Well look at that, I’m already in Month 2!

I’m in the Philippines at Kids International Ministries or KIM as the cool people call it. Our squad got here a few days after I wrote my last blog (Mechanic to Missionary). So here I am, in this new view of myself, looking for opportunities that God wants me to be involved in. Getting to spend a month with kids excites me- which is kind of a big deal because kids freak me out- unless they are my nephews, or I have been around them a lot. I don’t know what to do with kids, so it has been weird that I’m excited instead of dreading it. After writing and processing my blog last week, I’m opening up my mind to bigger “God things”.

This month we are having All Squad Month, which means all 34 people on my squad are together with the same host.

We are staying at this amazing complex. The ministries that they have here are: a couple of schools, kids home, a feeding program that happens twice a day, a pregnancy clinic, and a college. I have been doing construction, cooking food, going to feedings, praying for people around the squatter communities, finding churches to partner with, and also playing a lot of basketball with the kids. I have also helped find communities to do these feeding in. On Friday we found 29 communities within a few square miles, that appeared to be squatter communities from Google Earth. The next day we had five teams visit those communities to find churches or people of peace. Those people or churches would help set up or figure out if the community needed a feeding program. By the end of the day, our teams found dozens to partner with for future feedings.

Today I stepped into a new position on the World Race. 

I am loving stepping into these “new” things. I am now what we call, a Storyteller Leader. This means I help my team to write blogs and tell the stories we all have. Now I know a lot of people probably think I don’t even tell my stories, but I promise I will tell more! I just hate writing it down… So I figured out I’m going to do a video blog to share them, and write in my blog what God is telling me to share. But back to my new role- I was asked in Indonesia if I wanted to step into this role. I kind of got taken off guard about it, because AIM likes to say its a role for a creative person. I asked God and my teammates if I should agree, and felt like I this was something I should do.

If you asked me before this trip what my role would be, I would have said, “Whatever God calls me to do.”

I never thought it would be this role though.

I do not see myself as creative and got lucky writing six, okay blogs. However, God showed me through my squad that my blogs are actually really good. I even had writers in my squad tell me they wish they could write like me. I am not very good at receiving compliments, and Michael had to call me out on it. He told me I write good blogs and that I need to accept that I’m good at this.

On Tuesday our leaders told me I was officially taking over the Storyteller role on my team. I wonder why I am in this position, as the creative person, and keep questioning my ability to even help. I mean, I couldn’t even write my blogs if I didn’t have my awesome team to edit my writing (so it makes sense and has proper grammar or something like that). I find myself asking how I can even help them.

Thankfully my teammate, Justin, shared this from his notes today,

“There’s something in you that you have convinced yourself is beyond you.”

I started to convince myself that I’m not creative because I haven’t had to be creative for the last couple years. Looking back to high school, I spent the first couple years in yearbook. (I will give Mrs. Weilert a shout-out, because I know she follows my journey.) Mrs. Weilert taught me how to take some great pictures and how to put together an entire yearbook. Later, I actually designed the platform for the next years yearbook and it was voted to be the following year’s design. Afterwards, when I changed schools, my friend begged me to join the TV class. There we made some awesome videos for the school’s TV show and learned how to make videos by shooting videos and editing it. (Shout out to Mr. Gallagher for teaching me all that.)

Here I am thinking that creative thinking is behind me, and God tells me to do something that I don’t feel comfortable doing because I haven’t done it in so long.

God has literally given me the blueprints to have a creative mindset 5-8 years ago.

I think this role will be challenging because its something I still have to work for because it is not natural to me now. I have a new found passion for blogging and telling the things that God is having me to share. I am hoping I can help my team to share their stories and maybe change some lives with our stories.