Friends & Family,
First of all, we want to apologize for not keeping you updated very well with our life in the past month or so. Being back on the field squad leading this new squad has been an incredibly wild ride! We have so much to tell you about – probably much more than we can contain in this blog. So today, we will update you on what our life has looked like so far this year, and we promise to write more later about what we are learning and what God has been doing (He has been moving in huge ways, so stay tuned.)
To begin, here is a video about what squad leading looks like and a glimpse of Cote d’Ivoire through the eyes of Team Rak Pak. While we were with them, they exemplified so beautifully the concept of “Life is ministry. Ministry is life.” They saw every moment and every encounter of their day as a way to shine the light of Christ to those around them.
Before our time with Team Rak Pak, we began the month with Team Rapha, which is the coed team on this squad. It felt special starting out with them, because Kaydan was able to start bonding with the men on the squad immediately. There is also another married couple on this squad, which is one of the reasons we felt led to say “yes” to leading this squad.
We loved our squad leaders on our race, but it would have been so encouraging to have married squad leaders who had experienced the World Race as a married couple and could encourage us through the struggles we would face. In our interactions and time spent with this couple, it was so amazing to see not only what we could offer as support to them, but to also see all the ways in which we could learn from their marriage as well. Community living is cool like that. Our time with Rapha taught us a lot about intentionality, being bold in sharing the Gospel, and serving one another.
During our time with Team Rapha, God used us in one of our sweet spots, which is handling logistic difficulties and solving problems. Immediately when we arrived, we were informed that our housing arrangements for the month had fallen through, which made the logistics for the entire month difficult. But the Lord took care of us, and we got a deal on another place to stay and made arrangements with our hosts so that we could still thrive in ministry we were doing that month month.
Our ministry with Rapha was evangelizing to the truckers at the port in Abidjan.
The truckers are men from all over West Africa (specifically from Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mali, and northern Cote d’Ivoire). And they are almost all Muslim. So we would go to the ports several days a week, tell them about the transforming Gospel of Jesus Christ, and many came to accept Christ. And one of the most exciting things about this ministry is that our hosts did not leave those who accepted Christ in the same place they found them. They followed up with them day after day, week after week, until they received a truck load to deliver back to their home country. And when they returned to their home countries (which are predominately Muslim areas), they could then tell their families and friends about the transforming Gospel of Jesus Christ.
They were not just taking back home a truck full of items to sell, but they were taking home the love and truth of Jesus Christ – a free gift to all who want it!
So here is where things get really crazy.
About a week before the squad was supposed to meet in Cote d’ Ivoire to travel to Ghana together, people on the squad started to get sick. In the 5 days before we were supposed to travel to Ghana, one girl’s condition was so serious that our insurance company paid to have her airlifted to Abidjan (the capital of Cote d’ Ivoire) to stay in the hospital there, and then a second girl got seriously sick and was hospitalized also. So we spent those 5 days before the squad left in the hospital figuring out the ins and outs of insurance and our plan of action to take from there. It was decided that Kaydan and I would stay a few extra days in Cote d’Ivoire, while the rest of our squad was at debrief in Ghana, because the girls were not yet able to travel.
Come to find out, the second girl needed to be airlifted to South Africa to get better medical care there, and I traveled with her while Kaydan stayed with a few other racers in Cote d’Ivoire. So I stayed with her in South Africa for about 10 days, until she was in good condition and released from the hospital. Leading up to debrief in Ghana and even a few days following, the sickness continued with malaria, ear infections, respiratory infections, stomach problems, broken bones, etc. It has been so bizarre, and it is obvious that the enemy is trying to attack this squad with illness, knowing that this squad is making a huge impact for Christ.
The encouragement in this is that we have confirmation that what we are doing is making an impact for the Kingdom! And we have seen and been encouraged by the faith of those on our squad, as they have trusted the Lord through the unknown of their illnesses! We have been praying for God to heal this squad, and finally all of the teams are healthy and no one has had a hospital overnight in about 2 weeks!
So please pray for the continuing health of our squad and that we would not grow weary of doing good amidst all the sickness that we just endured.
Your prayers mean the world to us! Thank you for reading and supporting us in our ministry. We look forward to updating you again soon from Ghana!
With Love,
Kaydan & Katherine
(Picture taken at St.Paul’s Cathedral in Abidjan)
