Rewind to Month 5: As we wrapped up month 5 in Swaziland, we debriefed in South Africa. The squad had a great week relaxing and processing the past month and also the first half of our race. Our last day we spent on a safari at Kruger National Park—this was an amazing day searching out as many kinds of animals we could find. We left debrief with saying goodbyes to our Alumni Squad Leaders. This was difficult to say goodbye to our leaders that we have had for five months, but we know that we will see them again in a few months!
Fast Forward to Month 6 (Lesotho): This country is beautiful and displays God’s creativity everywhere you turn. The mountains, the valleys, the slopes, the vegetation.
The trip here was interesting though. Our van held 24 people and all of the luggage was in a trailer behind the van. The drive to our ministry site was up and down mountains…so halfway through the trip, our van stalled out on a mountain incline. We unloaded, pushed the van and then walked up the mountain for a little bit until our van had safely pulled up that particular mountain. The air was frigid and at an elevation of 2700meters, the air was thin. It was tough on the lungs, but we were praising the Father that our packs weren’t on our backs.
After the 15-hour travel day, we made it to the mission house. We arrived around 11pm, ate dinner then went to bed.
This first week of ministry has been eventful. On Monday, we rested from the travel day. On Tuesday, we traveled as a squad out to a nearby village to experience what villages are like in Lesotho. We shucked corn and rode horses.
On Wednesday, our team served on the construction site. Our squad’s main ministry this month is to build an orphanage. Our first task was to move all the rock piles into the first dorm (which is partially built). The rocks are being used as part of the foundation. On Thursday, the weather was cloudy and too cold to work, so we served at the mission house and planned for the upcoming events our team will serve at (like primary school Bible class and prison ministry). On Friday, I spent my morning taking a teammate to the hospital (she has the flu—please be praying for her recovery). Then in the afternoon, I joined the rest of the team at the construction site. We moved wheelbarrows of rocks and dirt into the building to help build the foundation. Next week we will finish filling in the foundation then add cement to the foundation. On Friday night, we attended the women’s fellowship at the church with over 30 local women. This was a huge blessing to my heart.
Our team was in charge of leading the women’s fellowship night. We created potholders by tying two pieces of fabric together. As they worked on the craft, Tori shared her testimony. It was a moving story of her recovery from the lies of the enemy and also physical healing from her surgeries. Then I shared my testimony of my identity change that I’ve experienced on the race.
Before I came on the race, I believed that I needed to be controlling, trapped by boundaries and overprotective. I thought that having rules, staying in my comfort zone, and protecting myself from mistakes was where life was. I also carried these beliefs into my relationships with others, including my students, my friends and even strangers. I would caution others of difficulties, which didn’t allow them to experience their own lives and learn from their own mistakes. I didn’t need to experience new things or try challenging things; I was capable of living life with the talents that I had learned from childhood. This belief stretched even into my food tastes. Sadly, I didn’t enjoy the goodness of strawberries until I was in college.
However, the Lord started a beautiful refinement process a few years ago that shifted my identity to who I am today. He started calling me out of my comfort zone with my first international mission trip to Peru for two months with complete strangers. Then as He called me on the race, I didn’t know that my whole perspective on life would be crushed and rebuilt.
God broke down my view of protectiveness–He is the only one who can protect. He shelters me under His wings.
God showed me that He has captivated me by grace–I am free to explore His character while relaxing in His grace.
And the hardest change that has occurred is my view of control–my control actually takes the life out of me. He has broken the shackles of control off of me and I am released to be carefree. I only need freedom, not control. This is a scary place–freedom has no rules, no control, no guidelines, no formula.
But that is really where life is. This is where trust in His plan comes in. It is a daily learning field for me. Daily He leads and guides me in this freedom. It is a beautiful process and journey, and I am so thankful that He pursued my heart, broken down the lies that I believed and redefined my character to look more like His.
