My Favorite Person | Amy Medina

All Grown Up

On September 3, 2011

During the years of 2003-2005, Gil and I got finagled into leading the college group at our church. It turned out to be some of our favorite years of ministry–ever. We loved working with college students–so open, so interested (and interesting), so passionate and willing to listen. So appreciative.

It’s ironic, because Gil and I always said that our least favorite age group to work with was high school students. And so….how did we end up at HOPAC for 8 years? Well, basically because HOPAC kids are different than your average high school student.

But it’s still ironic.

And we’ve always looked back wistfully on those college ministry years.

Well, lo and behold, guess what? If you work with high school students long enough, pretty soon they become….

COLLEGE STUDENTS!

And they go away for the school year, but come back for the summer! And then we get to play with them and have long deep talks with them and have a glorious time with college students!

It’s so fun. We love summer.

And so this summer it’s been wonderful spending time with Hannah, Sarthak, Savannah, Bernice, Iksheeta, Lucy, and especially lots of time with Kyung Ho and Lotta (who lived with us for the last month). But what’s even more fun about these college students is that we have known them and taught them and been a part of their lives since they were 10 years old. So that makes it even more of a blessing when we can have real-life, adult conversations with them.

Lotta showing us all her Dartmouth pictures

And college students are crazy enough to do crazy things with my crazy husband like spend the night camping in a game park with lions and tigers and bears, oh my. He didn’t even bother asking me if I wanted to go.

The one on the right actually just turned 34 years old on Wednesday. But I know you can’t really tell.

This Is Why Kids Need a Dad.

By Amy Medina

On May 11, 2011

In Other

Because Mommy says, “Stay in the shallow end with your floaties on and within two feet of me until a professional trained experienced swim instructor can teach you how to swim.”

Daddy says: “Pshaw…throw ’em in the deep end. I can teach them to swim. And dive. And do front and back flips. At age three.”

Orphans and Former Orphans

By Amy Medina

On April 15, 2011

In Adoption

Service Emphasis Week (SEW) has got to be one of the very best things about HOPAC. This year secondary students spread out all over Tanzania on 17 different teams…to build water filters, run kids’ camps, teach English, serve disabled people, teach computer classes…and the list goes on.

Gil led the team that went to Agape Children’s Village in Morogoro, a city about 3 hours from here. So the kids and I joined him, and we took 12 HOPAC students to serve the 28 kids there for 5 days.

Love these trips. The students step up. In leadership. In love. In service. The kids shower their adoration on these teenagers who are willing to give of themselves to them. It’s beautiful to watch.

Visiting orphanages is not a new thing for me. But visiting them with my two children, who were once orphans, was quite a profound experience. In each child’s face, I saw the faces of my children. Neither of my children came from this orphanage, but if they had not been adopted, they would have grown up much the same way.

I often imagined Grace there, as a resident, not a visitor. Her head shaved, instead of full of braids and beads. Eating ugali with her hands instead of a spoon. Her eyes with a yellow tinge from malnutrition or too many bouts of malaria. Speaking only Swahili. Helping to wash her clothes by hand, making her little bed in the morning, and putting away her meager possessions.

Would she still be as full of life? As confident as she is now? As gregarious? Would she love to laugh as much as she does in our family? How different would she be without a mama, her Daddy, her brother? How would her mind be different without the plethora of experiences she has had…if her whole life revolved around three buildings and a nearby school?

She would be such a different person that I don’t know if I would recognize her. Yet that person could have been, if not for the sovereign hand of God in her life. And millions of children in Tanzania are living that life. The differences are stark.

And yet….what would I be like, had I not been adopted into His family?

Handiwork

By Amy Medina

On March 12, 2011

In Other

Last week was picture week at HOPAC. And my talented husband is HOPAC’s official unofficial photographer. He took all the classic yearbook photos first:

(she’s got a personality to match that hair)

And then he did dozens of other photo shoots on request. Siblings, friends, families. I love looking at them. Because they display my husband’s handiwork. But also because they display God’s.

I love Haven of Peace Academy.

Capturing Zanzibar

By Amy Medina

On October 27, 2010

In Other

Last week was mid-term break, so Gil and I left the kids with friends and snuck away for four days to celebrate our 10th Anniversary. We went to Zanzibar, where we have been quite a few times before, but there’s always new places to explore and fall in love with all over again.

Zanzibar is an inhabited island (population 1 million) off the coast of Tanzania and though it is technically part of Tanzania, has a very unique culture. The beaches are unlike anything in the world. The architecture is stunning. The culture and people, a mix of Arab and African, are fascinating. We stayed three nights at a beach hotel and one night in Stonetown, the capital city. We biked, snorkeled, walked, watched the sunset, read, swam, kayaked, and enjoyed great food. It was just plain wonderful.