Well, It’s month 11. (Wait. WHEN DID THIS EVEN HAPPEN??) Yea, I can hardly believe we are at this point.
A little recap of the last month: Month 10 brought us to Thailand. The guys had their own ministry month, so my team was paired with a few other teams to aid in an Adventures in Missions base start-up in Thailand. The overall vision is to use business as an avenue to pursue missions by creating ministry through hostels, coffee shops/cafes, and parterning with other local ministries.
Since there were 17 racers, we were further divided into 3 groups for ministry. One group followed the business team, another group pursued local ministry contacts, and a third team was devoted to prayer. I chose to be part of the prayer team. What a unique and sweet month! Nine of us made up this team and each day we met to discuss needs for the Thailand team, each other, and our squad (particularly those still fundraising). We prayed together as a team, but also allowed time for us to be autonomous in our time with the Lord. Additionally, we held prayer walks through the neighboring red light district and one evening we held an all night prayer and worship (by far, an already very special memory of the race.)
Initially, the nine of us weren’t sure what a prayer team even really looked liked (we’re still not sure.) We wanted to be Spirit-led and free but also careful to not become too lax, but not be too rigid either. Some people like schedules, some people don’t (ME! lol) So this also became a time of navigating the ways we are uniquely designed and also honoring one another. I just have to say that this ended up being such a sweet month. Our squad is pretty big with 50-some people and I got to get to know some beautiful hearts even better. I especially will never forget how these girls rallied around us that were still raising funds. How they prayed for us each day, how they excitedly made a video with so much creativity and joy to get the rest of us funded, how they cheered for us each time funds came through and how they kept on praying. Wow, I dont know about you, but I need to go grab a kleenex now.
God also does weird stuff when you designate time to pray. Back in month 5, God began revealing some of His plans for after the race. He also gave me some things to pray into. I had put those things on the back burner for the last several months. By the way, we encounter a lot of gas stoves on the race. The first time I tried lighting one, I didn’t anticipate the giant burst of flame that would erupt from the burner. I had to check that I still had eye-brows. Thankfully, I did. But those things that I had put on the back burner, erupted to the forefront of my mind with that same intensity of lighting a gas stove (with too much gas). So over this last month, I talked those things out with the Lord. At times it was wrenchingly hard; God was showing me my own heart, and also His. Sometimes those two things don’t seemingly line up. Sometimes they do. I don’t have any concrete answers for what may be ahead still, but I gained so much PEACE and CONFIDENCE and I’m ready to say YES to whatever He has.
Another special piece to this month was the place we stayed, Zion Hostel. Zion Hostel is a Christian based hostel, with a coffee bar and cafe attatched. Many people revolve through these doors. While we stayed at Zion, we met people on their own individual journeys, past race alumni working on new nearby ventures, current racers on other squads, and so on. It was beautiful to have this hub of common ground and share in each other’s journeys. But the most special piece of this place is the owner named Emmie. She has a hard, but beautiful story. Emmie is a native of Thailand . At a young age, her father murdered her mother. Emmie was taken in by her grandparents, but sold into trafficking by her grandfather. Thankfully she was rescued, and brought to a Christian orphanage where she began to learn about Jesus. Later as a student in college, Emmie began to walk with Him. As the owner of Zion, Emmie has such a BIG heart to love people. She especially has a heart for women caught in human trafficking and through Zion, provides jobs through working at the hostel, and we got to befriend these ladies this month as well.
That’s one thing I’m going to miss about the race for sure- meeting beautiful people and learning their stories and seeing how my Jesus came through.
So here we are at month 11 in Malaysia. Our team has been reunited. The guys on our team have become my brothers, and they play their part well. I never thought I would miss big stinky feet in my face so much. We’ve only been back together for a few days, so they have been making up for lost time.
I’m really looking forward to ministry this month. It has everything my little heart could ever ask for- ministry to special needs students, home visits, praying for the sick, and teaching the youth of the church. I’m not ready for this race to end, but I am ready to finish it with my all!
