Picture a gypsy village, 90 percent unemployment, family of five children, mother and husband living in a crowded, dirty room that is 12’ by 15’. The children are full of illnesses around their mouths due to bad water and the eldest daughter has become deaf due to being hit by a car. When all seems hopeless, a family decides to help and builds a living area with kitchen and bathroom with clean water built right next to their original home.
Two World Colliding.
Those were my exact words leaving this exact home and family after being able to pray with them. The contrasts were so extreme. This race has been full of extremities and this made me think of all the times I have seen two world colliding over the past four months.
There are times it does not phase me and then there are times, it is the only thing I can speak.
“We are so spoiled” were the first words out of my mouth as I woke up in my top bunk with a mattress, 2 pillows and big, warm blanket. As soon as I woke up I remembered the three first months of sleeping on my deflating sleeping bad and shrinking pillow on the bumpy dirt floor. And after sleeping in a bed for a month, I was reminded of how fortunate we as a squad are to have a bed.
Two World Colliding.
In other physical situations we have seen so many different collisions, such as:
Dirty running water, drinkable running water then no running water
Extreme cold and wet mildewed conditions then dry and hot, dusty conditions
Squatty potties, outhouse potties, toilet seat potties then toilet seat potties that except paper
Contacts that speak Spanish, quiche then English
Have church nearly every day in quiche then Bible studies every day in English
Meals full of grease and cheese then meals full of bread and soups/stews
Living in the capital of a country, city, mountain side then on a summer camp
Safety and space and time to exercise and lack of safety, space or time to exercise
Living with only 6 other World Racers then living with 40 other World Racers
Two World Collided.
The race has been full of collisions. It requires great flexibility, tolerance and optimism. It has brought me to abandonment in more ways than I can count. I have yet to find a sweet potato, blueberry, cottage cheese, or carpeted floors. Then there are the rarities of tortilla chips, fresh orange juice, cushioned chairs, gyms, grass, trees to hammock, movie theaters and alone time.
But these physical comforts do not matter in the grand scheme of things. And I anticipate more collisions and being a part of them in powerful ways.
As mentioned in my previous blog, our whole squad has been together this month in Lezhe, Albania. We have been able to spend hours a day in God’s Word together and we see this month as a blessing of God pouring out His wisdom, power and character into our lives. We as a squad are so eager to be in a new setting in order to be able to put into practice what we have been growing in this past month. We are ready to speak wisdom boldly to those who do now know about Jesus, bring comfort to the forgotten, protect the defenseless, fight for the oppressed, pour out love and care on the orphaned, clothe the naked, heal the sick, and even raise the dead. We are ready for this and believe in this, because Jesus has called us to do it! All of us!
Therefore, we are ready for two other worlds to collide. We are ready to be a part of the Kingdom of Heaven to kiss the Earth. And as my sweet friend Marianne said this month “breakthrough is meant to be permanent”. That is what we are after, because we believe that is what Jesus is after. He is after the lost sheep however stubborn, forgetful and ignorant they may be. (And after spending a month closely watching sheep I have learned they are these things characteristically. Yet I have seen their shepherd go after them every single time!)
