Community Health Abroad 2013
from Kelsey Maguire

“While Jesus was still speaking, some people came
from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader.
“Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?”
 Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him,
“Don’t be afraid; just believe.”
… He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!”
(which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). 
Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around
(she was twelve years old).
At this they were completely astonished.”

“Talitha koum.” In two words, Jesus mended the gap between life and death. He impregnated the still heart of a young girl with the electricity to beat again. He spoke the air into her lungs and the pulse throughout her stagnant corpse, to restore life. I can’t seem to read this verse without hearing a certain familiarity, a tender voice I know has spoken into my life since before I was born. “Little girl”, The Father says, “wake up.” Despite all doubt and delusion of defeat, The Father urges us to leap into his loving sovereignty, designed for the good of the world and the pleasure of my own, unique heart alike, letting life begin.

This verse has been heavy on my heart lately. I feel that this is partly due to the great awakening that has occurred in me over the past year as my relationship with Christ has blossomed and strengthened, and partly due to the huge leap of faith that this story requires; a leap that I am now being challenged to take. When all hope was dead and the onlookers suggested, “Why bother?”

Jesus called out, “Do not be afraid; just believe”.

Just believe- two simple words that are much easier said than done. The other night I was falling asleep while writing in my journal and I began to list the fears about my trip that were in my heart at the moment:

“-I’m afraid of imagining it all wrong, of writing it wrongly before it even happens, of building up hopes and realizing I knew nothing.
-I’m afraid of nothing happening at all.
-I’m afraid of getting there and feeling useless, displaced, and confused instead of all the profound, life-altering things I’m supposed to feel.
-I’m honestly a little afraid of the money coming in. I’ve held so much faith in the provision of this need but the thought of falling short after so much generosity has been shared worries me.”

I had been allowing the logic of our broken world to extrapolate for me where my plans were going. But you see, with a God who rebukes death, who defies logic and reverses the finite in two simple words, the logic doesn’t matter and my worry is fruitless. Jesus commands only one thing of me in this journey; to believe.

The other day I received an email from the founder of the ministry with whom I am traveling. A little background- many of my friends are traveling on a school-sponsored mission trip this summer. They’ve been studying books, holding meetings, turning in deposits, getting shots, and discussing bug sprays and malaria medications- real substantial stuff. Meanwhile, I, who am traveling independently, have been raising money and wondering what kind of skirts I should wear. Needless to say, I feel a little ill-prepared. And, while I am fully enjoying my new-found courage and cool in the face of this large decision, this new lackadaisical approach feels a little bit like the first time on a bike without training wheels- out of control and impendingly painful.

So when I received this email from the ministry that I am traveling with and the content said. “Are you still planning to join us in June? :)” I had to laugh. Am I joining you? Are we talking about Dairy Queen or Africa here? I think I’m coming! But you know what? I loved it, because that’s how God works! He functions in a way that going to Africa means simply saying so and opening your heart for His way there. It means that every now and then grand things are going to come together, completely independent of any worry or work on my part. It means that by the undeserved blessings of good family and friends, of sheer, unwarranted divinity, I’ll get there. And I needn’t doubt, or lose hope, or have fear, whether the funds are low or the plans appear hazy. Because I’ve already done all the work required. I asked the question and I know where I will go.

I am going to Africa.