I Went to Africa, Here's What I Learned
Photo taken by Ella Arruda, 2025
Something I used to wrestle with a lot in the past was the fact that I was quietly Christian.
Ever since I got born again, I had a fire in my heart for God. I’ve always wanted to serve Him, and in my heart, I believed in Him. But for a while, I had this habit of becoming someone else when I was around non-christians.
When I was off the clock, I was a believer. But as soon as I clocked in at work, I became someone else. I believed the lie that me sharing my faith was me "pushing" my beliefs on them. I thought that if people liked me enough, that it would get them to come to Church with me.
But do you know how many people I brought to the faith during that time? Zero.
If you're giving people a watered down version of Jesus, then they're not really accepting Jesus.
This wasn't apologetics, it was just being apologetic.
And what was worse? I was even scared to be bold in my own Church. I didn't want to share my full testimony with them because I felt shame things I used to struggle with in my faith-walk.
This habit of being ashamed of the gospel is something that I knew I needed to fix.
It was heavy on my mind at the time of me hearing about the next missions trip my church would be taking to Africa. After a team came back from a trip they took in October 2024, there were already talks of another one in May 2025.
I admired them for their good works, but I didn't really want to go. I had never been on a mission, and in my mind, it wasn't really my thing.
It is something I never thought I'd do. So, if you're reading this and thinking, 'That’s cool for her, but I could never,' just know that I used to be you.
But when close friends of mine decided to go, and asked me if I was considering, I realized that I didn't really have a valid reason for saying 'no,' other than the fact that it was un-comfy and new. I made every excuse, rattled off every concern, and they had an answer for every single one!
There was only one real reason, and it was that… I was still kind of ashamed of sharing the gospel.
But something in my heart was shifting. God was calling me. Maybe I didn't have to be scared anymore. Before, I wasn't even considering it, but now my heart was burning. I had to go on this trip.
So, despite all the odds, and all my doubts, I was in.
I signed up for the mission thinking I'd have to dip into my school savings to pay the $5,200 trip cost. Even if God helped me fundraise, there was no way in my mind that I could raise that much money. I thought that God needed my help.
But thankfully, the Lord had much better for me. I would get full sponsorship, just like the Lord promised me I would a while before it ever happened. I didn't believe he could do that for me. He totally proved me wrong.
I was skeptical about whether or not the trip could really change me in my lukewarm ways.
I was wrong about that too.
The Trip
On May 11th, Mother's Day, we took off on our 1st flight from Tampa, Florida to Atlanta, Georgia. There, we hopped on a plane to Johannesburg, South Africa for a grueling 17-hour flight. We spent the night in Johannesburg and then flew to Zambia the next morning.
From there, we drove across the border into Zimbabwe where we met up with our friends in Africa, Pastor Ettah and William of Eternal Word Church.
We brought 22 missionaries, visited 3 different countries, took 8 different flights, and had 17 baptisms – all in just 13 days! We donated 6 instruments (2 guitars, 2 basses, 1 keyboard) and for every suitcase we brought, we had another one filled with supplies (clothes, shoes, toys, school supplies, Bibles, etc).
We went Hut to Hut, ministering to several homes, praying for their needs and giving them supplies. We held a Vacation Bible School for the children of Chidobe Primary School and provided a soccer tournament for them on the weekend, complete with trophies and prizes!
In our last few days in Africa we visited the Africa 4 Jesus base in Kimberley, South Africa (an organization that trains missionaries, assists students in getting theological degrees, and provides a safe place for orphans). There, we served by tending their grounds and providing training using The Path curriculum -- a resource our church developed with A4J that is used for training new pastors, missionaries and disciples.
Our days were packed full of activity. To paint a picture of what we experienced, here are some of my journal entries from our time there.
Entry 1 - Flight from Johannesburg to Zambia
Tue, May 13th
11:17am
It’s so weird because we left home on Sunday (May 11th, Mother’s Day), and travelled all through Monday on our 17-hour flight to Johannesburg – now it’s Tuesday, we’re on a flight to Zambia, and we haven’t even started the Mission yet! Of course, the work of ministry is lifelong, and we minister with every step, but it’s bizarre to think that all this time has passed and we haven’t even started yet! I don’t mind it. I love every moment. It’s making me appreciate these people and this part of the world even more.
I have to say, I’m not a fan of plane rides or hotels, walking forever and ever, being sleepless and hungry and always tired, but I’m grateful that I can be here, doing this. I’m honored to strive for these people and come to serve, not be served. Our lead missions Pastor Erin says when you serve others, you feel energized, and that is very true. She also told us that we may be jet-lagged, un-showered, and frumpy-looking, but to her, we look a lot like Jesus. I now understand why He took so many naps. Trying to follow his act is exhausting.
Despite the cultural differences I'm noticing that I could go on and on about, I think the most important thing to document during this time is what God is teaching me.
This morning, when we were leaving the hotel that we stayed in last night at the Johannesburg airport, while we were at breakfast before boarding our short flight to Zambia, Erin shared a devotion with us. She read Romans 1:13, “I am not ashamed of the gospel,” and asked us to wrestle with the following question – ‘Where are some places where you’re ashamed to share the gospel?’
She also asked us, ‘When people ask where we’re going, or what we’re doing, what do you tell them?’ She challenged us to start ministering right now, everywhere we go, to everyone we meet. It forced me to pause and think – a lot of the time I’m afraid that my heart isn’t in the right place, that my intentions are bad, or that I could lead prospective believers astray. It made me realize that the enemy makes me ashamed of sharing the gospel not because it’s wrong, but because he doesn’t want me to do it. He gets me to think I’m wronging people by sharing the truth. He knows I want to do what’s right, and he actually tries to use that against me. I don't want to keep doing the wrong thing for the right reasons. I want my heart to change.
I can honestly say that while I was there, I decided that I didn't want to be the same old me anymore. I wanted God's glory more than I wanted people to like me.
I went there one way, and came back another.
It changed me from the inside. I looked more like Jesus the more dirt got on my shoes, the more uncomfortable I was -- the more I was inconvenienced for the gospel.
8 flights in the span of 2 weeks, sleepless days, little to eat, lots of money and time spent... I was about as inconvenienced as it could possibly get! And yet, I loved every minute.
Entry 2 - Flight from Johannesburg to Kimberley
Tue, May 20
4:32pm
My journal is currently wet. When we went to Victoria Falls yesterday, a lot of my stuff got wet. When on the far side of the Falls, you can see the water cascading down from afar, but when we walked closer to the Falls, it rained down on us like CRAZY.
The mist billows up so high that you can see it from miles away. We even saw it from our plane windows, thousands of feet in the sky! So, you can imagine how wet you would get if you were standing right by it, which we were.
As we were walking, I would think, "Okay, it can't possibly get more wet than this," and then it would. I didn't even bring a rain jacket - I had to rent one at the entrance. But that was the best $3 I ever spent. I could barely see through my glasses. My shoes and socks were so soaked that with every step I took water was swishing around in my Converse!
It's crazy because the theme for our trip is 'Drenched in Love,' and there we were, getting absolutely drenched! I'm sure God was trying to show us literally how drenched we are in His love; That when our lives emanate His glory, you can't hide it from other people -- they can see it from miles away. And anyone who comes near you, they get drenched in His love too.
Now as we're on the plane headed to A4J, I'm reflecting on our time in Chidobe. While on a trip that was impossible for me to be on to begin with, I watched as I let Africa get all over me.
I had never been happier than when I was surrounded by all those kids hanging on me. My shoes and pants got absolutely covered in that orange, African dirt.
I am long gone now, but it all still lingers on my mind. We didn't even speak the same language as those kids, but our connection was real. We could still play games, they still learned our names, and we learned theirs. I was so moved by Chidobe's wholehearted worship that it moved me to tears.
In the U.S., getting people to even lift their hands is a task - but in Chidobe, their worship is LOUD.
When I heard them sing on Sunday morning, they didn't have a backing track, only their voices, and yet they filled the room with their praise. They didn't even have instruments to worship God. That is, until we gave them the ones that were donated to us.
I watched children and adults come alive because they finally had guitars to play when I can't be bothered to play the guitar that sits under my bed day after day. I'd rather scroll mindlessly on Instagram.
I taught them the 4 chords that I knew. Being able to give someone a privilege and experience I've always had made me less concerned about all the things I don't yet have that are on my Amazon wish list.
They weren’t skeptical of hearing the gospel from a light-skinned stranger like me. They all receive it and believe in Jesus because hope in Him is all they have. In the land of the free we have the liberty to live Godless, but here in Zimbabwe, they have something we don't -- necessity.
In Chidobe, they live in window-less huts, they wear beat-up hand-me-downs, and their children walk miles to school if they even go. They cling to the Church because it holds them together.Pastor Ettah and William sacrificed their own retirement fund (a measly $2,000) to buy a farm that yields resources they use to support the community. They have emptied themselves, and yet, they have a joy like I've never seen. Zimbabwean people are happier without constant dopamine rushes, healthier though they often miss meals, and somehow, they are closer to God with fewer churches.
Some on our team were criticized for going to Africa because there are "children in our own backyard.” But if those people could see Zimbabwe's schools and churches, they would come too.
In the U.S. we have every kind of church you could want, you can take your pick. We have mega-churches with fog-machines. We have an embarrassment of wealth compared to them. In Chidobe, their church doesn't even have a full floor. Part of it is unfinished, and they can't afford to complete it. They have plastic chairs, and not enough of them. They have no stage, no carpet, no doors.
In America, our education is free, but over there the only kids who go belong to families who can afford it. And even the kids who go, most don't even graduate primary school (elementary school). Even less graduate secondary school (high school). Yes, we have problems at home there, but our problems are nothing compared to theirs.
The joy I've felt in my heart I've felt because of these beautiful, holy people is one of the most vivid pictures of God's grace and mercy that I've ever seen. I don't even deserve this opportunity to serve them but thank goodness it's not about me.
Just 5 years ago, I was far from God, and now here I was on the other side of the world, preaching about Him. It's a miracle that I was there, telling those kids about how God saved me, wearing a shirt that said, "Jesus Loves You.” There was a time where I didn’t believe that for myself. I'm overwhelmed with God's grace, how He is blessing me even in my servitude.
Here, I was talking about how when we held a soccer tournament for the kids, some of us stood in front of them at half-time and shared our testimonies. On the way there, while we were riding in the group van, Erin asked if anyone wanted to share their testimony to the kids. There was a brief silence... My hand shot up. "I can do it." I said.
This was my chance to break my own cycle of silence. And honestly, it wasn't that big of a deal to share my testimony with a group of elementary school kids, but within the context of all I'd been struggling with, this was huge.
At the Tampa airport, before we even left, I was telling one of my fellow missionaries, Elizabeth Trueheart, about how it was hard for me to share my testimony, because in some ways I still felt a lot of shame.
But after the soccer tournament where I shared my testimony, she congratulated me for being not only willing to share my story, but the first to volunteer.
My heart was starting to change.
Entry 3 - Last night @ A4J
Wed, May 21st
9:36pm
I'm sitting in my bed, it's our last night in Kimberley at A4J. I never thought in 2025 I'd be in AFRICA with Overflow Church. Being here seems way too good to be true. Today we helped tend the grounds of A4J. It's been freezing. They measure temperature in Celsius which I don't understand how to convert in my head, but it felt like 50 degrees, and with the breeze, it felt like 40. For us Floridians, it’s been rough.
Me and Ella and Mackie were weeding and raking the garden. Even though it was freezing and we were doing manual labor, it was still an awesome day. Joking around with Mackie, petting the dogs, walking with Ella taking wheelbarrows of leaves to dump out in the field. It was all so simple, but so beautiful.
A4J, with its’ pale white chapel, tall white grass, overcast gray skies and orange dirt - looks like a place you'd see in your dreams. Especially since it's out in the middle of nowhere.
Tonight we saw stars. Countless, shining, brilliant ones. A whole sky of them. I have never seen so many stars. But here on this 40-acre compound in the middle of nowhere, they see stars like that every night. The pictures I took don't even do them justice.
I want so badly to come back. Andre De Vries, the lead pastor here at A4J, said that the safest place you can be is in the will of God. And I realized today while talking to my boyfriend and fellow missionary, Bradley, that I won't be satisfied with anything else other than a life lived like this. Out in the wilderness, at the edge of my comfort zone... reaching for the stars.
I don't want to leave even now. I love the people here. I love the dogs. I love our cozy little room. I love my team.
I know I'll come back to Africa. I have to.
We have to have our bags outside by 6am tomorrow, and we board our flight to Capetown at 8am. My roommates just came in. If I'm going to get up at 5am, I should go to sleep now.
Good night.
There was so much glory that came from being right inside of God's plan. Yes, we were uncomfortable at times. We made sacrifices. There were times where it was unbelievably hard.
But I would do it all over again.
All-around Unashamed
The most important thing that the trip taught me, was how to be truly and fully unashamed; To be a true practitioner of my faith.
Before, I was good at going to all the Christian conventions and concerts, listening to all the sermons, doing all the homework. I thought it was important to know lots of things. However...
1 Corinthians 8:1
"While knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens the church."
It's more important to live out the gospel than to have all of the knowledge about it. And even though having and seeking knowledge is important and can certainly be helpful, what good is it to learn everything there is to know, but never act it out?
James 2:14
"What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don't show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone?"
Before, I was good at keeping my faith personal. I wasn’t very good at living an openly Christian life. I struggle with having integrity.
I used to think integrity meant doing what's right even when no one is looking -- and that's true, but it's also about doing what's right when they are, even if they disapprove.
Integrity is practicing what you preach.
Disciples make disciples. He didn't just tell people to follow Him and end there.
Jesus started his ministry by telling the disciples to follow Him, but after that, he sent them out as leaders so they could be of influence and intentionally bring others into the Kingdom.
This is an integral part of following Jesus.
That being said, during this trip, I learned that I was wrong about a lot of things. I was wrong thinking God couldn't do the impossible in my life, by sending me to Africa, of all the unlikely places. I was wrong for being ashamed to share my testimony. But most importantly, I was wrong about being ashamed of the gospel.
But that era is over. The version of me is gone... I left her in Africa.
And even though the whole experience seemed to good to be true, I know it's only the beginning.
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