When I first started reading Alece‘s blog, I only knew her as some sort of an ex-pat missionary in South Africa, who’d been living there as long as I’d been out of my parent’s house. Her blog posts were funny, honest, and sometimes controversial. She wrote from the heart. And I was immediately captivated.
Through email, phone, and a weekend visit, I’ve grown to know her as a close friend. But I’ve not really gotten a good picture of the missionary/leader side of her life until recently.
Alece just spent over a week here in my corner of the world. She came down for some serious R&R, but ended up making all kinds of crazy connections with people down here – pastors, local merchants, and ministry directors. Within days, I was riding on her coattails. Missionaries are so dang popular, y’all.
As I sat in a meeting room at Map Int’l, listening to her “talk shop” with Michael Nyenhuis, the President/CEO of that medical missions organization, I was beyond impressed.
But impressed isn’t even the best word to describe the feeling. I was stunned. I was in the presence of greatness. This half-pint chick who’s only four months older than me was rockin’ it in conversation with one of the most influential christian men in our region – heck – in the world. She laid her heart on the table, being real about her life – about why she was in the states for an extended time – and about the ministry organization she founded in South Africa – about the work they do to build the local church there – and to teach AIDS awareness in that part of the world. Michael had already researched Thrive Africa‘s ministry model, and expressed how he believed the work they were doing was an exemplary model of community development in South Africa. As they talked, I realized the scope of her ministry over there. And I realized how much SHE, the President of Thrive Africa, played a role in changing that country.
And, y’all. It took everything in me to not sit there slack-jawed in awe…
Then, when the meeting was over, she climbed back in my car as the normal funny Alece who’s blog I’ve been reading for over two years.
And I was … well. I wanted to look at her and express to her just how honored I felt to call her friend. But I couldn’t find the words.
The best I could do was to just nickname her “Madame President” – because it made us both laugh. 
In the end, I think she got what I was saying.
