It is extremely odd to pack up everything you own and get ready to leave a country and not return home. I am not going to lie, I don’t like change and transitions are hard for me. It was hard for me to say goodbye to the rest of my squad and be alone with just my team this month. It was a hard to make the change from The Ivory Coast to Ghana. My mom always used to tell me that there was nothing as certain in life as that things were going to change.
It is another lesson in abandonment that I need to learn. It wasn’t that I felt that I was so attached to The Ivory Coast that I couldn’t leave; although I did really enjoy my time there. I guess that I am just a very nostalgic person and I can get comfortable in a place easily and then treat it like home. Leaving The Ivory Coast was very similar to leaving home again for me. All of the people that I had grown comfortable with and had built a support system with are gone. All the places that I had gotten comfortable in and familiar with are gone. It was hard to leave the friends that I had made knowing that I may never see them again.
The Lord is teaching me that He needs to be the only comfort I need. In Acts 20:24 Paul says, “However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.” A lot of last month I found myself thinking a lot about my future and worrying about it too. I was thinking about what was going to happen when we leave The Ivory Coast, what was gonna happen when The World Race was over, and things even farther in the future. Worrying about things like that can cause a lot of stress and cause you to question your comforts and look to make your own. God was showing me that I should just take comfort in Him. My life is worth nothing to me anymore; it is not my own. He will provide all I need to continue in the work He has for me to do. All that matters for my life now is how I work for God’s glorification.
In this time of transitions from month to month God wants me to look to Him for comfort and stability. He is showing me that He is more than everything I think I want or need. I need to only look to Him and that is how I will be strengthened and courageous to finish the race and complete the task that He has given to me.
Everything is different this month. It is funny to me how things can change so much from The Ivory Coast to Ghana, especially when it was only a 9 hour bus ride to get to our ministry host here. There is hardly any aspect of our ministry that is the same so far this month. It looks like we will have a much more constant and busy schedule everyday. We will be doing evangelism almost every morning and playing basketball with the kids from the community almost every evening. My favorite difference is that almost everyone speaks English where we are. It is awesome to get to actually talk to people besides just saying hello and what my name is. It is awesome to get to build relationships in that way. It is also a challenge. I can’t hide behind a language barrier. There will be no excuse for not talking to people and sharing the Gospel with them.
Please continue to pray for my squad and I as we start our ministry this month. Pray for strength and courage as we go out and proclaim the Gospel this month. Pray for the people of The Ivory Coast and the friendships and relationships we started there that God will continue to work in those and that they will bear fruit. Pray for the people of Ghana that their hearts will be open to us and to the Gospel. Pray that the Lord is and continues to be the only comfort we look to.
Glory to God!
