During my last week in Botswana, my ministry host gave me a Setswana name! Low and behold its meaning holds a lot of truth in my faith walk with God, and how he is growing me in this season of the world race!
The meaning of the name Naledi is “Star”
Over the course of my life, there are many times in my life when I have felt “not seen” and “not known” BUT God has been doing magnificent works in my life and there are more times rather than less that I have felt “seen” and “known.” God really works in funny ways sometimes, so much that the Setswana name that my ministry host gave me holds the meaning of being bright, shining, looked for and followed!
Diving into month 4 of the world race in my second month in Africa has been such a month for growth n so many ways for me! During the course of the month, my 1st team 1010 Fierce and I were alone- just our team, for the first time since we started the race in August! The months prior, we were with our whole squad and then the other 2 months we were with another team each month. Each month God stretched me, grew me, challenged me and transformed me! My month in Botswana was very challenging but thru those challenges- God grew me and showed me areas where he wants me to continue to grow!
An outpouring of God’s goodness in my life was very visible to me in Botswana, even in the midst of the many days where I felt broken and almost at a point of possibly throwing in the towel on this whole world race journey. God has showed up in big ways and reminded me to TRUST him. In my past, and even in my life to this very day, I have struggled with knowing my worth. At times I have felt very much in the background of things, not worth showing my true self to people , and I often would just let others do things and not say much- being worried that what I say or do won’t be right or a worthy contribution. Especially during my month in Botswana- God has shown me that I am more than worth showing my true self to people, he has given me many opportunities to use my voice (I didn’t take all of them though) & I did make some effort to not be hesitant in my speech!
Fundraising has not been easy during this world race journey and there are many times where I haven’t felt seen or known because of lack of funds and then when the funds did come in, it was super slow. It was during these times that I felt unseen, and I contemplated asking God if this world race journey was where I was supposed to be. Often times when I asked this question, God would either be very silent or he would tell me at random times that he was going to take care of everything. He reminded me in many ways that I am seen, that he see’s me and he knows the desires of my heart, and for me to trust his plan. One of the big ways I was shown this was how he brought many people into my path to rally around me and help me raise funds to become fully funded!
In conclusion, moving out of my month 4 of the world race in Botswana and moving into my month 5 of the world race in Zambia I want to give whats left of this insecurity fully over to God. I want to step out into new and challenging things and use my voice to speak with boldness- with no hesitancy attached to it.
I want to shine bright like a star, and share the light and love of Jesus in its fullness with everyone I encounter!
Bye Bye Botswana, Hello Zambia!
