How the journey begins!

So it looks like I will be moving to Zambia in July to teach in a new school which is being built as part of the Kaniki Orphan project (@http://www.kaniki.org/kop). I am quite excited about this although as you would expect it is a little daunting. Here are the highlights of the journey God has had me on to get to where I am now. It has been exciting to look back and see how He has brought everything together in His perfect timing even when I had no clue what He was up to!

The First Call 

I guess it all started with growing up in Zimbabwe. I always knew I would be back in Southern Africa being part of something new. When I walked into a church while at university one of my first experiences of God speaking to me was after a talk on mission. I had a picture of myself in the middle of nowhere teaching and relying on God for the day to day needs of those around me and myself. I just knew this was the place I was meant to be. At the time I was training as a teacher as I had always enjoyed interacting with kids and I knew it was a good skill that I could use anywhere in the world. 

Back in Africa

I finished my teacher training and then had to decide whether to do my Newly Qualified (NQT) year straight away or I also had hear about a course my church was running called Training for Supernatural Ministry (TSM). I decided to get my NQT year out of the way first so that I would be fully qualified and then I could do TSM the following year. The teaching post was only for a year I had decided that I wanted to visit Zimbabwe during the summer holidays to travel around and volunteer with a charity (@http://www.seed-project.org/). I went with a good friend, it was interesting to go with a new perspective. We stayed with my family who are still there. Travelling around was great fun with the usual African adventures of police and and potholes. It felt good to be back in Africa. We then went to an secondary school just outside Harare where we taught English in a room with 5 classes going on at the same time, the staff of the school were so committed with little resources they were making progress. After that we went to an orphan project where we organised games for the children and met the playschool teachers. During this time we were going back to stay with my family it was interesting to see their reaction to the effort we were putting in. It was great to feel like we were really impacting the education of these children. Returning to England I had a renewed longing to be back in Southern Africa teaching. I felt I still needed more experience in teaching and wanted to do the TSM course.

Training

So last year whilst supply teaching I started TSM (not really knowing what it was going to be like.). As part of TSM I was challenged to fully love God with my whole life and put His plans before my own. 
I learnt a lot about myself, my identity, how God see's me, God's character, the kingdom and how we can be part of God's plan! 
I began to see that I had a purpose that was much bigger that I could have imagined I started to recognise my value to God and to others. I saw some of the gifts that God had given me. As I saw the potential of what God could to with my life if I handed it fully over to Him I started to look at what I felt I was called to do. I was reminded of times when God had spoken to me personally and through words others had brought, about teaching and being in Southern Africa. During the course we had many opportunities to be part of ministry teams going to different churches and events to pray for people. 
I took every opportunity to be part if what God was doing and see Him breakthrough in peoples lives. I started to know God closer than I had experienced Him before, I heard His voice more clearly and wanted to spend more time in His presence to hear his voice and grow in relationship with Him. 

Mission trip

In March an opportunity came up to go on a mission trip to Zimbabwe, I was very excited about this but I knew I could not afford to travel there, while praying I felt like God encouraged me to book tickets and then ask people to support me. I found this very difficult to do, I felt like I should be able to do it myself and didn't think people would want to support me. With some encouragement from friends I decided to trust God that He would provide. I was so surprised that by the time I was flying I only had to contribute a small amount to my flights because through people around me God had provided. On arriving in Zimbabwe I went to a conference of church leaders. It was amazing to see how alive and hope-filled the churches were by the end of the conference, as God spoke to the church and individuals. While I was there I decided to look for jobs in the schools in Harare I saw this as my opportunity to live and work in Southern Africa. I looked around many schools and handed out my CV. As I was looking at the schools I began to realise even though this was where my family were it was not the place I could see myself teaching. At that point I felt quite disheartened I didn't understand how something I had felt God speak about was not happening I had come expecting God to provide me the perfect job and I could live with family it all seemed so straight forward I had 'my' plan all worked out by God didn't seem to be going along with it WHY?  I returned to England and continued with my teaching and TSM. Throughout the rest of the year there were little reminders that God had plans for me to be teaching in a rural school in Southern Africa. My experience the previous summer of working in the rural schools had shown me His heart for those children and my desire to be involved in teaching in a school like that. My experience in God providing for my trip in March showed me how much He could be trusted and that people were willing to support me in what He has called me to do. 

A new opportunity!

While talking to a friend about my thoughts on returning from the trip in March. She began to tell me about a school that would be more suited to me. I was quite excited about it but had little expectation that I could actually end up there. As the months went by there were yet more constant reminders of God's goodness and His plans for my life. In July this year a friend (@http://zoejoy101.blogspot.co.uk) explained she was moving to Zambia to help run an orphan project and that they would be building a school which would start in Sept 2013. I was very excited about this opportunity I emailed the people involved in setting up the school. They seemed interested. I knew that it would be a self funded adventure. But because God had already been teaching me about his provision and peoples willingness to support His purposes. I was more willing to explore the possibility. So now I find myself having booked the flights and been offered the job of teaching for a minimum of 2 years!!!! 

I am so excited about this adventure and I am trusting God that He will again remind me of His faithfulness.