We’ve had a team change! During month two’s debrief in South Africa J159 and P31 switched some members, so now Amie and Carrie have joined the girl’s team and Theresa and April have joined what once was J159. With this team change, we are renaming ourselves to reflect our new team and the new season of life that the Lord is bringing us in to.
Our new name is El Roi, which means “You are a God of seeing.” This name comes from the story of Hagar, who was the Egyptian maidservant that Abraham and Sarah used to try to produce a son for themselves instead of waiting for the Lord to provide according to His promise. Hagar, after becoming pregnant with Ishmael, was mistreated by Sarah and fled into the wilderness where she was found by the angel of the Lord. It was there, in her fleeing, that this woman who was pregnant with the plans of human effort came to know that One that sees.
We recognize that we, as women, have often found ourselves “pregnant” with the things of this world, our human effort, our desires… but our God is a God of seeing…
We recognize that when we are told, as Hagar was, to submit to another when it is hard and feels harsh… our God is a God of seeing…
We recognize that we often find ourselves in what feels like a desert, trying to find our way through circumstances that we do not understand… and thankfully, our God is a God of seeing.
So, as we begin a new month of ministry with a new team and a new name, we want to be women that hold fast to the truth that our God is a God of seeing…
… The darkness is not dark to Him.
…The unknown is known to Him.
… He is the One who finds us in the places that we run to and calls us back to where we should be with the hope that He sees and that He hears and that He knows.
We love that Hagar, a woman, was the very first person to give God a name. As we journey together as a new team, we love that we get to lay back into the truth revealed in that name. He does see! We are excited to continue to walk in this name, knowing that He provides enough light for where we are in our journeys. We are also excited to participate in the naming of God as He shows Himself to us. Last year, as I thought about all the different names God had been given in Scripture, the Lord asked me, “Why don’t you name me?” We are excited to do this as a group. To see and experience God as never before and to echo what the saints of old said of His character: He is the One who provides. He is the One who heals. He is the almighty. He is our comfort. Our hope. Our desire. Our salvation. He is faithful. He is trustworthy. He is the ancient of days. He is good. He is the same, yesterday, today, and forever. He is previous. We trust that our God knows all the ways that He will reveal Himself to us over the course of this race and rest as six women who have bound themselves to the hope that He is the God who sees each of us exactly where we are and that He knows where we have come from and where we are going.
Love from,
Carrie, Emily, Emily, Aimee, Stefanie and Katie
Team El Roi
