The month of July is an ATL (ask the Lord) month. That means we came into the month with no specific ministry contact, no specific place to stay, and not even a specific city or country to be in. While it’s a bit daunting to have absolutely no plans for a month, I love the freedom we have to do whatever God tells us to do without being constrained by a schedule or location! This month requires an extra dose of obedience and trust that the Lord will guide us and provide for us.
We started the month in Macedonia for a squad debrief, where all 50 some of my squadmates and I met for times of worship, teaching, adventure, and relaxation. We have debrief every couple of months as a way to catch up, hear stories, and recharge in our own unique ways. During one day of debrief, we were given time to pray and ask the Lord what He would like us to do this month. We got many different things during that time of prayer. I got the letter “r,” another teammate was told to “go to the sea,” others had refugee and tourism ministry placed on their hearts, one had Thessaloniki really stand out, and many pictured various bodies of water.
After hearing everyone’s ideas, we began the messy and exciting process of figuring out where to go and what to do. We began looking into Ohrid Lake, Macedonia and Thessaloniki, Greece. Ohrid seemed to fit the description of water, there was a town that started with “R” along the lake, and we could work with tourists. Thessaloniki was a city that was brought to mind, we could work with refugees and tourists, and it is located by the sea.
After lots of discussion and prayer, we decided to go to Thessaloniki. It’s a location we were really excite about and it has both types of ministry we wanted to participate in. So, we began the mad rush of finding transportation, volunteer work, and a place to live – all needed in about 24 hours. We had a lot of options come up and a lot of them fall through, but ultimately we came to Thessaloniki by train knowing that we would be living at Jason’s Place, a hostel run by Christians, along with one other team from our squad. It’s already been a blast to have the whole place to our two teams! We’ve celebrated the 4th of July together and have worship and adventure plans together.
We had transportation and lodging all figured out, but ministry was still a big question mark. All of the refugee centers we found didn’t need volunteers because there’s an abundance of volunteers during the summer season. As we were settling into Jason’ Place, one of the men who helps run the hostel stopped by to introduce himself and tell us about the local churches. As he was talking, he said, “Some of the local churches in the area joined together to run a refugee help center. We always need volunteers, if you’re interested.”
There it was! We followed God’s direction, and He handed us our dream ministry just like that! We couldn’t have been more excited to have an opportunity such as this one.
As we continue on in this month, please join us in prayer that we would hear from and follow God’s direction with joy. Please pray for the refugees we have the honor to serve, that God would comfort and provide for them and that they would see the light of Christ through us.
I am incredibly excited for this month and can’t wait to update you all as the month progresses!
