We are in the last stage of the race. The stage where everything is a countdown. The last few days of scheduled ministry, the last moments with my team and squad, the last few meals with cilantro (why do South Americans INSIST on putting cilantro in everything?), the last time I’ll be able to participate in a worship session with English and Spanish being sung simultaneously, the last few days aways from my family and friends. Needless to say, I’ve been feeling incredibly nostalgic and as I’ve been recounting everything that has happened over the last year I wanted to share with you some of the tangible ways I’ve seen God move. I also wanted to use this platform to tell you all about what this next season of life is going to look like for me and invite you into it. So here are the countries (there are 13! surprise!) and ways in which I’ve seen and am seeing the Lord move:
1. India: My team had church services daily whether in the community’s church building or in local homes. We would preach, give testimonies, lead worship and then worship alongside our new Indian friends as they sang and preached in Telugu. One of these services lasted from dusk until dawn and a woman who had debilitating knee problems was present. We prayed over many people this night and she was one of them. We laid hands on her and cried out to the Lord to heal her. By the end of the night she was pain-free and jumping for joy as she worshipped her merciful and loving savior. She came to us days later and informed us that her knee problems had caused a riff between her and her husband because he was burdened by the responsibility of taking care of her in a disabled state. When her knees were healed her marriage was as well.
2. Nepal: On an off day a couple teammates of mine and I wandered into a small shop and struck up a conversation with the storekeeper. She told us a bit of her story and how she was using the proceeds of her shop to support women in poverty and educate them on feminine hygiene. We also learned that she was Muslim. We encouraged her and the work she was doing, made a few purchases, and preached the gospel to her. We held her hands and prayed for her. We prayed that her business would be blessed, that she would be fruitful in her efforts to make a better life for these Nepali women, and asked Jesus to appear to her in a dream so she would know beyond a shadow of a doubt that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. That was the first and the last time I saw that woman, but I still pray for her regularly. I am confident that there was a reason the Lord directed our steps to her shop that day and that He is pursuing her with a fierceness that cannot be rivaled.
3. Thailand: We worked with an orphanage for Month 3. We painted the walls of the beautiful facility, made bricks for the wall around the property, and built relationships with the children and staff there. One of my favorite memories was playing ukulele with my teammate and worshipping to “Blessed be Your Name” in Thai and English simultaneously in our home for the month where sweet children affected by HIV/AIDS have found refuge.
4. Cambodia: I, alongside a few squad-mates, did ministry in the slums of Battambang a few days a week. One day in particular I decided to throw off all my restraints and act like a complete fool. I danced and moved and jumped in the most ridiculous ways and I watched in awe as the children and women came alive. They began dancing with me and goofing off and laughing at my antics. They lived in the worst of circumstances and in that moment they were content because of the joy the Lord offers us in hardship.
5. Vietnam: On the race we have Leadership Development Weekends every couple months or so. At the end of our month in Vietnam we had one such “LDW”. We had a hard time finding a place in the crowded city of Ho Chi Minh to host us all, so we ended up venturing to the top floor of the local Starbucks. We listened to squad-mates give sessions full of their wisdom on things the Lord has taught them and had multiple worship sessions.
During our last worship set you could tangibly feel the presence of the Lord. The air was thick with it, our blood was pumping, our hearts were racing and you couldn’t help but praise God with all your might. That night I, along with my forty-some squad-mates, worshipped the Lord at the top of my lungs in a public place. We prophesied through the open windows and over the streets of a closed country. Of communist Vietnam. The Lord protected us while we did something HIGHLY illegal in His name. So freaking cool.
6. Ethiopia: Ethiopia reminded me so much of North Dakota. It was dry and flat with some mountains in the distance that reminded me of the buttes of home. There were things about my childhood that were hard and in my sadness I developed an aversion to my surroundings. I longed for green, for trees, for rain. The dry climate and flat landscape of North Dakota seemed to mirror the wasteland of my soul. But as I danced and laughed with orphans in the fields of Ethiopia the Lord began to soften my heart. My surroundings were beautiful. God created my home state just as He created Ethiopia and both are so good. I began to long for my childhood home. God used my time in a country around the world to redeem my time in North Dakota and awaken an appreciation for the beauty of the Peace Garden State.
And for all of you native North Dakotans who have known all along that the plains stretching on for as far as the eyes can see and the wheat bending with the wind are things to be marveled, I’m sorry I was blinded for so long. I finally came around.
7. Rwanda: I saw the Lord move in so many beautiful ways in Rwanda but my favorite by far was Him moving mountains to bring my parents to PVT (Parent Vision Trip). Before coming to Rwanda my mother had never even been on a plane much less had she stepped foot outside of the U.S. Working alongside my parents for a week on the mission field in a foreign country was a dream I never thought would come to fruition. In Rwanda God showed me again and again what a loving Father He is and how much He loves to give His children good gifts.
8. Bolivia: Month 8 was one of my hardest. I got a wonderful taste of home when my parents came to PVT and I became extremely homesick when they left and I moved to another new country that was, again, not the states.
In our village, which was miles and miles away from civilization, we lacked all physical comforts. We had no running water, we had no refuge from the bugs that had decided to feast on our flesh, a chicken (I’m more than a little afraid of these unpredictable large birds) made its home under my bed, raw meat dried beside our hand washed laundry on the stick we used as a clothesline, I had bronchitis but no doctor, and I injured my rib due to a nasty fall in a coca field. All comforts were stripped away in our Bolivian jungle life village and, as a result, I was forced to seek refuge where the truest source of comfort is found. In my Father’s arms. I grew in such intimacy with the Lord in Bolivia. I learned what it looks like to rely on Him for everything. My comfort, my joy… my sanity. It was a beautiful lesson.
9. Peru: In Peru we worked with a wonderful church called Camino de Vida. We worked alongside them in many volunteer efforts, but my favorite was assembling wheelchairs and giving them to disabled people. We brought them what they needed physically and then preached the gospel and prayed over them.
10. Ecuador: My team and I stayed in Cuenca, Ecuador and worked with Kingdomlife Ministries. We lived with the sweetest American family (We love and miss you Leeks!) and helped them move their church to a newer, larger facility. We worked in record time to spackle walls, paint, draw/paint murals, clean chairs, etc.. The building was ready to go just a few short days after we started and we had the privilege of being present for the very first service in the new location!
11. Colombia: For our last month we’ve been working 12 hour shifts living alongside precious girls and boys. They live here at a YWAM base in Medellin. We help them with their homework, watch movies with them, read them books, play in the park, pick them up from school, etc.. We have formed close relationships with the young staff members here as well. Bringing joy and laughter and rest to them has been such a privilege for us.
We don’t often have a specific task that we need to complete and the Lord has been teaching us that we don’t always need to be frantically running around doing busywork to be used by Him. Living life with these wonderful people is the job He gave us for our last month of the race and I am so grateful.
12. United States: America, the States, Home Sweet Home, The Land of the Free, The U.S. of A… I’m coming for you so soon. I wouldn’t change this past year for the world; it has been chock-full of incredible experiences. But one thing the Lord has consistently revealed to me over the last months is how deeply He has written the call to live missionally STATESIDE on my heart. God has used every small interaction with teenagers and young adults on the race to solidify my passion for ministering to that age group in the U.S and my desire to teach them what it looks like to live in biblical community.
Family and friends, I can’t wait to hear all the stories of how God has moved in your lives over the last 11 months. And I am so excited to walk beside you in what the Lord has called you to do. See you soon!
13. SPAIN: This country came as a surprise to me as I’m sure it will to all of you. God put Spain on my heart in Rwanda when the director of the World Race (Bill Swan) mentioned to me the option of me going to G42 Leadership Academy in Mijas after the race. I prayed and prayed about it and became more and more excited about Spain, but less convinced that G42 was what the Lord wanted for me. I kept praying about it and as I was my teammate, Emmy (pictured below) started talking more insistently about walking the Camino de Santiago. And as she was speaking about it one day, something clicked. I was supposed to go with her.
The Camino de Santiago or the Way of Saint James was, during the Middle Ages, considered to be one of the most important Christian pilgrimages together with those to Jerusalem and Rome. It stretches 500 miles across Spain. You walk around 15 miles a day to reach your destination of the Compostela de Santiago in a reasonable amount of time. Some people make this trek for the sake of adventure or to experience a spiritual awakening. But the thing that excites my heart the most are the fellow pilgrims that will be making their way across Spain.
More than 100,000 people walk one of the Camino routes each year. Each day you walk, sleep in hostels, and hand-wash laundry with all the strangers who have also chosen to do the crazy thing that is walking half a thousand miles. Strangers who have nothing to do but walk and listen to me tell them about Jesus. Emmy and I plan to use our time in Spain as a self guided mission’s trip. I have been asking the Lord to prepare the hearts of those we will come in contact with and to prepare us for the conversations He sets up for us. We are praying our way into this next adventure the Lord has asked us to follow Him on. And on October 2nd we are leaving American soil one last time before we make our homes stateside.
And now for the shameless plug:
All of this mission’s trip will come out of pocket as I am not going with an organization and so I am asking you to consider partnering with me. All your prayers and encouragement are needed as well as any financial contribution you feel led to make.
According to my research and calculations walking the Camino de Santiago will cost around $30 daily. We are planning on completing our pilgrimage in 40 days which comes out to $1200 total. This does not include airfare there and back.
If you feel the Lord prompting you to support me you can message me directly or follow this link to my paypal: paypal.me/joleelynn
Keep your eyes open for a follow-up blog with all the details of the Camino de Santiago and more in depth reasoning for going! I’m so excited to share this next season of my life with you all!
And to my wonderfully generous supporters: you will never know how much you have done for me. I can’t begin to explain my depth of gratitude for you. This past year, all that the Lord has taught me, the ways in which He’s used me, experiencing different cultures… none of it would have been possible without you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. May the Lord bless you beyond measure.
Love, Jolee
