Adventures WorldRace SethBarnes Sponsorship Giving

| by archiveworldraceblogs

I am in Tanzania!
When the plane touched the ground on African soil, I felt as if I had returned home from a long vacation. I love this place. I feel so extremely privileged to be here. I love the beautiful people, the culture, the language, the weather, the topography, the animals, the colorful clothing, the barefooted children that are always running around everywhere, the food, mmmmm the ugali and avacado and chai tea and cabbage and beans and bananas. The list might be never ending…
It my 6th month on the World Race. I have been to Central America, Europe and now Africa. At the end of every month I take time to reminisce on how God moved. And at the end of every month I am amazed at how much He grew me, and how much He changed the hearts of the people around me. God has transformed my heart to the point of me not even recognizing it. He has revealed to me who I am to Him and what I was created for, and by His grace I have embraced my identity in Him.
These past 5 months have been full of more tears, frustration, anger, grief, hope, joy, peace, faith, laughter and love than I could have ever imagined. So so so many tears. So so so much laughter. So so so so so much love! I have changed continents and climates 3 times now. Changed languages 4 times now. Changed cultures and people groups and countries and currencies and diets 6 times now. I have also changed teams. I started off the race with my wonderful team (God Before Us) who I was with the first 3 months of the race, and then was placed with a whole new group of people, my amazing team (Heart Refinery) for my 2 months in Europe, and have now been placed on a completely new team. My new team is a team of all women! WOW! Lots of estrogen going on. They are a beautiful group of women (Katie Winistorfer, Rose Huber, Kate Kovach, Emily Schlichting, Misty Curry) and I am honored to call them sisters. We recently decided on a team name!
 

Amani Warriors!

 
Amani in Swahili means peace.
 
God has called us to pick up our sword and march into battle, and that is exactly our plan. As one body, one family, we have stepped onto the front line and will defeat the enemy by spreading the peace that Jesus has placed in our hearts onto every place and person we encounter.
Our team verse speaks of our mission and passion, Ephesians 6: 10-20:

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood,but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should."

 

 Our team this month is staying at a church with the one and only Pastor Adam, his lovely wife Mary and his two endearing daughters Ruth and Dorcas. When we arrived Pastor Adam informed us that we were going to be the preacher’s for this month. Our second day here in Tanzania I was welcomed by preaching a message to the body of believer’s that make up The Assemblies of God church in Mbeya. After the service the Tanzanians approached me with thanks and referred to me as Pastor Sammie Jo. Never in my life did I think I would ever be referred to as Pastor.
 
I felt very inadequate when I found out that I would be preaching God’s Word, but as this month is nearing it’s end I am so thankful for the opportunity we have had. I have had so much time to dive into my Bible and get to know His Truth. He has given me a blessed month to meditate on His living word, write His promises on my heart and speak them out with power and authority in Christ Jesus.


Here are some pictures from our place here:

 

This is the church where we stayed this month.
 

This is our room. 12 of us women got to share for the month!

 

This is all of our stuff…

This is our bathroom! 

I hope this gives you a better idea of "how it's done!"

some of the neighborhood kiddos! Aren't they just beautiful!!!

 


My final deadline is in 5 days. As of now I still need $1116 to meet my $15500 deadline on July 1st.
 

"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize."  –1 Corinthians 9:24-27

 
God has called me to this Race and I want to see the finish line. I want to go through the strict and wonderful training that God has set before me so that I can better serve and love my Lord and His people.
Please help me to see this Race through. Thank you for your support.