"Do not look behind you, and do not stay anywhere in the valley; escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away." – Genesis 19:17
I know I said I would write more about our ministry in Malaysia, but I take it back. Asia is over. I'm not going to revisit it right now. God keeps bringing the phrase "pillar of salt" into my mind, to leave the mess and mistakes behind me without looking back. I've learned my lessons and it's time to move forward. Our path through Asia in our race definitely lead a lot of us through one of those low valley points. It was hard, yet the results were so, so good. God has been showing me that the past 6 months have been about us. We have been broken down, exposed and thrown into the fire of refinement. Torn down to be built back up. We have been recreated, and the next 5 months is about walking and growing into the people we were meant to be.
And best of all, it's over! We are in Africa! I have been to Africa twice before and it might sound silly but I feel so at home. There is no question that it is still going to be difficult, maybe even more difficult, but because of what we have already been through, we are so much more equipped to face the challenges here.
In Nicaragua one of my teammates let me borrow a book about hearing the voice of God and one of the first exercises was to ask God what game He wants to play with you. I felt pretty silly asking, but He clearly told me that we were going to be playing hop-scotch. And we totally have. Each country has been another square in this journey, each one a necessary step to get to the next.
The spiritual atmosphere is so different here. While the devil is much more in-your-face, there is such a freedom here. I felt out of place in Asia, like I was walking in a territory that was ruled by the enemy. A place where you could go straight to jail without trial if you tried to tell anyone about Jesus. Here the enemy is waging a heavy battle, but God's people are fighting back even harder. Here I feel like I can breath.
Another breath of fresh air this month is two new members on our team. AIM has a program called World Race Exposure, where 18-22 year olds can spend a month with a squad currently on the race. So we have a new guy and a girl on our team for the month offering fresh perspectives and new energy.
For ministry this month we are living in Kigali, Rwanda with a pastor and his family. We are working with his church, doing door to door evangelism every morning and preaching in the evenings. Please pray that God will speak His words through us to the community and to the church. Many of of us, including me, are a little intimidated by preaching so please pray for us. Lastly please pray for protection, wisdom and strength as several of my teammates have already been having nightmares and serious attacks from the devil and we know that we are going to be encountering a lot of spiritual darkness from places and people who are under the power of the enemy. But we are all truly loving Africa and are so pumped to be here!
Thank you all for your support. I am even more excited for the second half of this journey than I was for the first half! I am praying that my next blog will be to tell you all that I am fully funded. I only have $360 to go! I love you all so much!
Our little friend from debrief in Uganda!
