As with every chapter in our lives, it must come to a close in order for a next chapter to begin.
Tomorrow is my last official day doing ministry work here in Cambodia. I will be heading to Thailand in 2 days, with my squad leaders and Madeline, my logistics partner to help set up final debrief. I of course, have mixed feelings about that. Next month, I will be back home. I will not be in a new country, i will not be with 4 other teammates with me at any given hour of the day. i can choose what I want to eat without having to think about preferring others.
When i reflect back on the past 11 months, i think about the lessons that God has taught me through this chapter of my life:
- The biggest lesson that I can walk away with, being on the Race is experiencing the bible coming to life. Everything that Jesus taught about healing the sick and casting out demons can and do happen today! Prior to the race, I read all that but it was not a lifestyle that I lived and it was something that I didn’t think happened at this age and time. Everything that Jesus taught is alive and real right now, we just have to go after it. I’ve had the privilege to see all these first hand this year. It wasn’t scary, it was just indescribably amazing.
- I’ve been blessed to have some truly joyful people in my squad, an area that i have been needing to grow in, in my life. God has brought these people to encourage me in finding Joy in all realms of life
- I’ve learned that you can communicate with a person without speaking the same language because you can always show love in other ways than speech
- Learning to live in community and choosing to stay engaged, choosing to love when it’s so much easier to check out. I think if you ask any past or current racer, they will all agree this was one of the toughest lessons to learn but the outcome is truly experiencing Acts 2:42-47.
- I have a new found respect for long term missionaries and i have learned to have an extra awareness about being intentional to maintain a constant communication with them as a way to support them. This is something that you only realize and learn while being on the field for an extended time. I have on many occasions felt that i have been “Out of Sight, Out of mind”, even from the dearest of friends and supporters. It’s in those times that I reach out and depend on God that He will carry me through the loneliness, even in the midst of community.
- I have truly experienced Community this year. Whether it’s from my team or from the contacts that we lived with. When you live in true community, there is this feeling that you are truly not alone. You don’t have to have the closest relationships but knowing the people around you are enough and you don’t feel a need to have more. Being with some of the families this year has changed my heart in profound ways – their radical generosity and genuine unconditional love is something that we sadly don’t, or rarely see back in North America. Seeing someone shouldn’t require an “appointment” and that is really what we do. I have learned much from them.
- High Courage – I have learned to speak up even when I don’t want to. To truly love someone is to have the hard conversations. We often brush the hard talks off because of a myriad of “reasons”.
- Even in the most difficult days on the Race, I look back and I realize that it is still better than living a life of routine and comfort. I have a feeling that I will be out on the field again which, shakes my world but that’s a common trend from God isn’t it?
- Faith – a simple word that is the basic foundation of our relationship with Jesus. I’ve questioned myself all year long how much of it I have. I have seen and learned from the families we have met this year what simple faith is and how far faith will help you to soar. When your family threatens to disown you if you choose to believe in Christ, and you still do it – that is faith. When your wife and you have no money to buy food but you continue to choose that the Lord is GOOD and will provide, that is faith. When you confront demons and speak to them directly and command them to leave with the authority of Jesus Christ, that is faith. When no one at the church supports you and even tries to kill you and you continue to trust that the Lord will protect you and your family as you go in hiding, that is faith. Faith is a lesson that I will be learning until I meet Jesus. But I am so thankful that He brought me so many servants that inspire me to really dig into what it means to have simple faith.
God, thank you so much for inviting me to this chapter you have written for me. I will often come back to revisit this chapter of my life and be so THANKFUL of the lessons you have taught me through it. But I know that this chapter is only one of many, your story does not end here and my next chapter will only be a continuation of this one. I can’t wait to walk it to see what you have written next for me.
