Oh here we are.
I feel like it’s been an eternity since we’ve talked, friends. Maybe because since I left Chicago I’ve been a little around the world. Whew it was crazy! Here’s a little update of the past two weeks…
June 24: I flew out to Atlanta with my family to spend some time together and with my dad’s extended family before all of the scheduled plans for The World Race Launch began. We had a beautiful 4 days together, laughing and adventuring and just being together. Whew, I’m so grateful for them.
June 28: Since I’m the Team Treasurer for my group, I left my family a day earlier than many other racers to go meet other leaders and start training to leave the country and support each other well. I got to the hotel in Atlanta and was lovingly overwhelmed by 20 of my squad mates. Holy moly, I forgot how much I loved them! I had tears. What a gift from God to feel such love as I was leaving all of my family.
June 29: My whole squad arrived and we got to worship together and start training together. Being with them all, soul settling into what we are about to do, had me feeling so loved by God. He chose us! There’s a song we sang a lot in worship that says, “He split the sea so I could walk right through it.” Just for me. Just for us. He made a way so that we could make a way for Him in these 11 countries. My soul sings just thinking about the personal love of our God and our role in sending out His capital “L” Love. Whew.
June 29-30: Families joined us to learn about the World Race, the journey to abandon security and the comfortable and be sent out by God. Wow, was it amazing to see my family so moved and invested in this journey. I got to watch excitement and passion for Jesus wash over their faces and move their hearts. I saw passion and excitement, growth and love. No words could explain how grateful I am that God gave me that gift before I left. We had tearful prayer together and said one huge goodbye where we all struggled not to cry. I didn’t make it. Telling my nephew, Sid, not to forget me was by far the hardest. It’ s just so difficult to picture life moving forward and me not a part of it. It’s tough and beautiful to think of the sacrifice of that.
July 1-4: Travel, travel and more travel. I like to believe I just completed the Ironman of travelling. It was stretching and difficult and just a little bit more of God preparing us to abandon comforts like sleep and bed and showers, all for what He has in mind. This is what we just completed:
7 a.m. leave hotel in Atlanta
11:30 a.m. leave Atlanta for Chicago
3 p.m. arrive in Chicago
8:30 p.m. leave Chicago for Dubai
15 hours later we arrive in Dubai
11:30 p.m. Dubai time, we leave for Johannesburg, South Africa
8 hours later we arrive in South Africa, it’s 7:30 a.m.
We find our stuff, buy team gear to take us to each of our locations. Find safe taxis to take us to bus stations.
11:30 a.m. we arrive at bus station.
6 p.m. we leave Johannesburg for Bloemfontein, South Africa
Midnight we arrive in Bloemfontein, 12:30a we arrive at Eden, our ministry site!
Oh. My. Goodness.
Just some tidbits for you…Bloemfontein is the second biggest city in South Africa. We are working at a shelter for the severely mentally ill and developmentally disabled. Ralph and Rhoda are our ministry hosts and they are just the most hospitable people I could ever imagine. The joy they have for the work they do is unbelievably admirable. We live here on site and so are spoiled with accomodations, each having our own bed.
(Outside our window)
So here we are. And I’m so excited to tell you more about the ministry we’re doing here but there will be time for that. In the mean time, would you all pray for us? We led worship and spoke the sermon here this morning and we feel unbelievably humbled and unequipped. I’m still praying that my singing voice will sound like Ariel soon, but I am definitely not there yet. Pray that God would shine His gifts through us. And that we would allow Him.
Thanking God for all of you. So. Much.
C
