It is one of my most vivid memories. The plane landed in Nairobi in the middle of the night. The ongoing flight to Malawi didn’t leave until the next day, so a little trolly came to take us to a nearby hotel. As we bumped and toddled along, I suddenly realized how different the air. It was infused with the perfume of tropical plants. The atmosphere was so pure and clean, I breathed a sigh of delight, “Africa! I’m finally here.”
The next day the flight touched down in Blantyre and the senior missionaries picked us up. As we drove through the streets, I was mesmerized. A woman in katinji cloth walked down the street with a tree trunk tettering on her head. Others carried vegetables and all sorts of goods on their heads coming or going to the market. Even the animals were involved. A pesky monkey was tethered to someone, and there were goats and even cows all sharing the same road. Between the pot holes and a menagerie of pick-up trucks, cars, carts, people and animals, we wove back and forth headed for the home of the Gutherie’s, our hosts.
When we got there, we were invited in, shown around, and then a spot of tea was offered. There was no air conditioning and the pure breeze that swirled around me was so refreshing. While we sat in the living room and chatted, I was stunned by the landscape. The trees, landscape, and a small mountain that rose in the distance were this brilliant chartreuse. It was a brilliant shade of green I’d never seen before nor had I ever drunk hot English tea before.
In that moment, I pinched myself and asked, “Africa! Am I really here? I can’t believe it. How did I get here?” Then I remembered it had been a twelve-year journey. When I was fifteen, I had attended a youth camp in Troy, Missouri. I was a regular teen – adventurous, a little rebellious, and a prankster. I’m sure the counsellor in our large dormitory room hated to see me coming. But this was about more than fun, it was about destiny.
It seemed that every evening the spiritual intensity was building. Then it came like a tidal wave rushing over all of us. A young man whose right arm was in a sling began to scream out, “I’ve been healed.” He was screamed because a metal rod that help his collar bone had popped out. He was healed. After this healing, everything erupted. Campers were invited to totally surrender to God and give all of their lives to him. By this time, the front of the tabernacle was filled with teens who were weeping and responding to the Holy Spirit. Some of them even collapsed under his power and were lying there. I found myself on the floor too and I couldn’t move.
For years, I had resisted giving everything to God. O, yea, I was a believer and even received the Holy Spirit, but becoming a missionary or going to Africa? That was a big, “No! Never!” That night I had a vision. I saw myself in a canoe going up a broad river. After we had traveled upriver some distance, we came up to the embankment and walked a short distance to a village. I knew it was my village and I knew I was called to Africa.
From this point forward I knew my purpose. It was like a beacon that illuminated my pathway. Do you have a purpose in life? Did you know you have a destiny? Have you said the big, “Yes!” I’m so glad I said, “Yes.” That “Yes” led me on an amazing journey that took me to many nations. It has released friends, faith, healing and finances to me again and again. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.