Month 4 has turned out to be a month where God is teaching me that when I ask for something that 1) aligns with His will for my life and 2) will further His Kingdom, He will give it me. I am truly a living witness to Ephesian 3:20 which says that God is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Let me explain from the beginning..
I was having a hard time with a particular situation during my Month 3. I asked God to change my heart about the situation. I specifically asked God to put me through the fire so I could be refined and ready for whatever situations were to come. Oh, He answered.
The very next day, my squad got an e-mail stating we’d be changing teams. God took me out of a comfortable team of women who I’ve absolutely grown to love and adore and placed me in a team of women I wasn’t close with at all- some of whom I have never had full on conversations with. But, I couldn’t be angry. I JUST asked God to put me through the fire. So, let the refinement begin.
Shortly thereafter, I learned my new team would be traveling to the country of Macedonia- a country that was not on our original route. Furthermore, our particular goal was to do something different than what we were used to- we were assigned to something the World Race calls Unsung Heroes (UH). UH is a month where teams network all over a particular country to find contacts for potential ministry partnerships with the World Race. It was a big task to take on. I knew it would be hard because during UH month, we don’t have any contacts or places to stay set up beforehand. We had to be intentional and listen to where God was leading us.
As the bus dropped us in Skopje, Macedonia, the capital city, some of my new teammates were sad to leave their previous teams, and also nervous for the month ahead. We stayed in a hostel the first few nights, prayed individually as well corporately and listened for answers. In addition to asking God for direction, we had to believe in our hearts He would lead us and answer our prayers.
Want to know what happened next? He did. Big time.
We prayed for a cheap place to stay the first week of stay in Skopje (the capital and biggest major city) as our housing budget was too small to afford to stay in the hostel.
God answered us by giving our team access to an international church led by a Pastor from the States, Pastor Brian which in turn led us to a beautiful couple who offered us their cozy home to stay in FOR FREE complete with wi-fi, comfortable beds, a full kitchen and an opportunity to fellowhip with a couple who loves the Lord. God also put us in a place where would meet a pastor in a different part of the country who would also give us a free place to stay three hours away. God, you’ve given us things that are better than we imagined.
We prayed for God to show us places to eat that were in our budget as we didn’t have any information about the country at all.
God answered us with our new friend Noelle, who took us out to eat at a restaurant and showed us cheap places to eat that were under our budget (and pretty tasty, too)! She also showed us free things to do in Macedonia such as museums, live music, etc. Again, more than what we asked for and better than we imagined.
We prayed for God to give us a decent contact in Skopje who loves the Lord and can point us in a direction from there to see if there were any other contacts in other places we could possibly connect with.
God answered us by giving us Mircho Andreev, the head of the Evangelical Church of Macedonia- a man who has started over 15 churches all over the country (most of which have ministry outreaches)! He gave us access to most of the ministries spanning all over the country and gave us his personal contact information just in case we needed anything while we were in Macedonia.
Are you seeing the pattern here?
God has blown my mind in this short time of being in Macedonia. We didn’t know anything about the country, language, ministries, safety, places to eat or live. Now, after this short amount of time, I know more than I knew in the previous countries I’ve lived with a ministry host. At times, I felt like my prayers were too small as God has shown us true increase.
Sometimes, all you have to do is ask God to supply your needs, surrender to Him and truly believe in your heart that what you ask for will come to pass. As long as what you are doing aligns in His will, He will answer in ways that are unfathomable. Seriously.
Unsung Heroes can be a scary month. But, as long as you ask and believe, you shall receive.
Xoxo,
Belle
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P.S. I still need 2,000 more dollars to be fully funded for this trip. If you feel led to give, please click the support me tab! 🙂
