The Bel@mericans

As time passes this year, I am becoming more and more convinced of God’s bigger hand on my life and in the lives of others around me. He has used me as His instrument each and every day – in situations that I never thought I’d ever find myself in. As it says in the chapter of Acts, we are put in a certain time and in an exact place determined by God so that we and others can grow closer to Him. This verse resonates in my mind constantly and I am continuing to find this message to be true all the time. April has been such a wonderful month, and I feel I have many stories to share with you in this newsletter. I will share more about my newest placement site in future newsletters, but I have a story that has really touched my heart the past few weeks. Again, God was working in a place that I had no idea, but He later revealed himself and made His presence known in a situation that I never thought He would.

Over the last few weeks, I have had the opportunity to work alongside another foreign counterpart at my newest worksite, Lebone. She and a group from her university in Belgium were present here in Bloemfontein during the past few months completing internship credits through a local university and local non-profit organizations. At Lebone, there were six international volunteers throughout April: 4 from the Netherlands, 1 from Belgium and 1 from the United States (me). Petra and I formed an instant bond since we had been there the longest and because we came to volunteer at Lebone by ourselves. Our relationship developed into a very good friendship over the four weeks that we worked alongside each other, and the two of us started calling ourselves the ‘Bel@mericans’. So for one of her last weekends in South Africa, we decided that she, I and one of her other Belgium friends would journey together to Durban for a long weekend to travel, to visit friends, and to hang out together.

The three of us traveled our way to Durban that weekend, and God was the last thing that I thought we would talk about on this trip. Although I am quite comfortable talking and sharing my faith, I have to be honest in saying that it is a topic I don’t often bring up in random conversation. Petra and I had not talked about this topic before and I wasn’t quite sure how she felt or how comfortable she was on the subject. In addition, I don’t think of ‘teaching and speaking’ as one of my spiritual gifts. As many others, I tend to get nervous when I talk about my faith, I end up babbling, and often just talk in circles. So unless it is a topic of conversation, I seldom bring it up.

One night while we were out in Durban, Petra and I were having coffee and sharing dessert (a Belgian waffle ). We were just talking about her soon-to-be trip home and both of our experiences in South Africa. We were sitting there for a good while before the conversation took a turn and we started talking about religion and faith. In South Africa, or in what context I have been exposed to here, it has seemed rather easy to bring up God in a conversation without it being weird, without people feeling awkward, or without people feeling threatened. To Petra, this was something completely different than she was used to back home in Europe. She explained that in Belgium, she has only been exposed to Roman Catholicism-which she says is not very popular among the younger generation of Belgium’s population. Church was not something that she had grown up with nor did she have an interest in going to while at home, unlike my childhood where we went to church and Sunday school every week.

I sat there in shock just trying to process the change in the conversation but I became more and more excited as she spoke. She told me how strange the whole ‘faith’ thing seemed to her because she was not brought up with it. She did mention, however, that she loved seeing that look in people’s eyes when she would talk to people from South Africa about their faith. She said it looked as if people’s eyes lit up and she could feel their passion when discussing their faith – like there was truly something to be excited about. So she decided to buy herself a Bible while she was in South Africa but told me that did not know how to read it. She told me how she has tried to pray but didn’t know how. It was as if she was pouring herself out to me before my eyes, and I sat there, overwhelmed but extremely fascinated by her story. Then she started to ask me questions. I decided not to be afraid and allowed the Holy Spirit to work through me as I opened myself up to her. I shared certain views I have about issues she questioned and I told her about my faith and its importance to me. It was one of those moments where I could feel the relationship that we had developed becoming deeper and I felt God’s words speaking through me to her. For me, that was the best night of the trip and I felt the presence of God where I never thought I would.

The next day, Petra wanted me to talk about what we had spoke of the previous night to the third member of our Durban ‘tripod’ on the way back to Bloemfontein. I didn’t know him as well and I got a little nervous having to repeat what I told Petra the day before. We started talking about God, religion and faith, and we had a great conversation in the car. After a half hour or so, we changed the topic of conversation and continued our trip home. The next day, Petra came into work telling me that they had talked more about our conversation and that I had inspired him to go to church when he goes home to Belgium. I was completely dumbfounded. I did not think that I, Lauren Borsa, could change his heart toward God in 30 minutes of talking in a car. Then I suddenly realized, it wasn’t me at all.

This past week, Petra and most of her group left South Africa to go back home to Belgium. I was not ready to say good-bye to her after such a short time of being together. Also, I was sad that I was not able to help nurture and develop her new interest and did not have enough time to encourage the two of them more about their faith. As I waved Petra goodbye at the airport, I gave her two of my old devotional books from my church and a note hoping they would help start her in her journey of faith.

As 8 months have gone by, I can name and remember the names and faces of those who have touched my life during my time here in South Africa. But on the other hand I started thinking, who have I touched during my time here? What if I was sent here and placed in Bloemfontein this year only to touch the lives of two Belgium students for just a short while? What if God called me here to invite them to “come and see” and plant the seed for their faith to grow?
Often times I just don’t feel as if I am worthy enough to impact others- who am I to share and speak of God to other people? I am not the wisest, smartest or the most knowledgeable about the Bible or theology. But then I came across a verse in Acts 11 where Peter says, “Who was I to think that I could oppose God?” These last months have shown me that in Him I don’t need to be the wisest to explain how God has worked in my life. I am worthy and in Him he can do his works through me. God can use me, an insignificant human being, for his glory. I am just continually encouraged that in Him, I can make a difference – that from the vine, I can be a branch reaching out to others.

Acts 17:24-28a- “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being.”

It is my prayer that we would be eager to listen and act on God’s call in our lives. We are put in times and places predestined for us so that we can impact one another with God’s love, grace and mercy. So it is my encouragement to take a step back and reflect on how you are impacting the community around you and recall the many “God Moments” you’ve had during the month of April. You may not know you are making a difference, but God has been showing up within you. He will reveal himself in times and places when you least expect it- and who are we to oppose God doing His work?