Before I came on the World Race, I worked for a non-profit organization called the Willow Creek Association (WCA). The WCA’s vision is “helping Christians grow their leadership to maximize Kingdom impact”. Their mission is to “create world-class leadership development tools and services to energize Christians and mobilize churches globally”.
The main way the WCA carries out their mission is by hosting a huge leadership conference every year in August. It’s called the Global Leadership Summit (GLS) and it’s a 2-day conference (held near Chicago, IL) that is simulcast live to hundreds of locations around the U.S. and Canada. After the conference in August, “Summit events take place at an additional 775+ sites in 130 countries and 60 languages” throughout the next 10 months.
So knowing all of that, let’s travel back to last Thursday morning when I posted my most recent blog. As I was getting ready to go down to the bakery to have my sweet time with Jesus, I decided my time with Him that morning was going to be writing a blog. Actually, it was Jesus nudging me to spend my time doing that.
Later that day, I got an email from one of my coworkers at WCA. He said the link to my blog wasn’t working and asked if there was another way he could access it (sorry for anyone else who experienced that!). He also casually mentioned that he was on his way to Medellín at that moment because there was a GLS happening in Medellín that weekend…..what??
It took me a moment to realize what he had just said. But then I kind of freaked out. I thought, “what are the odds that there is a GLS in the city I am in at the same time I am there”. The rest of that day I worked on getting the details of when the conference was, where it was, and if I was able to go even just to say hello.
I ended up being able to go for the morning of the first day. I am still overwhelmed by all the ways God knitted this experience together and the way He chose to show me how much He loves me. So I am just going to list all the little and big ways He showed Himself last week.
- The GLS was in Medellín at the same time I was in Medellín.
- One of my coworkers, Scott, came to this specific GLS and I got to reconnect with him. (The International team at WCA does not have time to get to all the Summit events around the world.)
- Scott might not have connected the dots that I was in Medellín had I not posted a blog that morning about it. (That was all Jesus!)
- The place the GLS was being held was 10 minutes away from where I was staying.
- I happened to have some free time the morning of the first day which allowed me to be able to go.
- I was able to find a squad mate who would go with me. (We were not allowed to go anywhere alone.)
- The pastor of the church that the GLS was held at knows the Seminary that my grandparents were missionaries at 53 years ago in Medellín. In fact, that was where the pastor first went when he came to Medellín in 1994.
- Most employees of the WCA do not get the chance to experience the GLS overseas because there are many other things happening throughout the year in the U.S. But I got that opportunity.
On top of all that, God used this to speak to some of the deepest parts of my heart. Parts of my heart that I have felt distant from, parts of my heart that have had questions, and parts of my heart that just needed a little encouragement. He gave my heart a little piece of home.
And you know what, more than anything I believe this was a way for God to simply say, “I love you Rachel”.
The GLS is just one of many sweet gifts the Lord has given me during my time in Colombia. I have yet to find the words to explain what the city of Medellín and the people of El Ciudad Refugio mean to me. I am still so overwhelmed with the way God has used all of it to touch my heart, to answer my questions, and to show me more about who He is.
All I can say is that as we are preparing to leave and say goodbye, my heart is breaking. However, my heart is also so deeply thankful for the opportunity to be in Medellín for 3 weeks and to serve with El Ciudad Refugio.
Here are some pictures from the GLS in Medellín, Colombia!
Scott and I!
Our seats had were saved with these tags.
Fabienne and I! She is the squad mate who came with me!
