When I returned back to my home in California after traveling to Africa for the first time in 2014, I knew that wouldn’t be my last time in Africa. From 2014 to 2016, I spent those years paying off my student loans and writing my latest book, Rescued Love. I did all that in preparation to go back to the mission field.
Then finally in 2016, I was ready to go back to Pemba, Mozambique in East Africa. But this time, I wasn’t just going on a missions trip. This time I was going back to Mozambique to partake in a hands-on Bible School that would change my life forever.
Knowing that God had called me to go back to Mozambique for The Harvest School of Missions, I planned to save my money for a year, then quit my job in 2017 so that I could go to school in Mozambique by faith. But in April of 2016, I found myself without work for reasons that were out of my control. So much for my plan lol
Believing God In The Unknown
After I lost my job, I asked God if He still wanted me to go to Mozambique. The next thing I heard God tell me totally freaked me out. He said something like, “Not only do I still want you to go to Mozambique for ministry school, but I want you to go this year in October.” Then I was like…”WHAT?!? But I don’t have a job to make money to pay for the school?”
I waited for God reply, but I heard nothing but crickets….
Then I said to God, “ButI’m not going to be able to pay my rent. How am I going to go to Mozambique if I can’t even pay my bills?” And God’s reply once again was, “…”
I knew I was supposed to go to Mozambique in October since that’s what I heard God say. But if I was really going to go to ministry school in Mozambique, it would seriously take a miracle since I didn’t have a job and I was almost completely broke. Then all of a sudden, I got an idea!
I could buy a newish car and drive for Uber to make enough money to pay for ministry school before October. Since I only had about 6 1/2 months to come up with the $8,000 I needed to pay for my school/flight expenses for Mozambique, I had to act fast.
My Newish Car/Uber Venture: Prepping for Ministry School in Mozambique
Not long after I lost my job, I signed up to go to the Harvest School of Missions with Iris Global. While I was waiting for my application to be processed, I went to a car dealership to buy a newish car so that I could, by faith, save my money and pay for my school tuition and travel expenses in Mozambique before October.
I ended up buying a 2011 Nissan Versa which, at that time, was a five-year-old car. That was the newest car I’d ever owned in my life. I took out a loan for about $10,400 to pay for it.
Almost immediately after I bought my Nissan Versa, I sold my old car for $1,000 so that I could start paying down my new car loan as quickly as possible. After I drove my new car home, I was ready to drive for Uber! But after a couple of weeks of driving for Uber, I realized I’d made a BIG mistake.
It’s Fear and Anxiety Time!
The problem I’d discovered was that after a couple of weeks of driving for Uber, I wasn’t making even close to as much money as I thought I’d be making. Now don’t get me wrong. Driving for Uber was one of the most amazing and most fun experiences of my life, and there’s a lot of money to be made with Uber if you’re driving in the right places. But the problem was that my goal/reasoning for driving for Uber was extremely unrealistic and not well thought-out.
If I was really going to drive for Uber, not only would I need to save $8,000 for school, but I would need to also pay off my $10,400 car loan. And I would have needed all of this to happen in 6 months. Oops! I didn’t know what to do, but crying sounded like the best option at that time…
Back To Africa Part 2
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