This past weekend my squad and I had something called awakening. It’s something that AIM staff facilitates sometimes when two squads are in the same area— it’s a weekend dedicated to the body of Christ coming together to encourage each other, build each other up, tell testimonies, worship together, and pray for the country/continent that they’re in.
We had our awakening in Pretoria, South Africa with O Squad, an 11n11 squad who just spent month 6 of their race bringing kingdom to South Africa and are heading off now to do the same thing in Central America.
O squad. Wow.
Y’all are wild. On fire for the kingdom. Bold with the gospel. Bold with loving people. Bold with your conversations.
Wow. That’s all. Thanks for showing me Jesus.
This weekend I got to see the bride of Christ in action. I mean I always do in our squad, but it’s different when people that you don’t know come together. And boy was it sweet.
I saw people step into leadership in ways they never have before.
I saw people who met 5 minutes before digging deep with each other.
I saw vulnerability happen.
I saw intentionality happen.
I saw people come to know Jesus for the first time and people who knew him already reignite their faith.
I saw people stand up in worship and share poems and spoken word and testimonies and call each other higher.
I was encouraged by my brothers and sisters in Christ who I’d only known for one day calling out things that they saw in me and encouraging me to pursue those things.
I was encouraged by seeing my squad, atleast 5 years younger than most of O squad, stepping up to lead and encourage them in bold ways.
Wow. Thank you Papa for your bride. Thank you that we are a body and we are a community all over the world with the same purpose and the same goal and we get the privilege of encouraging each other in that. Thank you for community and for friendships and for deep conversation. Thank you for courage and boldness to share the gospel. And thank you big that you are the same God in Africa as you are in the states.
Praying hard for revival of this kind of community back home. The bride of Christ is not complacent or isolated— she is fierce and wild and vulnerable and beautiful and unified.
When the bride of Christ steps into her full glory BIG things happen. Step in. Choose the hard conversations. Choose the deep things, even when you’ve got a million other things to do. Don’t be afraid to let people interrupt your life. Choose depth and presence and all the grace because we all need it. Buy in to this body. It’s worth it.
Love y’all a whole heck of a lot.
Alley
