“Our Father who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread….”
– Matthew 6:9-11
Growing up in church, I’ve read these verses many times before, but this week I’ve actually started to think about what these verses mean & watch them come to life before my eyes.
We arrived in the Ivory Coast on Wednesday August 10th, but we weren’t able to meet with our ministry host until Sunday. Our ministry contact is a pastor, & his church partners with a Christian TV station that we may get the opportunity to serve with. We have already had the opportunity to attend a Sunday service & a few prayer meetings. We were also given the opportunity to walk around our neighborhood & evangelize with some of the youth from one of the partnering churches. While the language barrier doesn’t allow my teammates & I to say much during these conversations, it is a blessing to be praying over the conversation while it is happening. When the conversation is over we pray over the person.
This month is unique since we are living with four other teams & are partnered with one team to do ministry. Typically each of our teams will be with different ministry hosts at different locations throughout the country. However, the World Race hasn’t been in western Africa for a period of time so we are all learning together!
With everyone learning together (& fully embracing the African culture!) I’m quickly realizing the importance of being flexible & being ok with an ever changing plan (even if it’s changing every few minutes)! That’s where the verse ‘Your will be done” comes into play. While I may wake up with exceptions of how I think the day will go I am learning to have a heart that says God’s will be done today, not Tanna’s will. At home I typically have a very good idea of what my day will look like. Here, we may not even know what the afternoon holds until it’s already afternoon 🙂
Coming into the World Race I wanted to learn to have a spirit that truly depends on Christ & follows after His will for the days He has given me. The book ‘Kingdom Journeys’ by Seth Barnes (the founder of the World Race) talks a lot about this concept. When we are in an uncomfortable or new situation & completely taken out of our comfort zone, we often have no choice but to depend on Christ. In America it’s easier for me not to depend on Christ or even be aware of how He’s providing for me, but when I am stripped of these comforts I see the numerous ways the Lord is working. One of my favorite quotes from the book is as follows:
“We organize our lives around maximizing our comfort and control…..a good kingdom journey takes you to places where you are not in control. Kingdom journeys force us to depend on God to help us regain our sense of balance. You find out very quickly that the standard bag of tricks you use to get your way and to maintain your comfort zone is useless in places like Peru.
If we never get out of our comfort zones, we can’t grow into the places God has prepared for us.”
I would be lying if I said I wasn’t out of my comfort zone this past week, but I’m learning what a great place that is to be…fully trusting in the Lord’s will & knowing He will provide us with our daily needs.
We’ve been in the Ivory Coast for just ten days now, & I’m overwhelmed with so many details I want to share! Please feel free to email me with questions you have. I would absolutely love to hear from you! I can’t promise a quick response, but I can say with the most genuine heart I would love to receive your emails & will respond when possible.
Thank you for your many prayers for my team & me! I’ve seen the incredible power of prayer this week & thank each of you for supporting me in this way.
