Teaching Students and Impacting Africa
It was a soft whisper, “Africa,” that got the attention of Kim Robinson many years ago as she was teaching in the United States. That whisper kept coming and Kim knew it was from God, calling her to go to Africa. She heard about Mercy Ships and the opportunities for teachers, and she quickly applied. Her initial time on board the first Mercy Ship, the Anastasis, would lead to over 12 years of service with Mercy Ships.
In this episode, Kim shares about the incredible experience teaching students from all over the world and the unique opportunities she and her students had to be immersed in local culture. From the students that left a mark on her heart, to the ones that were forever changed because she was their teacher, Kim has many stories to share of lives being transformed.
With a cheerful heart and much wisdom, Kim Robinson is sure to encourage you.
Looking for a way to join our mission of bringing hope and healing? Partner with us through a gift, volunteering with us, or by joining us in prayer.
New Mercies Podcast Transcript
Welcome to the New Mercies, a podcast by Mercy Ships, where we’ll take you behind the scenes and on board our incredible hospital ships that are transforming lives all over the world. We invite you to join us each week as we sit down with our crew, patients, volunteers, and partners to hear their stories of life-changing hope and healing.
It was a soft whisper, “Africa,” that got the attention of Kim Robinson many years ago as she was teaching in the United States. That whisper kept coming and Kim knew it was from God, calling her to go to Africa. Well, she heard about Mercy Ships and the opportunities for teachers, and she quickly applied. Her initial time on board the Anastasias would lead to over 12 years of service with Mercy Ships. Get ready for some joy filled wisdom. Here is my interview with Kim Robinson.
Raeanne Newquist:
Well, Mrs. Robinson, welcome to New Mercies.
Kim Robinson:
Thank you, Raeanne, it’s good to see you.
Raeanne:
Well, I have to say, we have already had a lovely conversation where God has blessed me so much just through your praying over me and my family. And I’m so grateful for you. And now I’m excited for everyone listening to this to be blessed by you as well. So, thank you so much for agreeing to share with us a little bit about your Mercy Ships journey, which is a unique one, Your Mercy Ships journey spanned almost 12 and a half years of service. So, it is a huge part of your life. And we’re thrilled to hear about it today. So, thanks for being here. And why don’t you go ahead and kick us off with telling us where you’re at right now and what’s going on in your life.
Kim:
So, I live in Oregon right now and I am writing. I’ve written some books that I’m seeking publication for, I write Christian devotions, Upper Room, places like that. And I have an article coming out in a book, it’s called “Short and Sweet.” So basically, I’m writing, none of it’s for profit, it’s all for the Lord. It’s a lot of fun. I’m involved in a church here and in a community, and I’m blessed, because God is opening up life again after COVID and ministry can happen. You know, there for quite a while it was shut down. I’m engaged and having a great time. Whether it’s giving tea parties to lonely people, or ministering to neighbors, it’s a lot of fun. God is so much fun in life, isn’t it?
Raeanne:
Yes, absolutely. Well, I love that you’re writing because you have such a wealth of wisdom, and a beautiful relationship with the Lord. And so, writing devotionals, I know your inspiring others on in their faith as well. You had mentioned to me that you’re actually in the process of writing a book yourself, seeking publication, so you’ll have to keep us updated so that we can all get your book when it comes out, which would be a lot of fun.
Your time with Mercy Ships was a long one. Why don’t you tell us what caused you to go volunteer with Mercy Ships in the first place? And what was your role on board back in 2002?
Kim:
When I would have my devotions with the Lord, I kept getting this sort of whisper, “Africa.” So, I started praying for Africa, learning what was going on in Africa and praying about it. So finally, toward the end of 2002, I went to my class and I said to them, I was teaching in a Christian school, and I said, Would you please pray for me? I said, I don’t know what’s going on, but I keep getting this sort of “Africa” whisper when I’m taking my prayer time in my Bible study time with the Lord. And so, this one little boy raises his hand. Yes, Richard? Mrs. Robinson, will you obey? Oh, I kind of looked at him in shock, and said, Well, yes. But I was kind of horrified by what he said. Because I mean, why would I be in Africa? What would I have to do in Africa? It was a horrifying moment. So anyway, in May, I took that same class to the coast, and I was doing my devotions out in the hallway while they were asleep on the floor of a gym. And the Lord spoke quite audibly to me, which has only happened to me a couple of times in my life, and said, set yourself apart to Africa. Wow. Now you have to understand, I just bought my first house. It was the perfect grandmother house and had a playhouse in the backyard. My daughter was getting married in a few months. And I was looking at this going what? So, I cried a lot. And after we had breakfast, we had our devotions before we went to the activities of the day. And the kids said, what’s going on Mrs. Robinson, we can tell something’s going on what happened this morning. And so, I told them, and there’s that hand again, Mrs. Robinson. Yes, Richard, will you obey? You know, to this day, I may not remember the name of every child in that class that many years ago, but you know what? I’ll never forget Richard. He has stayed with me my whole life.
Whenever I’m challenged by God to do something that is very uncomfortable for me. I remember that hand and that voice. Wow, challenging me, will you obey? So, what happened is, Africa is a very big place. I am not an aggressive, assertive, creative person who’s going to jump on a plane and just get off somewhere in Africa and start ministry. So, I was kind of shocked, you know, I’m just a schoolteacher, what is this go to Africa business. So a friend of mine, who was a nurse at my church had gone and served with Mercy Ships and so when she and I were talking, she said, why don’t you go to the Mercy Ships, she said, Kim, you’re so culturally clueless, if you went to Africa, you would not understand or be able to relate to anything, not only the fact that you’d probably drink the water and die. So, I want you to go to a place where you’ll be protected. And you can start learning about Africa. So, I thought, good idea. So, I thought Mercy Ships was my jumping off place. So, I went from 2003 to 2004, you know, taught school and then signed up with Africa Inland Mission to go and serve in
Africa. Well, after a couple of years of bad experience, the Lord fired me from that. And, you know, I was sitting at the breakfast table in shock after he’d said, you know, what do you think you’re doing? And then all of a sudden, again, there was this tapping on your shoulder — go check your emails. So, I went upstairs, check my emails, and there is an email from Brian Blackburn, whom I taught with on the Anastasis saying, will you come back? Wow, wow. Oh, joy. God was happy. Kim was happy. Everybody was happy. It’s like, Yes. I thought, well, that was interesting. I didn’t expect that out of the blue. So, I went back. And it was really funny. Because periodically, I’d say, Lord, you know, Lord, we’re not earning any money. Could we maybe take a couple of years off and maybe go to Emirates or something and made a bunch of money, put it aside? You know, and he never answered. And I ended up being there for 12 and a half years, I loved every minute of it.
Raeanne:
So wonderful. Oh, my goodness. And you were a teacher on board for that time. Tell us what did you teach?
Kim:
Oh, my goodness. So, when I first went, I was a math, English and Bible teacher to mostly the middle grade kids. And then I was a Bible teacher to middle grades and high school. And then when I came back, I always taught Bible. And I always mentored a class, usually older kids. But when we didn’t have teachers, I covered for others, so I did English, math, science, computers, PE, you know, whatever it was that we needed. French, that was kind of entertaining. My French is pretty hilarious. So, the kids were very patient with me that year. I loved our kids, they were the best, just the best. So, I taught all kinds of things. And then when Nikki Alden was raised up as principal, she and Brian worked together and said, let’s get the school accredited. And Nikki said, if we’re going to do that, we need everybody specialized. So, she said, you were trained as a math teacher, but you’ve been teaching English all your life, which do you want to do? And I said, I’ll do whichever one you don’t have somebody to do. So, I ended up being an English teacher. And then when they didn’t have a math teacher, I’d cover the upper-level math courses. But I was loving it, I did Bible and mentored the older students usually 10th through 12th grade, somewhere in there, 9th and 10th or 11th, and 12. And then I did the Bible.
Raeanne:
Well, you said you went and then you worked in a different organization, and then came back to Mercy Ships, but in your initial time going, did you think that it was going to be so long term? I mean, 12 and a half years is a huge chunk of life. Did you have any hunch that it was going to be so long?
Kim:
Well, God told me I had to sell my house and give up all my possessions in that first year. So first, I sold my house, and I was not happy with God. So, I packed all of my hoarded possessions in my daughter’s garage because I was coming back. And I gave everybody all this information. I’m coming back. But at the end of that year, the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, You are not coming back. Wow, this is a call to Africa. So, I knew that God was serious about the call to Africa. So, when I came back to Mercy Ships, I realized that this was long term. I just didn’t realize that it was long term in Mercy Ships. Okay, because I wasn’t in Africa. Yeah, I was ministering on the ship. So, I didn’t see how that Fulfilled God’s command. Now, as an afterthought, I think wait a minute, I lived on the coast of 11 African countries or in them. Yes, I had an active interface with Africa.
Raeanne:
Wow, that is so cool. Well, obviously, your experience was a positive one because you did stay for 12 and a half years. So why don’t you tell us what your first impressions were when you got on the ship? And then what were some of the things that captured your heart that made you want to stay aside from the guiding of the Holy Spirit.
Kim:
When I first arrived on the Anastasis, they had me come at the beginning of December, but they didn’t need me until January, and basically said, Don’t come into the school, there’s no room for you. Because their school there was teeny tiny. So, I sat in my cabin all by myself, not knowing what to do with myself, that cruise ship Anastasis was very complicated. I constantly got lost on it. I didn’t know how to make friends, because, you know, people already had their relationships, and they were busy. It was Christmas time, so I hung out a lot with Yeboah in the African shop that they had on the Anastasis, and I got to know her and some of the people that came in there. But once school started, it was magic. Wow. I mean, I was hooked, hook, line, and sinker, I adored the kids, I love the teachers, then I got to interface with patients and adopt patients. I was hooked. That Community of Christ is so alive there. How could you not love it?
Raeanne:
Well, tell us about some memorable moments with your students.
Kim:
Some of the things that are really special that we did were off ship. We did a lot of retreats. We did outings. But some of the ones that I think were really fun, were the cultural experiences. And I think it was Steve Schwind who organized those, was it? Yeah. So, one time we took them to this man’s very small house. And all along the walls, were these wooden benches that we all sat on. And he told us a little bit about his life and his story. And he prayed over us, I think he was Muslim, I don’t remember. But he prayed over us. And then the kids had to walk the way his family did, they had to walk through the community to this little courtyard where there was a covered hole in the ground, that was the community well, and they had to haul the water up, fill their buckets, put little things on their head — cloth circles on their head and carry the buckets back to the house. And then they had to use the African way of hand washing clothes. So that was a whole novel experience for them. Then they had to cook candied peanuts over a charcoal outdoor fire. Wow, they were so fascinated by that life, while the next one we went on was even more engaging.
First, they took us down into the rice paddies and all that mud and water, we took off our shoes and socks rolled up our pants, and we went in there and planted rice, what a kick in the pants. I mean, talk about a cultural experience. So, then we came up kind of rinsed ourselves off, you know, put our shoes and socks back on, we went up. And they had us take these big round wicker baskets, flat ones, and toss the rice up in the air to get the chaff off of it. It’s like something out of ancient Israel. We were so fascinated. So, we had all these little things we did and they had us take palm branches where you peel off this sort of fiber and weave it. And then we made mats, we made placemats, floor mats. Then we took these huge palm branches laid them out on the ground. And we all sat cross legged on the ground and they showed us how to use bits of palm branches to create little sort of, How would I describe it? They’re like a cross between a spoon and a bowl. You know how the Asian people have those ceramic soup spoons? Yes, it was kind of like that, but out of a leaf and deeper. Wow. And so, we ate with those and they piled up rice in the middle of the palm leaf and we’d scoop it up. And then they come around and poured some of the chicken sauce on it and we eat it African style. It was so much fun. Those kinds of experiences — where in the world would European, American, Australian, where in the world would they have an experience like that? It was just so
magical. And I remember when we were in South Africa, which is you know, a much more developed area, we were in Cape Town, and we went down to the port, down there there’s a beautiful walkway that goes on for miles. It’s just an amazing concrete boardwalk with statuary and parks. It’s amazing. So we went down there, rented bicycles, which is such a kick because you know how do you ride a bicycle when you live on a ship. Those kids had so much fun. And we did a sort of “see if you can find it” kind of game that kids were in teams. It’s one of the things that was so amazing about working with the kids on or off ship was how they were like a family. We would match up seniors with first graders, big brothers and sisters. They took care of them. They loved them. They made sure they were safe and encouraged them. There’s something unique about that experience, whether we were just having fun with bicycles or actually having a cultural experience. That was phenomenal.
Raeanne:
That is so cool. It makes me want to be a student in the academy. I mean, like you’re saying, where else would you get these incredible experiences to have the freedom to take your students off ship, out of the classroom, and into the incredible country that you’re serving in to get to meet the local people and learn some of the local ways of making food and making you know, utensils? Yes, incredible. So what are the countries that you lived in?
Kim:
Okay with Mercy Ships, let me see if I can remember them. It was Sierra Leone, Liberia, Congo, Cameroon, Senegal, Ghana, South Africa, Madagascar. I’ve been in Togo, did I say Togo yet? I think there’s one more unless the last one was when I lived in Angola when I was with Africa Inland Mission. That might be it.
Raeanne:
So many different places you got to see! Now prior to going overseas and serving in Africa, prior to God whispering “Africa” to you, had you traveled much?
Kim:
I was blessed. My parents sent me to Europe, and I traveled Europe on a little tour as a gift when I was a junior in high school. And then when I graduated from high school, I didn’t want to go to the colleges they wanted me to go to and I wanted to go to a different set of colleges that they did not want me to go to. So, we had this sort of secret conflict. And I was raised the old-fashioned way — your parents spoke and you obeyed. So, I was very sneaky. I’m sorry, God, I really was. And I sent either the application and nothing or everything about the application. And of course, didn’t hear back from any of the colleges that they wanted me to apply to. So, my mother, in desperation, found a school in Switzerland that would take me at the last minute and put me there. It was such an awesome experience. With that school, we traveled all over Eastern Europe. And this is in the 60s, when everything was closed. I got to go into Russia. I got to go into Hungary right before the Hungarian rebellion and met with a bunch of students.
Raeanne:
So, you had already had a life of adventure! Mrs. Robinson, having served for over 12 and a half years, I know that there were a lot of people that left a mark on your heart that really impacted you and many moments that did. Can you tell us maybe about somebody that impacted you?
Kim:
Yes. You bring to mind Kim Ana she was a German student in the high school. And her mom was in charge of Mercy Ministries, which is the ministry off ship and involves everything from orphanages to prison ministry, you name it. Anyway, Kim Anna — it’s not a moment in time so much as her as a person. She was a very serious, genuine young woman of faith. She cared so deeply about the patients that you know, when other kids at the end of the school day wanted to go run and play and do games, he was down there working with patients, or she was off the ship, working with orphans. She had such a heart. She wanted to be a nurse so badly that her senior year we had set up these internships, but we couldn’t allow anyone in the hospital because of the laws. Oh, she worked so hard with our administrator. She said, No, no, I need to be with the nurses! They actually made an exception and did an internship for her with nursing. When she graduated, she went back to Germany. And she had to go through layers of programs. Because she hadn’t gone through the German system and couldn’t just dovetail right into their university. She had to come in the back door and go through this low-level training, and then an internship and then she could go to university. That’s how important it was to her to minister healing to people. She really ministered, she impacted my heart that we can’t put God’s heart on the shelf, and just take it off when we feel like it.
She lived God’s heart. Her mom sent me pictures of when she went to Africa and was ministering to the children in Africa. My goodness. She’s just a remarkable young woman. And, you know, one of the things I love about Mercy Ships is the people that touch you, you don’t lose touch with, you know, I’m still in touch with her and her mom. So, she was one of the people.
But there’s also a trio that I have to tell you about that are kind of entertaining. So, I had these three kids in my class, all very, very different. One was an Aussie named Jessica. One was a Dutchy named Hugo and one was a young man from the Philippines named Kim. We’re both named Kim. So, they were in my homeroom for a couple of years. Very, very, very different people. And we had so much fun together.
We tried doing things I’d never done before. We created websites, we did all kinds of wild stuff. You know, we were all just game to try it together and laugh and have a good time, but really learned. But there were two incidences that happened with them that really touched my heart. We had school wide open houses planned and we planned this whole big one in my classroom, you know, for the three of them and me, but they were just going to help me set it up and then go enjoy the open house, right? Both times, I came down really sick and wasn’t allowed to leave my cabin. You know, those kids went and did everything we’d planned. They got all of the materials from the other students. They made displays, they went and baked cookies. And then they sat in that classroom, taking turns hosting our classroom, playing games with the visitors, or serving them cookies and whatever beverage we had. Isn’t that amazing? Goodness, that’s so cool. I mean, they just rose up and said, Don’t worry, Mrs. Robinson will just take over. Wow. And then you know, what’s really funny? I mean, these kids impacted me so much. They were such an amazing class. At the end, when they graduated, they told me that I was the teacher that impacted them. And I thought, yeah, I don’t think you’ve got that right. I think it’s the other way around. You guys are amazing.
Raeanne:
What a beautiful relationship, that you guys can impact one another. Now I know being a teacher on board, you did spend all your time in the classroom with your students, sometimes it can be difficult to keep the focus of the Mission of Mercy Ships kind of at the forefront, because, you know, we talk about bringing hope and healing to the world’s forgotten poor. And we do that a lot through caring for our patients. When you are a crew member who is a teacher on board, as you mentioned, you’re dealing with the crew’s children, whether they’re from Europe, Australia, Asia, what have you, but how did you keep the mission of Mercy Ships at the forefront of your heart and your mind, both in the classroom and outside of the classroom?
Kim:
I did struggle with that because I really zeroed in on being a high-quality teacher, I’m very much pro college prep and I told my kids, I don’t care whether you go to college or not, I want you to leave here with the finest education we can give you so you are equipped in every way to do whatever God’s called you. I want you to be your best. That took a lot of focus and energy, but always, in my mind was that call to Africa and I really wrestled with that Raeanne. I thought, am I fulfilling God’s purpose? Because you’re right, I was not teaching African kids. I mean, there were a few African students, but they were actually getting a rather European / American type education. It was not an African education. But God helped me in three different ways. One way was when we installed Friday afternoon classes, so we quit teaching at lunchtime, and after lunch, the kids got to choose a class. And so, I was able to create classes with students that were interested to engage with either patients or needs off ship. So, for example, one of the needs off ship that we did was a team of us went to the deaf school, and completely repainted and decorated one of their classrooms. And those kids had taken a different Friday afternoon art class and learned how to do sunsets with silhouettes. So, we did an entire wall with an African sunset with silhouettes of a village and then, you know, lions and elephants, you know, things like that, whatever were the African animals. That was really special for me.
Another way was to interface with Mercy Ministries. So, I did go to orphanages, I did go to some of their outings. But I also got very heavily involved in prison ministry. So, for years, I engaged in working with women in the prisons in Africa. The third way that God sort of opened for me so that aspect was satisfied was at the Hope Center, and I enjoyed going there for the church services. I enjoyed going there and visiting the patients. And also, some of the things that we had the kids do sort of like internships, some of the kids volunteered to work in the Hope Center. I would go out and sort of mentor them and watch over them. So, it was very precious that God opened those three ways for me to actually be involved in Mercy Ships bigger ministries, and not just zeroed in on what Kim Robinson was doing in the classroom.
Raeanne:
You mentioned a young woman that was one of your students who then went on to be a nurse came and went to Africa?
Kim:
Yes, but she didn’t stay in Africa. But she did minister in Africa.
Raeanne:
Well, I just can’t help but think of over 12 and a half years of all the students that you taught on board, how many of those students now are out serving in the world, because of your pouring into them and giving them a heart for the world and for Jesus, and how maybe God was calling you to Africa…
Kim:
You’re thinking like Susanna Wesley, where she felt she had a call to go into missions. And she never went, but her passion ended up going into her kids. Yes. I mean, I think some of that is very true. And I think that was probably true for most of the teachers, because the teachers that came there were amazing people with a passion for God. So I am sure those kids got triggered to really invest in the kingdom of God.
Raeanne:
Well, I know that you are a very creative woman, and you offered many opportunities for your students to learn about things other than just English. So can you tell us a little bit — I know, you mentioned teaching Bible and various other things, but I know you have so many creative talents. Tell us a little bit about how you got to teach those on board.
Kim:
You know, that was so much fun. I never could have done that in any other school. But on our Friday afternoon classes, I got to do all kinds of things. So, one of the things that I did on the ship is called Pysanky. And it’s Ukrainian egg decorating. And it’s done with a hot wax, sort of like a soldering iron and with dyes. And so, I actually had classes I did for adults in the evenings. But I got to teach that to the kids. I also sew and quilt. So, I did numerous sewing classes with the kids. And for a while we took a week off at Christmas time to produce a huge Christmas play. And I was in charge of costumes. And so, I got to adopt some kids, teach them how to sew and we’d make costumes. We had so much fun, you know. And then we had classes in how to do lettering out of paper and how to use reflective mathematics to create uniform letters. I mean, there were just so many different fun things we did. Those are just a few of them.
Raeanne:
I do have one of those eggs right now in my China cabinet because my daughter took one of your classes painting those eggs, so intricately. And there’s such incredible detail. I absolutely love it. I was terrified that it was going to get broken, transporting it back from Africa, but we put it in a metal box and insulated it. It is absolutely beautiful. And as well, my other daughter got to do some sewing with you for the Christmas bazaar and I have some of that handiwork in my home as well. So I thank you that I have some artwork in my home because of you.
Kim:
Oh, that’s lovely.
Raeanne:
Mrs. Robinson, I should clarify. Your name is Kim Robinson. But I think as you were a teacher to two of my children, I always knew you as Mrs. Robinson. And I feel like that’s only appropriate to address your teachers in that way.
Kim:
I feel a little awkward. I feel like I should be saying Yes, Mrs. Newquist.
Raeanne:
During your time on board, how did you see lives changed during your time volunteering on board?
Kim:
One of the ways in which I got to interact with kids was after school activities. And I did a chess club. And I did an English club where the kids were writing. And I’m thinking about one girl in particular, who was a reader. And she spent a lot of time by herself enjoying reading and writing and not really engaging. And something happened to her when she got into high school interacting with some of my classes after school that a light bulb turned on in her. And she stopped being so internal, and just enjoying reading and writing and just doing her own thing. And she came to me and said, I would like to start a writing club. And I’d like you to mentor me in it. I’d like to minister to the children in writing. Wow, that was a huge change in her. This was Grace Koontz who has a lovely heart for God. And she started doing that. And she taught the kids writing skills and we created activities that she ran, and the kids loved it and they got all engaged in creative writing. I just saw her blossom. By the time she graduated. Her heart was full on for ministering for the kingdom of God for Christ. It was an awesome blossoming. Yeah, I loved it. And to get to witness that and to be a part of it. How special!
Yes, and then we had another little character named Harry who loved being a little noodle. I mean, if he could goof off and mess things up in any way he could, he did. And he started coming to my chess clubs when he was little, oh, he was just off task and goofy. But something happened in the competition of chess clubs. He became focused. And I think it started moving into the classroom. And then when I had him in my classroom, something started to wake up in him. And he rose up. Wow. I mean, where he used to be a clown, he became very serious. And when this ship would do skits, and plays, they would set out and ask who wanted to apply for these parts, he would go and apply as a little kid, and he would get the parts, and he would stun the audience with his presentations. And he would write things and read them to the entire community with such boldness. And it was like watching God channel, his ability to perform in a goofy way, watching God channel it for really powerful, insightful ministry. I mean, he would just blow people out of the water. He is back in Australia, and he’s still an amazing young man. But that was that was another transformation that was just an honor and a privilege to observe, that is so neat.
One of my hearts in writing, is to make people aware of how God interfaces with their lives, and most of us are so unconscious of it. And I call those kisses from heaven from Song of Songs, where it says, Let him kiss me with the kisses of love. And when I first read that, I thought, That’s really weird. But I realized we get kisses from Heaven every day. And I remember telling my students about that, for example, we ran out of cinnamon on the ship, and there wasn’t any off ship, and I was supposed to be making cinnamon rolls for some event. And I cried out to God, I said, God, I need cinnamon. How am I going to do this? They need me to make cinnamon rolls. That very afternoon, some people down the hall that were leaving, put out a table. And on there was a whole vial of cinnamon, oh, my goodness. So, over the next three days, I asked for four more things, some of them extremely specific. And all four things appeared outside that cabin door over the next four days. Those are kisses from heaven. And anybody that had that happened to them would just say, Well, that was a nice coincidence. That’s what I want people to be aware of, is that those are not coincidences. Those are kisses from heaven. Because God cares about us.
Raeanne:
A loving God who sees the details of your life and he provides. Well, I’m sure your life is different because of your time serving with Mercy Ships. Can you tell us how you’ve changed because of your time volunteering?
Kim:
I used to have everything in nice tidy little boxes. And I discovered I don’t have an answer for an awful lot of things anymore. And I understand things are a lot more complicated than I thought. It’s sort of like a forest, you see the trees and you in your childish imagination could draw a picture of a tree next to another tree and then some roots. But I read a book about trees and underground, those roots go deep and wide and intermingle. And in among those routes, unknown and unseen to man are tiny, microscopic threads of fungi.
What I didn’t know, which I’ve learned recently is that trees communicate with each other biochemically. They send each other information and if a tree is sick, the other trees will send food to that tree and the carrier are those fungal messenger threads, and they’ll carry the food, they’ll carry the information. So for example, in Africa, if a giraffe starts chewing on an Acacia leaf, it takes a long time, it’s their timing is not as fast as ours, as our neural neurology is, but that message will go down through the tree, come back up, and the tree will manufacture a chemical that will give off the leaf to make the giraffes not want to eat it anymore. But it will also send messages to the other trees saying danger, giraffes in the area, give off this chemical. And I kind of feel like that understanding is kind of what’s happened to me spiritually to God’s kingdom. Because I think before I went, I was very simplistic about my knowledge and understanding of God’s kingdom. I had a very, I guess you’d say American mindset. And I thought I understood God and understood how he worked and I had my scriptures that I used when I needed them. And God kind of blew that out of the water. I got really invested in a lot of different people and their viewpoints on Scripture and God and life and heaven. Things I’ve never thought about before. So, it was kind of like instead of having a simple little root system. Now there was this whole network and communication system, I had no concept that the Holy Spirit was so doing such amazing things. So, I think I’ve changed radically in my relationship to other Christians to my relationship to his word and my relationship to His spirit.
There’s another area that changed me, that’s community. Wow. I mean, the friends that I made on that ship, those friendships were deep. And you know, we would never start doing something without some serious prayer. And here in America, we’re very casual. We sit down and do things with God, and just give off an abrupt, quick little prayer, you know, this is what we do. It’s tradition wasn’t like that. And I find that my relationships on the ship, I have friends all over the world. Yeah, I mean, I knew Kim Anna, what, 12 years ago, and I still am in touch with her. The people on the ship, those relationships are deeper and richer, and more heavily than anything I’ve ever experienced.
Raeanne:
I love that. I also love that you are writing because you are a wealth of wisdom, and stories and just wonderful things. And so, I love that you’re writing them down to encourage more people, because people need to hear what you have to say. And I know that there are so many more stories within you. But I want to say thank you so much for taking time to share with us just a couple of those over your time. And please let us know when your books are coming out because we would love to read them.
Kim:
Well, thank you dear. It’s been a pleasure to visit with you. And I invite anybody who’s listening, go and serve on the ship, it’s wonderful.
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