THIS. IS. AFRICA.

Try and picture this in your head. You're crammed into a small bus with 30 other white people driving down a bumpy road surrounded by African bush. You pass lots of little villages and Zambians who run after the bus and wave and smile at you. Finally, you turn off the road and get to a small, open building that's surrounded by Zambians. As you get off of the bus the children run up to you and hug you, the adults come and greet you and shake your hand, and together you all go into the building. Inside, there are cement benches. Girls sit on one side, boys on the other. There's no air conditioning, no lights, no doors or windows. But this is a nice building...it's not like the one you were in last week that was a mud hut with a straw roof and logs to sit on. You only have a song book if you brought your own, and hopefully you did because the songs are in Tonga. The service doesnt start for a while because well, this is Africa. While you're waiting for it to start people are walking in. Children go up to the front while mothers cram onto the benches and start breastfeeding their babies. They dont bother hiding it because…this is Africa. The service starts and they tell you (or your brother/husband/father) that you're preaching. Your other brother says the prayer. Your son does communion. Your whole family or group is called a choir and has to go up and sing for the congregation. You're the guest and it's just expected that you are in charge of the service because, once again, this is Africa. Sometimes you'll end up with a kid on your lap that pee's on you or loses your bracelets or rips a page out of your Bible, but hey, this is Africa. It happens and you cant help but laugh. After church is over, as you leave the building everyone lines up so they can greet every other person in the church. You shake a hand, curtsey a little, exchange the greeting "Mwapona buti!" "Kabotu.", and repeat 50 more times. You usually get laughed at a few times but you're proud of the little Tonga that you know so you just smile back. After greeting everyone, you go and try to communicate with people but you usually dont get very far. Some kid see's your camera and before you know it, 15 kids are wanting their picture taken, taking pictures, and then laughing at what they see. They've probably never seen themselves before because this is Africa. As you get on the bus and start to drive away all the kids line up and wave goodbye because well, this is Africa and who knows when they'll see a makua again.

This is the experience I've had the last few Sundays. I can definitely say that it's a whole new experience for me. But of course, this whole trip is new. Their culture is so different from ours and we just have to remind ourselves that TIA. This Is Africa. Things are going to be different. They are going to be weird. They are going to be new. But we're learning to open our eyes and find the blessings in their culture. We're very different from the Zambian people. We're very different from the Chinese and the Russians and the Mexicans. We all have our own cultures. But we all serve the same God. No matter where you go around the world, there are going to be people worshipping God. I found a Tonga bible in the church building and it looked so different, but it was the same words. We praise the same God, we read the same Bible, we all take communion and remember the sacrifice God made for us. Isn't that amazing? While you're worshipping God in America right now there are people worshipping Him in a million other places. For some reason God has brought me to the other side of the world to be united with more of His people. I'm getting to love Him and praise Him with people who want to do the same thing. We were strangers, but because of the God we're worshipping together we're now family. I feel so unworthy and inadequate, but so blessed and grateful. I was sitting in an African hut surrounded by old women singing at the top of their lungs. I try and sing along and now I can pick out words so I get the general meaning, but even if I dont understand it I sing anyways. It builds a bond between me and the old Zambian women. We can sit together and sing praises to the same God. I was sitting there trying to listen to the sermon but was a little distracted by the kids. They are so well-behaved. Some of the 8 year old girls have their little sister or brother in a chitangi on their back. They sit there with torn dresses and no shoes, but that doesnt even matter because of the smiles on their faces. When I look at the little Zambian kids and smile they laugh and smile back. We dont need words to communicate because we have joy that we can express through a smile. So many expressions have different meanings around the world, but a smile means the same thing everywhere. JOY. God gave us a way to communicate and the meaning of it is JOY. Incredible. I can go anywhere in the world and be connected to people because of the joy we have in our Jesus!

Well, this is Africa. It's different; sometimes it's weird or uncomfortable or even unacceptable. But in so many ways it's so similar. We were created by the same God and we’re living our lives to praise Him and bring Him glory. This is Africa. Mr. Muller told us the other day that “Africa is infectious. You get here and you either fall in love or never come back.” So true. I love it. As the Gregersons describe it, I'm getting an African shaped hole in my heart that will forever be there.

This Is Africa.