Julita explores from Cape to Cairo: Episode 8 — Zanzibar blessings

Can you believe it. I am writing to you from Zanzibar. Zanzibar! I have never even dreamed of going to Zanzibar. It is an exotic destination that was never in my reach as the wife of a church planter. Was not ever even on my mind. And yet…. Here I am, having almost spend two weeks in Zanzibar already.

I have a lot of testimonies, but let me just start at when I arrived in Zanzibar. So I get to my hotel and once again… a 2-star and the smell of old is totally overwhelming. It was built in the 1800s so I mean… did not expect anything less. But it has the best location ever as I was right in the middle of Stone Town and could walk everywhere. There was no need to spend money on a daladala (small bus) or bodaboda (motorcycle). And all the food markets and restaurants were right there, close by. I was right at the entrance to the Port of Zanzibar so it was very noisy.

I was to stay in Stone Town for three days and very much wanted to go to the north of Zanzibar but it is very expensive there. This is where they take the pictures of the famous Zanzibar beaches. Lots of 5-star hotels. But, it would cost me $220 (R3 497) just in transport and the hotels are just too expensive. So on that first night I was talking to God on what the plan is. Do I stay in Stonetown and trust Him for divine connections and just move to a different hotel that is just a little better?

And then I got this message from a man who I had only met five days before. He and his wife became instant family, but truly, he owes me nothing. And he did not know about my conversation with God.

“I have arranged that you will be picked up on Tuesday from Smile and taken to Mnarani Beach Cottages at Nungwi in the north. On Saturday they will transport you to Karafuu at your direction. There may be some cost you will cover but I will advise when I’ve spoken to them. It will only be one or two “extras” at the most. Enjoy and relax.”

Do yourself a favour and go check out where it was that I stayed!! God, who are You that You are mindful of me?? I am still totally overwhelmed. I had the most beautiful room and experiences there. But let me back track a little and tell you of my time in Dar Es Salaam.

So I was extremely busy the last week in Dar and all I did was visit with people God brought to me.

Let me share just a little:
I met a lady who was born Muslim in Iran. Then in her 30s she met Jesus and converted to Christianity and all hell broke loose. She shared things with me and all I could do was just cry and cry and cry. Do you have any idea what it means to be able to serve and love God in the open?? In Iran this is what happens when you convert. First, your family casts you out. You no longer exist. When you are raped and go to the police, they assault you because you have converted and the rape charge is ignored. If your husband beats you and you go to the police, you get beaten up because you brought shame on your husband for converting. She shared what she and her daughter had to go through just to get out of Iran and then the hardship of being a refugee in a foreign land. I shared with her the encounter I had with the Father a few years back when I was at the Golden Dome in Jerusalem and the Father shared His love for Muslims with me. I cannot even begin to tell you how this touched her. She told everyone that I came to change her life as my testimony has so uplifted her. The Father also knew that she is in my future and at the right time, He put the words in my mouth to share with her. She now KNOWS how much He loves her.

Then I met a missionary who has travelled all of East Africa and she shared about her time in Uganda. She has been a missionary for nearly 40 years. She was asked to look after the dying Aids babies. Born with Aids, they only had between 6-9 months to lIve before all their organs failed. Her job was to love them until death!! Oh God!!! Can you imagine that!! She got attached to them all and all died. But she told them about Jesus and sang to them and loved them until they died, giving them over to Jesus. People, people, people!!! Do you have any idea of what is going on in this world!! We live in glass houses…. myself included. She came to thank me later. She said, I asked God to send somebody just to inspire me again and you came and you did that. Thank you.

And then I met a beautiful lady who was the first crime baby in Romania. I did not understand what she meant and she explained that it was against the law to have a child with a person of colour. And she was the first known one in Romania. She was called a crime baby!! And then she shared on how her life was. Always being observed and told she was a crime baby. She knew that her birth was very, very wrong. But then she met Jesus and how He came to tell her she is loved and no crime in His eyes. And she wrote a book…. The most beautiful story of how every little girl needs a crown and how this little girl sets off on a journey to find a queen with a crown and at the end she finds her queen…. Her mother. She has an NGO and the women make the most beautiful headbands…. because every girl needs a crown. After our conversation she thanked me and said I was sent by God to just inspire her to continue and to know that she is beautiful and loved. I could, from experience, tell her that she is no mistake and that God is turning all of the bad into good because all of that bad brought her here to a place of beauty for ashes.

Aaahh, I have 10 more stories to tell, but let me leave it at this.

I just wanna thank God for people in my life. People like you all. Every now and again I get a note with a name saying contact these people. The past week I stayed with such people who I was referred to. What a blessing. What an absolute blessing. Where to leave my car was a great concern. Leaving it in Dar for two weeks… eish. And then I stay at this missionary house and they say: “Leave your car here. We do that for missionaries all the time.” And my car is safe. In the shade. With a guard on the premises. How God has my whole trip in His hands. Every little detail taken care of.

And now I am enjoying the beaches of Zanzibar with my two daughters. After my stay at the beautiful hotel, I met up with my daughters who came to visit their mom for seven days. We are in a beautiful resort and once again, a friend from overseas told me nearly two months ago that he will pay for me wherever I choose to stay in a luxury hotel for five days. So I chose this week with my daughters. The hotel gave me a discount as it is their low season and I could stay for seven days.

So God took care of my whole Zanzibar trip. And wow, did I meet many interesting people!! From a Christian coffee shop owner in Zanzibar (a 95% Muslim community) to a Hindu honeymoon couple who prayed with me. And my daughters!!! Just not sure how I will handle saying goodbye to them on Saturday. But God will give me grace for that too.

One of the biggest things to me that I experience on this trip is how the Father loves all people and how Jesus died for all people. Not only for good people or Christians. FOR EVERYBODY!! This makes Him an absolutely amazing God to me. And how I love to see that love in action.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” — ‭‭John‬ ‭3:16‬ ‭NIV‬‬

What a God!!!

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