Sooo time for another update…
This month I am in Sri Lanka! The first week I was back with my entire squad in Unawatuna debriefing the past two months with my coaches and mentors! (when my wallet got stolen, if you haven’t read the story, check out my past blog!) Debrief was a time of catching up with our squad mates about the ministries they were involved with in Indonesia and hearing about what the Lord has been doing in their lives. During this time our coaches and mentors also had one on one’s with us individually to see how we are adjusting to time on the race and pour into us while they are here.
It is also a women’s ministry month for us, while the men are having a man-istry month. Since it is a woman’s ministry month our teams were changed, so now I am on a team with 6 other lovely ladies! (raise & praise, amirite?) We are team LOA (ladies of authority). We arrived in Batticoloa about a week ago and have already made some amazing connections! It is an “ATL” month, (world race lingo, I know). Basically this means we do not have a ministry host, but instead ask the Lord about what He has for us during our month.
On our first day here we prayed that the Lord would lead us to where He wanted us to go. We left that morning with excited and expectant hearts! After being dropped off at a local bakery, we started walking down the road. Not even 5 minutes later we saw a church. My teammate Taylor decided to wander on in and start making some friends (if you know Tay, this makes so much sense.) Through this spontaneous interaction, we made a contact with a man who is partnered with many local organizations (including Compassion!) I mean how stinkin’ cool is that??
Since our contact is involved in so many different organizations we were able to see many different ministries that we could serve at during our time in Batticoloa. We visited the YMCA school for the deaf, Penny Gordan’s children’s home, a woman’s empowerment home, and finally an orphanage for young girls. Guys, my heart was OVERFLOWING seeing how good God was and how He was present in all of these ministries. I truly felt honored just to be able to see these places. As a team, we prayed about all of the ministries as a collective and decided to invest in only two of the places that we visited (our leaderships vision for this month was community investment.) The two places we prayed and decided upon was the woman’s empowerment home and the all girl’s orphanage!
Our first day at the woman’s empowerment center we were excited but nervous to see how the Lord would work in our time there. When we went to visit the center previously, the woman there were pretty apprehensive towards us. Most of these woman have been through hell, and have experienced some type of abuse. Our second day we came prepared- bearing a universal language (ice cream and cookies). Immediately the walls came down. I think it really helped that we followed through with our word and came back to see them. Although we did not have a translator or know a lot of their language we were able to start and develop some relationships with these beautiful women. They started singing songs for us and then taught us how to do some native Sri Lankan dances (not gonna lie- wasn’t super great at this, but so fun to try!) After this we did some painting with them and they started teaching us some sayings in Tamil. I am eager to see how our relationships continue with these women. I am praying through our interactions they are able to see their worth and value in their Heavenly Father. I pray that they feel loved above all else. We plan on doing a beauty for ashes workshop with them. Please join me and my team in praying for these woman.
We were also able to visit the girl’s orphanage. These girls were soooo excited to see us (you could tell just how much they craved love and affection) We were able to play some games with them and they also taught us some native dance moves. We watched an interesting Sri Lankan movie/music video and then ate lunch with them. The girls also attempted to teach us some of their language, and we had a lot of hard laughs along with that (mostly at us trying to pronounce their language). Yesterday, we were able to go back and go to church with them. My prayer is the same for these young girls, that they find their identity in Christ. I pray that they know just how valued they are. Even though they don’t have an earthly father, I pray that they feel so much love from their Heavenly Father through our time with them.
Along with the different ministries we have been working with, we have also been able to invest a lot in each other as a team. Every morning we have been going through a devotional in Romans, and asking intentional questions to grow further in our relationship with the Lord. We pray for one another, encourage one another, pursue one another, love one another, and above else laugh with one another. (we are a pretty hilarious team) We have taken time to hear each others testimonies. This enables us to love and encourage one another better. I have made a sisterhood in these women. Ugh so much to say and so many feelings to share, and so excited to see how the Lord continues to move this month!
Prayer Requests:
-Woman’s home
-All girl’s orphanage
-That we equip and encourage fellow believers here.
-Fundraising (I still have $5000 more to raise!)
-My team (Team Loa) : that we continue to love and encourage each other and grow closer to Christ.
-And my squad in its entirety!
