Ahhh yes! I'm in D.C. In a hotel room with 5 hours to chill until our whole squad arrives. The treasurers were given an assignment last night: use a budget of $115 for your team for the week, go to the grocery store for 30 minutes, shop, and the end. The time crunch was pain to the brain but the treasurers all grabbed food for each other. "HEY ABBY GRAB ME SOME COLD CUTS AND I'LL GET YOU PB&J, MEET HERE IN 30 SECONDS." It was almost fun!
To make this clear: Squad is all 60+ of us who travel together, all know each other, spent tons of time together at Training Camp, will have debriefs together, and if teams change they will change amongst the 60 of us. We have the same route of countries but work at different ministries with exceptions (if a ministry needs more than 6-8 people). Teams = small groups from the 60: 6-8 people each.
Our plane leaves D.C. at 3:30pm Friday to Quito. One layover in Panama (bottom of Central America).
Downloaded a SWEET APP – I can receive calls IF I have wireless FOR FREE in ANY country…what?! Thank ya Pinger! Can't make calls though. I can also text from it anytime I have wireless. Here's the number: 1-703-829-9737. You can leave voicemails and everything!
Team Luminous is in Huaticocha, Ecuador in January. Huaticocha doesn't show up on Google Maps or Weather.com… it's in the amazon basin. It's 6 hours from the captial of Ecuador (Quito). We did find one weather site (temperatures are in celsius) here. Life in Huaticocho blog from former racer, click here :). DAY in the life Huaticocho blog from former racer, click here :).
We're working with “community and construction”… not sure what that entails exactly, but here's a video with the people we THINK we're maybe working with 🙂…
Huaticocha Mission School from InterMotion Media on Vimeo.
Things that remind me why I'm here:
This sermon:
A psalm, Acts 13, Exodus 4.
Funds coming in like nobody's beeswax.
Hebrews 4:1
This song:
And this song:
Pieces of a wonderful e-mail from my friend's mom: If I've learned anything in the 30 years that I have been a believer, it is absolute truth that we must live by faith, not sight, knowing with confidence that we really can not go wrong when we strive to follow His lead, simply because Romans 8:28 is always true.
Unless we are willing to push the boundaries, pursue the situations where we feel joy and usefulness as we serve, or step onto the totally off-expected paths, we will never know just how far, how high, or how low God wants to take us, to glorify His work in our lives. I pray that you both are open to hearing that still, small Voice urge you to move out in courage and strength towards the high goal of serving wherever and however He directs. Yes, there is victory in the abundance of counselors, and you will hear many opinions, but ultimately your decisions must lie firmly in your confidence that God has directed your choices.
Remember that this is a critical truth: The shape and form of service (where, when, how…), ironically, is not the true objective. The One Goal of our Christian lives is obedience and humble dependence on Him, from the smallest most seemingly unimportant detail of the day to the seemingly most impactful choices of the day. That is the highest, most noble endpoint and is His Purpose as He uses your path /work/ place of service as a tool to transform you gradually over your lifetime into the perfect image of your Lord.
There is one certain thing, and the only ultimate that matters: You belong to, submit to, and want to lay your lives down for Him in this world, and you will have Him to enjoy for eternity. There is no higher achievement. Everything else to follow in your lives will only be an outworking of that, whatever the path will be. In this broken, painful world, you both know and carry with you, wherever you will go, the Answer: Christ Jesus. Just rest into and lay back on the peace-giving concept of walking forward in faith.
The top 2 things I didn't want coming into World Race: an all girls team, to be in the jungle…. but got both. Over & over at training camp we heard, “Drop your expectations now”. The intensity of that sentence is more real than I thought possible…already. Somehow I am at peace about the poisonous creatures, killer things, lack of civilization, and my team. Actually last night I felt SO blessed to be on an all girls team while shopping for food… having confidence we will have leftovers, not needing to be concerned about running out of food. Jesus is here!
The Holy Spirit is present in this Holiday Inn. Squadmates are arriving…yesyesyes!
Until next time. Pizzy.
