Heather is SERVING with a SMILE

Oh Little Town of Bethlehem

heatherisservingwithasmile — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 17:18:33 +0000

Well I didn’t go to the town of Bethlehem, but I sure did get to learn a lot about the town and people! Last night, my friends April and Kara and myself went to visit a family from Bethlehem. We have a project in our Anthropology class where we have to interview a family from a different culture and find out all there is to know about their way of life from family to social structure to economy to religion, we covered it all! The family was so hospitable and we talked and about life and how they lived in Bethlehem versus how they live here in the states. The mom made a BEAUTIFUL and wonderful cake and hot tea and when we thought we were about to be done, she brings out a family style meal allowing us to experience the family way of eating! I’m so thankful for this wonderful family and their willingness to share their lives with us for a few hours! The girls and myself were so blessed by the experience and I’m thankful to know a little bit more about where my heavenly father was born! I loved hearing how they celebrate Easter and Christmas. Our celebrations are nothing compared to theirs and they keep Christ in their celebrations 100%. Though their lifestyle may be different, we share the same Father and that’s what unifies us and I’m so thankful for that! Yay for a wonderful time of fellowship and learning!

Caterpillar or Butterfly?

heatherisservingwithasmile — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 06:25:46 +0000

While I was hanging out with some wonderful little girls and their mom this afternoon, we were talking about the Christian fish symbol and what it meant. As we were talking about the fish, I was reminded about the butterfly and the wonderful symbol it is for those of us who are believers in Jesus Christ. You see, before a butterfly can be a butterfly, it has to be a caterpillar first. After some time, it goes through a time of transformation and then becomes a beautiful butterfly. To be a follower of Christ, we must go through a time of transformation as well. When we accept Him as our Savior, we leave behind the old life that we used to live, God forgives us for the wrong things we’ve done, and we are given freedom from sin and we are made new in Him. We are a new beautiful creation that God desires to grow closer to Him more and more each day. This new life doesn’t mean we won’t mess up, but that we will cling to God for direction, love and grace for each new day that He chooses to allow us to live for Him. Have you made the transformation? Have you allowed God to take all the grossness from your life (nothing is to horrible for him, even if you think it is) and replace it with His never ending forgiveness, love, and grace? The opportunity for this special transformation isn’t just for a select few, but for anyone who will allow it to happen. Will you choose to be transformed today?

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” ~ 2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV translation

I’m returning to Africa!

heatherisservingwithasmile — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 18:30:04 +0000

Ok, so I know I’m not the greatest at keeping this blog updated anymore, but I wanted to take the opportunity to let you know that I’ll be returning to Africa this summer for a 2 week trip with my church. We’ll be going to Kenya, East Africa and will be serving in the western portion of Kenya doing educational ministry. This means we will be going into some of the primary and secondary schools, sharing testimonies and just loving on kids. I couldn’t be happier about this trip and now I must work on the fundraising to go this summer. I know God will provide cause He always does! July 24th can’t come fast enough! Blessings to All, Heather

A New Chapter… Seminary!

heatherisservingwithasmile — Wed, 26 May 2010 23:37:38 +0000

Well, It has been well over a year since I last wrote so I figured I should get back at it! Since February of 2009 I have: worked at Lifeway Christian Store in both Dothan, AL and Raleigh, NC, Graduated College from the Baptist College of FL in May, served as Interim Children’s Minister at Northside Baptist in Panama City, FL for 7 1/2 months and have now completed my first semester at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, NC! I am in the MA program for Intercultural Studies and I love it! I have had my challenges in this first semester of Grad School, but God is Faithful as always and I am so blessed to be here and have this opportunity. God blessed me with a Job transfer (that wasn’t guaranteed) to the Raleigh Lifeway and I am enjoying serving there! I miss working with children, but I know my time will come for that again when God sees fit. After visiting 8 churches, I found my new church home! I have been attending Bayleaf Baptist Church since the Sunday after Easter and I love it! There is a wonderful College and Singles ministry and I have made quite a few good friends through this opportunity. I will start going to small group next week and I am looking forward to that. I will be staying in Wake Forest for the summer. I will be working at Lifeway and becoming more active at church. I’m blessed to have most of my friends staying for the summer and two of my best friends from college will be moving up here this summer and that excites me too! Julie will be starting seminary in the fall and Brittany will be supporting her husband Nick as He starts seminary in the fall as well! I know it will be such a blessing to have them here! My goals for the summer include:

Grow in my walk with Christ
Get serious about my exercise and diet
Get lots of sewing and craft projects done that are way overdue
Read for enjoyment
Learn more about the friends God has brought into my life
Get organized
Take time for myself

I’m looking forward to this summer, though it will be my first in over 7 years to not work with children. I feel God is going to do some awesome stuff! I’ll be going home for a week in June to spend time with my parents and go to the Southern Baptist Convention with them as well. I’ll also be going home in August for my grandparents 60th wedding Anniversary. It will be a special time! I hope to be better about updating this throughout the summer to share all that is going on!

Kwaheri (goodbye in Swahili)

Lessons I Learned While Serving In Africa…

heatherisservingwithasmile — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 11:45:20 +0000

1. Everyone’s personality is different and yet everyone is used to teach others around them valuable lessons. God allowed each one of my teammates and others throughout my time in Africa to teach me priceless lessons and I am truly a different person because of the way that God used each of them to impact my life in a mighty way! For that, I am eternally grateful!

2. God’s call to each and every one of us is specific, yet different. Africa is not for everyone, but God created me with a passion to serve and the desire to impact the lives of children and women in East Africa. My body is in America, but my heart is in Africa and is looking forward to the day that God allows me to return.

3. How to be still and listen to God’s direction for my life.

4. Faith wouldn’t be faith if it didn’t involve taking actions before receiving proof from God that He would follow through with his plan.

5. Waiting on proof/fulfillment of God’s plan isn’t always the easiest nor the quickest thing to do, but God’s timing is always perfect.

6. Beauty isn’t just about clothing brands, makeup, and specific hair styles, but God cares about how I display Him on the outside as much as the inside and it’s ok to be godly, cute, and modest all at the same time.

7. Being alone is not the end of the world. In fact, it is during those times that God speaks to me the most!

8. Being halfway around the world with good, but limited communication really shows you who your true friends really are.

9. My little neighbor across the street was happier barefooted and only having 2 or 3 outfits (most of which he wore for days at a time) than any child or adult I’ve ever met that had a closet full of clothes and more shoes than they knew what to do with. Possessions aren’t what made him happy! He had Jesus and he didn’t know any other life! I am now overwhelmed with how much I have!

10. Shopping is much faster when eggs, butter, and bread are limited to one type each and fruit is bought three times a week from the stand down the street. Eating healthier was cheaper than eating American style comfort and junk food.

11. Being a people person is great in a people oriented country like Tanzania. Everyone says hi to each other and it doesn’t matter if you are late somewhere cause it’s more important that you were nice to the people you came in contact with along the way.

12. Leaving 15 minutes early to be somewhere is not early enough because you never know what time the Dala Dala is going to show up to get you.

13. There is always room for one more person on any mode of transport in Africa (doesn’t matter how full it already is).

14. Losing power isn’t just a sign of bad weather, but rather a regular occurrence usually 2-3 times a week for as little as 30 minutes to as much as a day without it! Oh how we take things for granted.

15. 1,200 shillings can buy an assortment of things… a dozen eggs, sugar, flour, 6 candles, 24 boxes of matches, 4 dala dala payments, a pineapple, 2 mangos, 3 days worth of 100 text messages a day, 2 plates of rice and beans, and the list goes on! The best part about it is that 1,200 shillings is 1 American dollar! Oh how I miss shopping in Dar!

16. Everyone sings in worship whether they are the best or worst vocalist in the group. They don’t care about the tune, but rather the heart. How amazing! The heart is more important than the talent itself!

17. Children make toys out of whatever they can! Nothing goes wasted and they have fun dancing around circles drawn in the dirt and playing soccer with a ball made from old rubber and tarp.

18. Eating whole fish is not my idea of a good meal, but it is one found often all over Dar es Salaam and I did eat it once with the eyeball still looking at me! My grandma and dad would have been so proud!

19. Florida heat is nothing compared to African heat! It’s dry so though it doesn’t seem as hot, sweat, sunburn, and dehydration happen much quicker and much more frequent.

20. Ultimate Frisbee will never be a natural ability for me, but it is one I do enjoy and more importantly, I love the ministry and outreach gained from the hour each week that I spent playing that game!

21. No girls dorm in America could ever come close to the ones I stepped foot in while in Dar. Dirty community bathrooms with water only running half the time and rooms that normally have one or two people in the states have three or four crammed in them. Cement walls and floor with windows that open as “air conditioning” and no fans. Oh how spoiled we truly are, but I gained the understanding that we are blessed beyond what is comprehendible.

22. No matter how little they had, tithe was never a question, some went without food or transport money so they would remain faithful to God. True action of putting God first.

23. There will never be a way for me to know fully how God chose to use me while in Africa and the lives He impacted through me until I get to heaven.

24.It is possible to go to Africa and come home not having had Malaria, an amoeba, or another African illness! Believe me, I did it!

25. The laundry washing system of America is one taken for granted, yet amazing and I am so thankful for machine dried clothes.

26. Cooking from scratch is amazing and fun and being taught how to make something from scratch is an awesome experience too!

Transition, Reverse Culture Shock, and a different life…

heatherisservingwithasmile — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 10:55:12 +0000

Well, it has been quite a while since I last posted a blogso I decided that now is as good a time as ever to update you on all I am going through (especially since it’s 4 in the morning and I am wide awake and can’t sleep). Come Wednesday, I will have been home from Tanzania 9 weeks. Man, has it REALLY been that long? Was it just 9 weeks ago? Now stop, I know what you’re thinking, those last two questions contradict each other. This is very true. These days I have mixed feelings. There are times where I feel like it was yesterday that I got off the plane in December and then there are times when I feel like it was a lifetime ago that I was returning to America. I’m not really sure that I’m fond of either feeling to be perfectly honest with you. I have my moments where all my thoughts are of Africa and I have my moments where Africa is no where in my brain and I freak out because I feel like I’ve forgotten my passion and the life that I love and lived for 5 months. I’ve known for a long time that Africa is where I will be spending the bulk of my life here on earth, but I never realized how hard my first transition back to the American life would be. Some of the transition hurdles I am jumping are as follows: Time seems to fly here more than I ever remember it doing before going to Africa, Priorities are different for everyone and what might be very high on my list is last for others, options are endless which makes grocery shopping so much harder now that I spent 5 months having 1 or 2 options for various items on my shopping list, it was so much easier to eat healthier in Africa due to the cost being much cheaper for the health items than the junk food items, church just doesn’t seem like church anymore without 1 or 2 Swahili songs in the order of worship, though gas is cheaper here than in Africa, I spend more money and burn fewer calories due to driving everywhere rather than riding Dala Dala’s and walking wherever I needed to go, I live alone now and sometimes go days without seeing people I know personally, texting was the best and cheapest way to communicate in Africa and here my texting is limited and I forget it sometimes so I’ve gone over both months I’ve been back, the daily flood of encouragement emails and now stopped due to being back and am hungry for encouragement now more than ever before, though I was an outsider in Africa, I quickly became a part. Now that I’m back in America where I should feel a part, I feel like an outsider more than ever before. Going from constant communication with people to no communication with people is a seprate challenge and shock all on its own. Being back in college, but not being full time has more minuses than pluses when the people that were new last semester think I’m new this semester and really I’m a 6th year senior. Ok so you get my drift and the list goes on for miles, but I won’t bore you with it. I want to share a funny little story as a little window of light into the shock that I’ve had.

I waited 5 weeks after getting back before I went to Wal-Mart. I knew I would be overwhelmed so I just didn’t go. Well, after I moved, I had no choice and I had to go. My friend Mary went with me the first time and we only bought a few things and left. It wasn’t so bad. Well, the next day, I decide to go back by myself and do my “stock my fridge” shopping and boy did I not know what I was getting myself into. I always start in the back and work my way up when shopping for groceries, but I didn’t realize at the time how hard this task would be from me. In Africa, we bought 1 type of milk, 1 type of butter, 1 type of bread (for the most part), and we bought our eggs, flour, and sugar from a little shop called a duka right by our house. With the eggs, flour, and sugar, we didn’t have a choice, we would just ask for a half or whole kilo of flour and sugar and then tell the man how many eggs we wanted and he would put them in a bag for us. Within the 5 months I was gone, I forgot how many types of eggs there were, what type of flour and sugar was needed for what, along with which brands were the best when it came to milk, butter, bread, cheese, etc. There were some items that I just bought 2 of because I just didn’t know which one to get. I can honestly tell you that it took me 4 hours in the store that day and spent way more than I wanted to and got more than I wanted to due to my lack of grocery knowledge. That’s just a small little story of a culture shock moment.

It wasn’t till the weekend of the Wal-Mart trauma that I truly felt my reverse culture shock setting in. I’m slowly making progress to my new American life, but am trying hard to tie in specific African elements to my lifestyle. Life will never be the same for me, and I’m so glad to know that my life isn’t supposed to be the same once God transforms you and gives you the knowledge and heart for what he desires you to do with your life. For me, that is Africa serving the people. How long do I have to wait to go back? I don’t know, but one thing is for sure, I will be going home when I do.

Oh, to be Faithful like Noah…

heatherisservingwithasmile — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 15:35:27 +0000

This semester has been a walk of faith in so many ways, but God has brought me far in my relationship with Him, as well as the people closest to me because of it. When seeking to understand the true meaning of Faith or faithfulness, Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now, faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see,” and Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Faith is trusting direction enough to take action without having proof that it will ever take place, but action affirms belief. This is seen so many times in the Bible, but also in the lives of Christ followers today. Noah was a faithful and righteous man in the Bible. He lived in a time however, where the people of the land were not pleasing in God’s sight and wanted to destroy the earth. God found favor with Noah and gave him instructions to build an Ark to save him, his family, and 2 of every animal from being destroyed. Noah had never before seen rain and he had never before seen a boat, but he took action to do as God directed him to do even when he had no proof of what was supposed to come. It’s amazing to me the amount of faith that Noah had. I mean, if I had never seen rain or a boat before, my faith would have really been stretched too! I sit in amazement at the fact that there is about a hundred years between the time Noah was instructed to build the Ark and the time God sent the flood. No one knows except for God how many years it took Noah to actually build the Ark, but nonetheless, Noah was faithful to endure the teasing, the mocking, and the shunning of those around him, and continued on in strong faith without any proof that God would do as he said he would. Though God could have secured Noah without putting him through any pain or trouble, God gave him a task for the trial of his faith and obedience. Like with Noah, what we do in obedience to God, we and our families are likely to have the benefit of. Noah’s faith triumphed over all corrupt reasonings and God was true to His word to send the flood. Each day of faith not only required patience for Noah, but for those who choose to have faith in God’s direction today, every day requires faithful patience as well to earnestly hear and obey God’s voice. I desire to be like Noah. I desire to discover direction in my life from God and to faithfully take the steps with God to do as he tells me to do, even when those steps seem unreal or unthinkable. I desire to take action with my direction from God as Noah took action with his, and though I don’t have proof that God will allow the direction I’ve been given to come together one day, I choose to faithfully follow his lead and do as He alone desires me to do. I know in the end, it will all be worth it. I look back on significant times in my life where God has given my family direction and we had to take action without proof, and God has proven faithful. Walking by faith is never the easy route, but it is always the route that God uses to strengthen your relationship with Him and I know God has brought me so far already, I can’t even begin to imagine how much further God desires to bring me while walking this path of faith that I have chosen to obey and follow.

Happy Thanksgiving from Dar!

heatherisservingwithasmile — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 00:03:14 +0000

Just wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! I pray God is blessing you in mighty ways and I hope your day has been Great!. Today was a normal day for the most part, until 5:30 came along and we had a wonderful Thanksgiving feast with the team and some other Missionary families from the area. We had turkey, ham, mac and cheese, green beans, creamed corn, a few casseroles, and even some good salad with Ranch! Eating a traditional Thanksgiving meal was special, but the fellowship always means more to me than the food anyway. I got a phone call from the farm and I talked to all of my family on my dad’s side! Yay! It wasn’t long, but it was so special! Skyping with Brittany was amazing too and I got to be a part of her first Thanksgiving dinner cooking experience! I know she did Great! A few surprise phone calls were made and I enjoyed hearing such shocked voices on the other end! All in All, it has been a nice day. Enjoy your weekend and start getting ready for Christmas! Dar has had Christmas decorations up since Oct 3rd!!!! …. Only in Africa

Thanksgiving in Dar!

Unified Belief

heatherisservingwithasmile — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 15:54:44 +0000

The title of this blog might seem a little odd to you, but let me explain. Since I’ve been here in Dar, my relationship with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has grown in so many ways and I’ve been able to learn so much through my willingness to get alone and read God’s word and take time to listen to Him speak to me. Now let me just tell you, when God speaks, you must listen and you must have faith and believe in what you feel the Lord is sharing with you. Sometimes it isn’t easy to believe what you are hearing, but when God says it, it’s worth believing for sure! Being a believer in Jesus Christ is a walk of faith in itself, why can’t we gain the extra faith to be at peace with what we feel He shares with us? Sometimes He shares words of comfort, direction, His plans for your life, reasons for why He chose to do something the way He did (though He doesn’t have to give us a reason… He’s God), or even constructive criticism to help us get back on the road He chose for us to go down. No matter what God shares with you or how He chooses to share it (through scripture, through fellow believers, or to you personally in some way), as a believer, you must believe in what your Lord says or your life will be miserable filled with worry, doubt and fear. This is a lesson I am grasping more and more each day. You see, as I’ve grown in my walk with the Lord, my willingness to sit and listen to what He wants to say to me has grown too. I read scripture, I sing worship songs, I pray, and then I ask God to guard my heart, mind, body, and everything within me so that He can speak to me in a way I know it is Him alone and I will be able to trust that it is Him for when I ask Him to guard me, I know He does. Thoughts are a huge way that God can speak to us as believers and when we surrender our thoughts to Him and set aside a time to sit and listen to the thoughts that God can and will engulf our minds with, it is incredible to hear and understand exactly what it is that He’s trying to get across to us as His children. He wants what’s best for us, but sometimes has to put us through struggles to get us there. For myself personally, it is not a struggle for me to believe everything God says to me on behalf of others in my life who need to hear it from someone on earth, but it is extremely hard for me to believe everything God says to me for my personal plan and direction. I was hit hard with the fact that God doesn’t like it when I’m two faced with my belief: I believe for the sake of others, but not for my own sake. I had to make a choice. Just like God doesn’t like us to be lukewarm followers, He doesn’t like our belief in His plans for our life to be lukewarm either. I had to choose: believe all I feel God say to me or none of it. I could not be camping out on the dividing line between belief and unbelief anymore and I choose ultimate belief! For I know My God is Faithful to Those who Believe! It’s a lot easier to doubt a plan than to cling to it, but I am clinging to the plans and direction God is giving me like never before and I look forward to the day when God allows it all to come together for His name will be glorified and given credit completely for the great work He will do. Will you choose to believe for your own sake today? “God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?” Numbers 23:19

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what god has prepared for those who love him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9

“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Mark 11:24

What makes Satan want to Attack?

heatherisservingwithasmile — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 13:25:31 +0000

Ok, so the last few days have been tough here in my part of the world and I know that it isn’t just me and it isn’t even just my team. It’s a lot of people dealing with a lot of different situations. The answer to my problem is not a sugar coated reply by any stretch of imagination; it is real and happens to every believer who is doing what God has called them to do. It is called Attack of the Evil One, also known as Satan. Some people have a hard time accepting that God could ever allow Satan to come near his followers, but God allows him to do it to stretch us and make us cling to Him more than ever before. We are told that He never gives us more than we can handle and he uses those lessons to make us stronger. Take the book of Job in the Bible, God allowed Satan to test Job’s faithfulness to him because He knew he would stay strong through it all and he would prove to be the most faithful man at that time. Job endured a lot during his testing period, but God prevailed and brought him through. Though he lost everything on earth, God gave him so much in return for being faithful. I know that God allows us to go through trials to make us stronger and more faithful and it is my prayer that myself, my team, and every other believer who is fighting the battle to stay strong in Christ will do so.

What makes Satan attack the faithful? Their dedication to Christ and fear that God is going to use us to make a difference when Satan wants to keep control of the lost. It’s an honor to be attacked as a believer because that means Satan is scared of what God is doing in and through us and he wants it to stop! I challenge you today to get in the word and be guarded with the armor God provides for us to put on through Ephesians 6 and FIGHT Hard against the attacks of the enemy! We will not be defeated when we let God be in charge and follow hard after His direction and purpose of your life! Pray for attitudes and will power to stay strong in the word and in the fight. I cannot back down from what God has showed me and called me to do and I will not lose sight of the direction God is sending me in. You can’t back down either if you are a follower of Christ. There is plenty of work to do for the kingdom and you must stay strong to believe in what God has called you to do and to complete the work He alone has chosen for you! Stay strong in the fight and let us pray for each other and lift each other up as we fight this daily battle.