Flip-Flopped

Posted by: Overland Missions on May 23, 2011 | Advanced Mission Training

Beau Krpicak is one of our Advanced Mission Training students, based in Livingstone, Zambia for our three month program. Here he reflects on life in Africa as he thinks of family and friends back home in America: "I glanced at my watch, it was lunchtime. Sighing under my breath as I sat under a tree, “Monday…May 8th, 2011.” Why did this date resonate in my head? It was my 5th day in Africa, and I just remembered this was the day I would ‘walk’. Eight thousand miles away, my class was preparing to walk the platform of success and achievement. Graduation. Perspective begun to set in. I envisioned all them, my friends, and my colleagues, lined up filling rows upon rows. All dressed up, cap-and-gown, a day that always seemed out of reach was finally here. But there would be an empty seat. I closed my eyes and my American up bringing instinctively brought a polished pair of dress shoes to mind, shined for success. I stopped there. I forced my eyes open, and I saw flip-flops. A dusty pair of flip-flops, hard pressed to walk another mile, dangled on my feet,. I pulled my eyes up, and looked around. I wasn’t sitting in some fold out chair in the comfort of air conditioner. There were no smiling professors, no commending handshakes, no piece of paper and posing for a picture. There was a tree, some shade, a village in the distance, and my whole day ahead of me. It was our first day out in the bush, and with hardly any experience, we were brought out into uncharted Sub-Sahara Africa, prayed over, and immediately instructed to begin reaching out to the surrounding villages, spreading the love of Christ, and laying hands on the sick. There was no adequate preparation, no five-step process to memorize, but we held tight our bible, while the leaders placed their trust in the guidance of Holy Spirit. We strapped up, filled our canteens, and set out. The Lord is with thee. Alongside five others team members, whom I barely knew, we were off. Small hidden paths led to empty villages. Empty villages led to more walking. It was almost an hour until we came across a boy who led us to his village, his home. Favoring one arm, he gave us hand carved stools to sit on and made haste to gather those who were nearby in the fields. We began to speak. The anointing of the Lord came over each of us, and His Holy Spirit guided every word out of our mouths! After leading the whole family to Christ, we asked if anyone needed healing. The boy who we found in the field hesitantly came forward. He said that He couldn’t use his arm because of severe pain that shot up and down with the slightest of movements. We simply laid hands on him, prayed. Almost before we were done praying, he immediately dropped to the ground and began doing knuckle, military-style push-ups! About 20 of them! He stood to his feet and began thanking God in his native tongue! We were in awe of what we were witnessing, and his smile, filled with thanksgiving, the purest joy of God, contagiously spread like wildfire! Filled with awe, finally we were able to finish drinking in all that happened. We saw that it was time to start heading to the next village. The boy agreed to lead us there, and as he was leading, he would run ahead of us, and suddenly drop down and begin doing more push ups! He would do as many as he could before we caught up to him! He led us all morning and couldn’t stop smiling about what had happened. After walking a couple of miles, the boy pointed over the hill where we would find the next village. We said our goodbyes to him, and he returned to his family at work in the field. We found a lone tree just off the trail. Thoughts of our appetite suddenly overwhelmed us, and we decided to make use of the shade. I’ll never forget when the idea of "graduation" hit me that day under that tree. My flesh began to remind me of my American dreams, the new opportunities that would now be possible, the gates of success, attractive to my ambition, pleasing to my family, my future. I began to feel the security setting my heart at ease, the smiles I would soon see buying my first car. Then it faded, and I saw his smile. The Lord just healed this boy’s arm. His smile, full of God’s joy, drowned out my future of fabricated happiness. That day I didn’t graduate with dress shoes, but with flip-flops. I realized that day, my whole world flip-flopped. I graduated from my joy to His joy. From my dreams to His dreams. From my heart to His heart. That day, I graduated from my life, into His life. Pslam 37:4 – DELIGHT yourself in the Lord, and He will GIVE you the desires of your heart. Thank You Lord, for giving me the true desires of my heart."