Contact Information

E-Mail:  a.lynne317@gmail.com

Postal Address:

P.O. Box 620170

Kalomo

Zambia

Home Number:  (0026) 021 322 5377  (country code: 0026)

Skype:   alyssa.lynne10

 I hope we keep in touch!!!

Not Looking Back

As most of you can imagine, I have been spending a lot of time with friends and family over these past four and a half weeks preparing myself to be able to say good bye for a long period of time.  God’s timing never ceases to amaze me and this past year He has blessed me with everything I could ever want: a goal/purpose in ministry locally, a God-fearing community of friends, a family that has always loved and supported me, and many new people I can testify/bear witness to.  It seemed like for the first time I felt like I might belong here in America serving God in a way I never imagined I could.  Just as everything gets established, God calls me to Africa…seems contradictory huh?  Well for the past few months I have had a lot of time to spend with God trying to wrap my head around the reason He chose to do this in my life.  I have read through scripture after scripture and it is very clear why God does the things He does.  Before time, God laid out the foundations of the world and orchestrated all that would happen to bring glory to His name and build His kingdom.  As much as our culture tells us it is “all about me”, it has nothing to do with me, but everything to do with God: He is our Creator, our Sustainer, our Savior, our Master, our Father; He does everything for His namesake.  He created each person unique to fulfill a purpose that only he/she could accomplish, “for we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago” (Eph. 2:10).  And praise God that He had a plan for us before anyone of us was born, “for I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me” (Jer. 29:11-13).  God makes the boldest statements and always makes true on them.  In the moments when we have forgotten about God, He has never forgotten about us…when we cry out to Him, He is there with open arms, welcoming us home.  For these reasons alone, I fully trust in the sovereignty of God and His timing and His plans for my life.  Living in the world and being influenced by my culture, it is so easy to get wrapped up in the “why” questions...why did this happen, why didn’t God do it this way, why are bad things happening, why are good things happening, etc.  Who am I to question God or why He does the things He does?  Jeremiah says that God has plans for a good future, filled with hope, for each and every one of us; if we truly believed those words (that came from God Himself) than there should be no reason to ask why.  This is the lesson God has been trying to teach me this entire time…my life is obviously controlled by things other than Christ at times (culture, sin, influences, friends, family, etc.) and when I give into these things, it’s when Satan can sneak in a fill my heart and mind with questions towards God, despite the fact that God is the one thing I never have had to question.  He is my rock, my fortress, the one thing in my life I can always count on, so if He tells me to move to Zambia, I am going to move to Zambia.  Not because I can see the good that will come from it or because I want to give up every comfort I have here, I am moving to Zambia because God’s plans are far better than my own and I want to reap the benefits of being in God’s perfect will, living a life that is completely devoted to Him and not the world. 

So, that being said, this past weekend was one of the hardest weekends I have had in a long time.  I was privileged to go camping with my group of friends at Pohick State Park.  We didn’t really have any plans for the weekend, other than to enjoy each other’s company.  We played a couple games of ultimate Frisbee, went on a couple hikes, sat around the fire, cooked meals, and had devotionals together.  It was an amazing weekend of rest and strengthening of our community.  Saturday night, my friends graciously decided to pray for me and the journey I have laid at my feet moving to Zambia for the next two years.  The Holy Spirit was moving everyone’s heart because every prayer that was said addressed a matter that had been on my heart in the past few weeks.  While everyone was praying for me, I started praying to God thanking Him for all these amazing friends and not wanting to let go of them…the Holy Spirit (always on the ball) responded with reminding me to “focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, [to] press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us” (Phil 3:13-14).  I know that whatever God has in store for me will be worth the sacrifice of “letting go” of the things He has blessed me with right now.  I pray that He will bring us back together again, but ultimately for His will to be done in my life and all the lives of the people around me. 

So this is me not looking back anymore, but striving ahead into the unknown with my Savior…

Ecclesiastes 3:9-15

 ⁹ What do people really get for all their hard work? ¹⁰ I have seen the burden God has placed on us all. ¹¹Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. ¹² So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can. ¹³ And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God.

 ¹⁴ And I know that whatever God does is final. Nothing can be added to it or taken from it. God’s purpose is that people should fear him. ¹⁵ What is happening now has happened before, and what will happen in the future has happened before, because God makes the same things happen over and over again.