Every month on the field God has grown me in some new way. I’ve been broken and rebuilt on the Race. I’ve been wrecked by lessons the Holy Spirit has been imparting to me. I started to compile a list of what God has spoken to me each month, and I plan on posting it towards the end of the race. A message that has threaded through each conversation and conversion has been that God is still living and active.
I was reading through the book of Acts last month, and it just hit me how what we’re doing out here on the field is exactly what the apostles were doing 2,000 years ago. I just want to hit on a few key verses from the beginning to the end of Acts that remind me of what’s going on out here in Africa.
A verse that completely describes our time on the World Race is at the very beginning of Acts:
At training camp, way back in May, I grasped more of who the Holy Spirit is and the power that I really do have inside me. I had to explain about the Holy Spirit to a couple women who were believers in India. They asked me if I could give them the Holy Spirit. Jesus tells us that as soon as we make that decision to follow Christ and give our life fully to Him, the Holy Spirit enters us. In America, I feel like the Holy Spirit is quieted and ignored for the most part. That was never God’s plan, and we can see that clearly in Acts. The Holy Spirit empowers us to be his witnesses, even on the opposite side of the world.
A verse that goes along with the verse about the Holy Spirit is the following that talks about a few spiritual gifts:
Also brand new to me were the promptings and giftings of the Holy Spirit. I’ve learned about prophesying on the world race, as well as seeing visions and understanding the importance of dreams given to us by God. Prophesying is speaking life. It’s uplifting our brothers and sisters, and it’s something we practice almost every day on the world race. This verse was true then, and it’s true now.
The following verse has been exemplified throughout the whole race, but one that I want to speak on for this month in particular:
At our ministry site in Tanzania, I’ve already written about how we are with a passport team. There are 10 girls here ministering alongside us. I mentioned yesterday how we’re flying to Europe at the end of the month and how I’m going to need God to provide everything for me. It’s supposed to be freezing cold, and I am utterly unprepared. I’ve been chasing summer for the last nine months; there’s no way I was going to carry my winter jacket in my back pack. The girls asked what I needed, and right there, three of them said I could have their things. I got sweatpants, a hoodie, a fleece jacket, and tennis shoes! I couldn’t believe their generosity. I had only met them two days before, but they told me that I am their sister and they want to provide for me. This is exactly what the book of Acts shows us! The believers providing for one another’s needs. Wow. I am still stunned by God’s faithfulness in this verse.
While the next verse has been true throughout the whole race, Kenya is where I saw the most harvest:
God has been with us the whole race, giving us words and discernment through his Holy Spirit in us. But the second part of this verse, which was true then, showed itself true today. I wrote on this a little last month. The people of Kenya who we talked to were ready to dedicate their lives to Christ after we spoke to them. They believed in the truth that we shared. Buana Asafiwe! (Praise the Lord in Swahili)
This last verse has been one that I’ve clung to throughout the race:
God has humbled me time and again to show me how quickly life flies by. It’s not about me. It never has been. It’s all about him. I’m blessed to be chosen by him to be the one who shares his truth with people around the world. I have less than three months until I finish the race, and I am desperate to be like Paul in this verse and complete the task.
There were at least three more verses I wanted to add in, but this blog is getting lengthy, and I’m not meaning to write a novel – not yet at least. As true as Acts was 2,000 years ago is as true as it is today. The things the apostles were doing and the words they were speaking haven’t changed. It’s the same goal. My blog, my stories, have been my personal extensions of the book of Acts. What are you writing in your book?
