On Thursday night after dinner, we were asked to hang back for some important announcements from leadership. We circled up and waited for whatever it was they had to share. I assumed it would be some logistical things for the weekend and didn’t think much about it. When they started speaking their tone and demeanor revealed otherwise. They started with “R-Squad… we have another route change…” The room was quiet and still. My heart sunk deep into my chest anxiously awaiting what came next.
At Launch we had a route change to allow us to successfully enter China. We extended our time in Malaysia and moved China up a month and Mongolia back. Come to find out, the last group of racers that attempted to enter China had all of their visas denied. A.I.M. and leadership did not feel it would be a good steward of our time or fundraising dollars to attempt to enter China, so we would lose China on our route. Not only that, within the past few weeks the host in Mongolia had backed out so we were also losing Mongolia. This was a pretty big loss for R-Squad as many racers felt God called them to the Race and to this route specifically because of ministry opportunities and callings in these countries- myself included.
As I write this blog to inform you all of the updates and changes I am forced back into the plethora of emotions that filled the room Thursday night. I would ask that you would be in prayer for my squad and teammates who are working through the sadness, confusion, and doubt pertaining to God’s call following this announcement. For some of my squad, what I will share next was exciting. For others, it was the first step in their grieving process.
Leadership and Adventures in Missions prayed over this decision and decided that they would allow our teams to continue to be Spirit Lead. They would do something they had never done before with a World Race Squad, they would allow us to pray over and chose the country that would fill in the gap. Our time in Malaysia would be extended to 3 weeks, our time in Thailand would also be extended to 3 weeks, and as a team we would decide if we felt God calling us to do Unsung Heroes in Sri Lanka or Indonesia (Unsung Heroes is an opportunity for racers to go into a country with no hosts, no contacts, and Ask The Lord where he wants them to bring kingdom that month).
Crickets. All you could hear were crickets and all you could see were stunned faces and eyes welling up with tears.
We had to make this decision as a team by Saturday at 4:00. God really stepped up and began working in our teams and squad leaders. We dove deep into reliance on him and the plans that he had for us. God’s Magnolias took a half day on Friday; we spent half the day at our normal ministry site and spent the other half doing Listening Prayer together, Asking The Lord where he wanted to send us. After some time we took a break and voted on the country we felt God was calling our team to.
We closed our eyes and Fenosoa, our translator for the month, said, “Raise your hand for Sri Lanka… Raise your hand for Indonesia… Now open your eyes because you are going to Indonesia.” The vote was unanimous. 4 of us voted Indonesia, 2 of us didn’t vote and simply prayed for unity in the decision. We sat in awe over how God was working through this decision. Three of us wanted to go to Sri Lanka but knew the Spirit was calling us to Indonesia. 1 of my teammates felt a very strong call to Indonesia. 2 of my teammates had no vote because they were not in a place where they could put the loss of China behind them. God’s glory still shined through and after 3 weeks in Malaysia, God’s Magnolias will be heading to Indonesia along with Team Diamonds, Team Firebrand, and Squad Leaders Kevin & Tabitha.
This whole process taught me that sometimes God puts destinations on our hearts to get us where he wants us. He puts destinations on our hearts to get us moving in the right direction… he will take care of the final destination. Many of you know from previous blogs that I switched from S-Squad to R-Squad because God highlighted China to me and called me to China specifically. To have China taken away was extremely confusing until a squad mate explained, “I feel like sometimes we get so caught up in the destination that we forget to stop along the way. I feel like for many of us, God used China to get us going in the right direction.” It was a peaceful perspective.
As I stated above, please be in prayer for my squad mates and squad leaders who are still grieving and have not yet found peace in this change. God’s glory will prevail. If I have learned anything on the Race so far it is that the Race is still life. Life still happens. Curve balls are just as difficult to navigate on the Race as they are at home!
On another note, Madagascar ROCKS! No wifi … so I haven’t been able to respond to any comments or questions but please keep them coming because I am SOOOO excited to read them when I do get wifi! We have a designated staff member who is posting our blogs weekly for you to read.
It is an awesome feeling going on this Journey with each of you!
Love,
Kace
