we joined together around the purpose of seeing our King Jesus’ named be proclaimed in the nations.
I wholeheartedly believe we are unable to separate our love for God and our love for His people. When we experience deeper intimacy in relationships and friendships with the body of Christ placed around us, we experience deeper intimacy with the One who created us.
People have an impact. A forever impact.
How are you going to use the impact YOU can have on those around you?
God is using you to write His story, no doubt about that. You can either be a Peter or a Judas in this plot unfolding before you. I pray you choose allow the way you have been so loved to go out and love others like Jesus loves you. In your salvation, believer, you have been given a whole new capacity to love others.
So, go be the body of Christ. Go have an impact.
