The Tailor and Trainer

She is from England and has an amazing British accent. She has the driest sense of humor paired with extraordinary sarcasm. You can't believe a word she says, yet every once in a while she speaks truth out of a heart that adores Christ. She has lived in Burkina Faso for ten years and now spends her time loving on street boys in Ouagadougou. The best thing is that she absolutely loves God and Burkina Faso. That's Kate for you.

One of the things I love about living in Ouagadougou is that I get to meet the coolest people ever. People from all over the world with crazy life stories who have all ended up in Burkina Faso some way or another to serve Jesus. Kate is just one of those people. 

Kate has agreed to take on mentor relationship with me, and we get together once a week to talk and pray. This week when we met, I had just finished a hard day in language school. Some days, I understand the questions and flow with the conversation. Other days, like this day in particular, I feel like I have to say "what?" after every other sentence. I struggle to hang on to the words, and I just leave feeling discouraged. 

I had a friend in the United States once tell me that she tries to do one hard thing a week. That's a great goal that I highly recommend, but if that's how the counting works, then I have already done my hard things for the next ten years.

Living with a host family in a big city, trying to live life in a language that you don't fully know, and doing all this semi-alone - these are all very hard things. In fact, I might venture to say that this is the hardest thing I have ever done. 

Although this is the hardest thing I have possible ever done, it is also definitely the most wonderful thing I have ever done. I absolutely love Africa. I love the people here. I love my host family. I love my team. I love the opportunity to learn french. I love the every day adventures of getting in the car, exploring, going to the store, eating out, cold showers, and making the best fruit smoothies ever with fresh fruit from the market. I am so close to Jesus because I have to trust him with absolutely everything. I communicate more with him now because I need him every moment. I face fear and discouragement and inadequacy and discomfort on an hourly basis, but I am also having the time of my life. There is no place else I would rather be. 

This week when I met with Kate, I shared with her all my passions and dreams for the future here in Africa. A center for infants in distress. A medical clinic. A program for women and children in the church. Just simply building relationships with Africans. Sharing Jesus through the ministry of healing. I shared with her how God has brought our team together and even given us a Dagara family to serve alongside. We have a unified team, a big piece of land to build on, and a church movement that is spreading and growing. What hope for the future! 

She was so excited for me that she literally couldn't believe what I told her. She kept saying, "I just can't believe it. God is clearly with you and has given you this opportunity and the perfect gifts to serve him here." She was absolutely in awe, which renewed my awe at what God has done and will continue to do. "This mission is like a tailored fit for you," she said. 

She then gave me a vision of God handing me all these beautiful African ponyas (ponyas are the fabric that they use to make their clothes), laying them one by one across my open arms and promising to make me a perfectly-fitted, tailored piece of clothing. "You don't know if it's going to be a dress or a skirt or a pair of trousers, but he will make something that looks best on you. It will take him some time to make something so perfect, and you must wait on him," Kate said. "If you take the scissors out of his hand, you might snip somewhere where you weren't supposed to." I love how Kate always encourages me to wait on the Lord. Even when I am tempted to take the needle and thread from him and finish it faster, I must trust that he is creating something beautiful and perfect for me.

In her vision, the ponyas represent the things God has given me - his provision along with my passions and gifts. One is the piece of land up on the hill where the center will be built. One is my experience and knowledge in nursing. One is my love for playing music. God will knit all these things together to make something beautiful. My job is to let him be the tailor. 

After I shared my passions with her, she started talking about some passions of her own. 

Kate used to work with horses and explained to me in detail how the training process works. A wild horse must be trained in many small steps. It takes a lot of time and a lot of patience. Even if the horse is doing well with the days' training and the trainer is tempted to push the horse a little further, it's not a good idea. The horse will get over-stressed and will actually regress instead of progress. You just have to take small steps, one day at a time. 

As she was talking, I couldn't help but think of God as the trainer of my wild heart. His training takes time. When I am tempted to take the reigns and speed up the training process (which I so often do regarding learning french and starting my mission here!), I must remember that I will only overwork myself and move backwards instead of forwards. I must give the reigns to Lord and trust him to train me with small steps one day at a time. 

After a hard day in language school and a hard couple of weeks with the adjustments of a new, crazy life in Burkina Faso, God sent me Kate that day to remind me of two wonderful truths. 

God is a wonderful tailor. He will take each of our gifts and passions, untie them with his provision, and create a beautiful, tailor-fitted garment for us to wear and the world to see so that he can receive the glory he deserves. 

And he is a perfect trainer. He will take the reigns and steady our wild hearts by working on us step by step, one day at a time.