This will be a bit lengthy but brief at the same time as I want to provide a snapshot of life since my last blog post all the way back in December (wow…how does that happen?!). A little catch up, if you will.
At the end of Ecuador in December, we experienced team and leadership changes as our alumni squad leaders were about to leave the field. Ellen and I were team leaders for the first 4 months of the Race but in Ecuador, we were raised up as Squad Leaders. As squad leaders, we spend each month with a different team so it is very different from team leading where month to month, we are in the thick of things with the same small group. The best part is getting time with each person on the squad as we move from team to team, month to month. The difficult part is balancing what weights to carry, decision making, and missing the intimacy of being on the same team throughout every month/ministry change.
We spent Month 5 (January) in Malawi training under the alumni squad leaders before they left for the States. We spent a month on Lake Malawi and then visited a few different teams, shadowing their leadership and responsibilities. The highlight of Month 5 for me was the time we spent with a Malawian named “Mike”. We first encountered him drunk, fighting on the beach but we grew to be friends, visiting his sick grandmother and meeting all of his sisters. One day on a visit, his baby nephew was born and as the oldest man in the family, it was his responsibility to name her but he offered that opportunity to us! It was a tearful goodbye but I’m so thankful Ellen followed God’s prompting to befriend Mike.
February, Month 6, was our first month squad leading on our own and we were in Zambia. I was with Team HULK and our ministry for the month was called Unsung Heroes which means our job was to travel around the country seeking out people/organizations who are passionately seeking to bring the Kingdom but could use some uplift, whether that means us coming for the day to help with a special project and just pray and encourage them or it could mean spending multiple days with an organization to see if they could be a potential fit for a future World Race team. The coolest parts of this month were seeing all the incredible ways God wove connections together, meeting a man who told us he was starting a ministry and needed help the minute we opened our eyes from our first prayer walk, and visiting the mind-blowing, glimpse-of-heaven Wonder of the World, Victoria Falls! We also met just some unforgettable people along the way…ones who are true examples of laying down your life/comforts/ideals for a life that shouts “Jesus” so loudly and proclaims in Him in a nation not originally their own.
March was Month 7 of the Race and we spent it in Zimbabwe with Mark and Helen of the U.S. This was one of my favorite months. We worked and painted at a camp out in the bush during the week but then spent the weekend in town at their house just experiencing fellowship and being welcomed with open arms to their beautiful little Grace Church. One of my favorite moments was standing in a big open field at camp looking up at a blanket of stars. The team knew I had never seen a shooting star in my life so I just started talking to God out loud and asking Him to show me one. First Frank walked up behind me and he started quietly praying in French. Then Kai started praying for a shooting star. Then Luke. It was a beautiful moment just reflecting in the majesty of God’s creation but also cherishing living in a community of people who believe God cares about the little things like shooting stars, who believe God loves to give us good things, and who want to see my littlest dreams come true AND want to be a part of them. Another favorite memory was praying for rain as a group, since it was the rainy season but Zim was experiencing a drought. I will post a blog specifically about this. Finally, it was so rewarding getting to see the camp transformed over the course of our time there. There was only supposed to be one team there but last minute, we had to send two since another contact fell through. If we hadn’t have had two teams, we never would have been able to complete the entire makeover like we did.
Month 8 was one of the most difficult for me. We were in Malaysia. Our ministry was serving at a home for underserved children, youth, and elderly. I experienced culture shock as Malaysia is a Muslim country and has such a huge mix of cultures… Indian, Malay, Chinese, and more. We did all sorts of things- from cutting vegetables as they were short staffed in the kitchen, to leading bible studies, to hosting a science fair! It was fun getting to meet the kids and elderly but I struggled to adjust to some things culturally and just overall had a tough go at things. There were things in my role as squad leader that were challenging but I was also just struggling with balancing my personal walk, role in ministry, and role on this squad. At the end of the month, we headed to debrief in World Heritage site, Georgetown, Penang. It was beautiful and nice to relax by exploring cafes and street art but my heart also was heavy with some difficult news and coming off an already taxing month. God did something almost unexplainable in that dark time though… He inundated me with truth. “You can trust me. You can trust me. You can trust me.” I scribbled all over my journal. I’m changed for good by what He did in that transition.
Now in Month 9, in Thailand, I have hard days and questions but the Truth still stands. I have it to cling to. For now, for when “everything’s better”, and for the rest of my life no matter what happens. I had the truth all along but experiencing so much of it in a personal, intimate way rocked me.
Here in Thailand, we are serving with Lighthouse in Action. You can check out their website at www.lighthouseinaction.org. We participate in bar ministry where we just build relationships, bring light into a dark place, and visit with the women, lady boys, bar moms, johns, and children working in the Red Light District, visit the slum areas to play with kids who need reminded of their innocence, attend monk chats with monks from local Buddhist temples, and help teach English/train local Thai women for work in the coffee shop that is set to re-open next month. I will also be posting a follow up blog on our time here.
I know it’s brief and not very detailed but I hope it can serve as a small glimpse into the past several months. I apologize for not doing a better job of updating the blog, as it tends to come more natural to share more brief but frequent updates on Facebook. As we have two months left, I hope to finish strong and share more of the nitty gritty, heart and soul, type of stuff through this blog again. Thanks for understanding and for continuing to pray and support!
Hug to you,
Lisa
