I once spent a month in Africa. As I wrote that sentence, I could hear Meryl Streep speaking that line. Before you think I’ve lost it, the opening line in the movie, Out of Africa, was Meryl saying “I once had a farm in Africa.” But my family really did have the privilege to spend a month in Durban, South Africa, when my son was a young teen. It was magical, scary, life changing and beautiful. We’ve always said it was a trip of a lifetime but I pray that God would bring us back there again. The people there changed us. The music changed us. If you’ve ever heard a school full of children in Africa singing, you’ve heard the voices of angels.

It was many years ago but I can still remember the smell of the Indian Ocean, the beauty of the people, the sight of street vendors selling exotic foods. But what I remember the most was the singing. I’m sure heaven will sound like this. It is commonplace for believers in Africa to walk an hour or more to church. Walk! We preached in churches that were nothing more than tin walls with no chairs. People brought their own chair! We saw such poverty, the kind that changes your perspective for the rest of your life. And so you would expect them to come in tired, weary, hot and irritated. But you could hear the singing before you arrived for the service. Why? Because they came hours before the service even started. How do you explain such dedication, such joy? I believe it is born from a heart of gratitude.

I still think sometimes that it was only a dream. How could a young couple from a tiny island end up preaching in AFRICA? Because God wanted us there. There was a lot of unrest in the area at the time and our families were adamantly against us going and especially taking our son. But God had plans for each of us. Words that were spoken over each of us, sermons that were preached, beautiful people that we met and came to love. All of it was nothing short of a miracle.

I wrote a blog post recently here about how to make a difference right here in your backyard. And I believe it with all my heart. But if you ever get a chance to go on a trip abroad with a trustworthy organization, do it. I know it’s not for everyone but it’s certainly open for everyone who feels a pull towards it.

Learning about a different culture than your own can be the shift you need to find your place, your purpose. It opens your heart to the unknown and makes way for dreams to be born. Of course you don’t need to go to Africa for that to happen but it can if that is God’s plan. And it was for us. I learned how not to be afraid to go into the unknown just because it was uncomfortable. I faced my fears and I believe it was the catalyst that set me forth in ministry years later. If I was frightened when I stood up to preach or teach anytime after that, I remembered preaching in that tiny tin church with the local witch doctor outside waiting to do us harm. I remembered how God gave us courage to stand and preach His truth to people hungry enough to walk for hours to hear about a God who loved them. The day we left and we said goodbye to our parents brought a deluge of tears but we knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, we were to be on that trip. And He didn’t disappoint.

Out of Africa was made from a true story about a woman named Karen Blixen. She wrote this famous quote, “God made the world round so we would never be able to see too far down the road.” If we trust Him, He will guide us down that road without fear or doubt. And if we trust Him, we will see the impossible come true.