With less than a week before the tangible commencement of this journey, I take a moment to reflect on the journey thus far. Sitting in coffee bean just off of Wilshire blvd., I am flooded with memories of my time here in Los Angeles. This pre-trip “Love Reunion” with an old friend has already brought out more than I could have expected. After 5 long years, I had intended for great times with this very special friend, but God had so much more to give me. He is giving me back pieces of my soul that I have left scattered in so many different places. Lost parts I hadn’t even realized were missing. Wow, I’m sitting here shocked.

Let’s take a step back…
Hearing from my old youth leader from high school, she recalls my very first missions trip to Juarez, Mexico. A trip I knew instantaneously changed my life… This first trip aligned all the idiosyncratic character traits that made up the Imani I know today. At 15, as most were, I was dazed and confused, screaming for an identity. And yet I knew “compassion” would be ‘tattooed on my heart’ for life. I knew the nations would be my sanctuary. And I knew I was (being) set apart.

12 years later… Here I am, gathering the broken pieces that have been left behind, with people and places I chose to hide myself from. Sorting through them to choose with wisdom what is “meat” and what is “bone” … I feel like I’m on oxygen, and parts of myself that have remained lifeless for some time are now breathing in new life.

Speaking of this trip, it was brought to my friend’s attention that this will be my 8th trip. In theory, that could make me an “expert” one way or another. Frankly, this feels more like a beginning than any trip I have ever taken. Besides knowing The Lord has called me, with each decision, my knees are trembling! With each step, I am at peace that I am being made new… And I wouldn’t trade that truth for the world.

Imani Tahira

Galatians 6:3
For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.