Helloooo, it’s been a while! Today marks one year of being back in the States, but guess what? After an interesting 2020 to say the least, I am actually going back out on the race as a squad leader this January. I’ll be leading a squad of 15 new participants on their own 11 month journey. (Wowow!!) I’ll be on the field with them for the first 4 months, and then raising up new leaders from within the group to lead for the remainder of the trip.
Where are we going?
So much is up in the air because of Covid, including the countries on our route and the particular organizations we will be partnering with. The plan has already changed a few times and will likely keep changing as our leaders stay on top of the pandemic updates and precautions. At this point it’s looking like my portion of leading will be in South America, but honestly, only the Lord knows for sure.
Some of you know that I just moved to a new city over the summer and am really loving this season of life. I’ll be honest that I do not feel ready to move on from this season so quickly. I love Chattanooga, my job with Rest Stop Ministries, my house, my roommate, my neighbors, and overall, I’ve just been very grateful for the way this crazy year has turned out for me. I know that’s not the case for a lot of folks this year, and I don’t want to take any of these blessings for granted.
My squad mentor Kylee asked me to consider going back on the field, and I almost said no, because the timing initially didn’t feel right. I agreed to pray about it and spent over a month seeking the Lord for direction, yet feeling very unclear. I also took that time to reflect on the journey I had on the race, and how things changed because of it.
I left on my race in January 2019 pretty frustrated with the American church because of its division, materialism, legalism, etc. . . I left searching for what Christ’s church is intended to look like, hoping some service I encountered on another continent would have the solution to these issues.
I came home last November having experienced the truest biblical form of church I could have imagined. And it took place on four continents, over the course of eleven months, in the community of my squad. It was through them I experienced true church and where I learned to be the church. Through this Christ-centered community, we all learned to bear each others’ burdens, celebrate each others’ victories, share literally everything, challenge each other, listen to the Lord’s voice, find joy during trials, and actively reach out to invite others into this communal love. It was the closest experience to the New Testament church I’ve ever had. And through this experience I learned how to better be this type of church in my new community.
So I’m saying yes to leading because I want every Christian to know this type of church – and to bring this type of church to their own communities. My hope is that when people think of “church”, they think of this kind of selfless love and inclusion. I feel called to show my generation that this is possible. So to me, the question is not “Where will we go?” or even “How will we serve?”, but “Who will we be when we return?” What is the Lord going to do in us to allow us to be a better version of his church?
I’ll be posting updates here on what He is doing. Please join me in praying over my future squad as we prepare for an unprecedented World Race journey in the midst of a pandemic. And please pray for me and our leadership as we learn what it looks like to lead them!
Love you people, thanks for reading <3
