One Month From Today...

...I will be stepping off a plane in South Bend, Indiana! I'm excited and nervous to return home after such a long time away.

I'm excited because...

...I miss my family a lot. I've got a new nephew to meet for the first time, as well as one other nephew and two nieces who have grown up a bunch and need to get reacquainted with their uncle! (I hope they recognize me through all the hair and beard!!!). It will just be great to have the whole family together for Christmas.

...I've got tons of friends back home that I can't wait to catch up with. So many of my friends are great at challenging/encouraging me, and I can't wait to get re-energized just by spending time with them. I'm sure the first month or so back will be absolutely crazy just trying to find time to see everyone!

...I miss American sports. I fell asleep during a cricket match yesterday, and rugby always just reminds me how much better American football is than any other sport on the planet!

...I won't have to live out of a suitcase anymore. It will seriously be great to live in my own house again.

...one word: FOOD! I have plans...

I'm nervous because...

...I have no clue where I fit in anymore. My life feels entirely split in half right now. I couldn't bring Indiana to Africa, and I'm fairly certain that I can't bring Africa to Indiana. I think I will feel out of place for quite a while.

...I've changed. Most people say that when they return home after a long time away, they realize that most everything stayed the same back home, while they changed a lot. Again, it might be difficult to find where the "new me" fits in.

...home is comfortable. I've grown a lot this year by never really allowing myself to get too comfortable (not just in a physical sense, but in a spiritual sense as well). I don't want to get too comfortable again, losing sight of where God is leading me in life. I also think that we all have a default mode--the habits we keep and the way we act when we are comfortable with life--and I would rather not revert back to my old default mode.

There's still a lot to do in my last month here in South Africa, but I would be lying if I pretended like I haven't thought about the transition back home. Please be praying that this next month would be fruitful for my ministry here, and pray that God would prepare me for my transition back home next month!

Sports: A Universal Language

I've been pleasantly surprised to find that in many African countries English is widely spoken, especially by the youth. Tanzania, however, was an exception to this rule. Swahili is their official language, and while English is now being introduced in many schools, it has still not taken root as much as in other parts of Africa. So, I was forced to quickly pick up some Swahili if I wanted to communicate with a lot of the youth I spent time with. In their broken English and my broken Swahili, we were able to communicate...sort of. Here's an example of a short conversation I had with one teenage boy:

Me: Who's your favorite basketball player?

Boy: I 14 years old.

Okay, so it didn't take too long to realize that we really weren't communicating. So, we scrapped that conversation and decided to try a more universal language: sports.

I don't care what you say, foosball is a sport...and it's awesome!

Basketball was also a big hit!

Barefoot basketball on an eight-foot hoop. Good times.

That's the thing I love about sports--they are the universal language. I was able to connect with these youth so much more through sports than I would have been able to through broken conversation (see conversation above). Through sports, I believe God has given us an incredible opportunity to connect different cultures around the world and to reach young people for Christ. For you sports lovers out there, ask yourself this question:

How can I use my love for sports to expand God's kingdom and impact lives for Christ?