Hey… Perhaps excitement, anxiety, emotional feelings are flooding through as I get closer to Launching!
Peoples!… It’s 8 more days until I launch in Atlanta GA. (August 4) and 11 more days until I fly out of the country. (August 7)
To give you an update/more info of where I will be serving.
These are the countries that are on the Route I chose to be on and where I will be spending my time in the next 11 months. Haiti, Dominican Republic, South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, India, Nepal, Romania, Albania, Bulgaria and Serbia.
Haiti being our fist country to serve in, however there was change of plans as Haiti recently had some political unrest that has escalated to the point of safety risk. So for our safety, Adventures In Missions Staff have determined that we no longer will be going to Haiti for month one. Instead we will be serving in Dominican Republic a month early. And……..:) Guess what!!! This will be our all Squad month! So we will all be serving at the same place called -H.O.P.E www.hope4drnow.org Month 2 is yet to be discovered. It is up to God and I know he will put us exactly where he wants us. Please pray for Haiti that the rioting would end and peace can be found! I think it would be so cool if we still could go there for month 2.
Meet My Team…
We are Team DECIDED…
Decided will be a powerful word for us to put our identity in as a team as We daily make these choices.
“We have DECIDED to follow Jesus. We have DECIDED to leave home in his name. We have DECIDED to love one another. And as a team working for His glory, we will have to DECIDE again and again these next 11+ months to be gracious to one another, to serve and step out in faith, and to seek intimacy with Him even when things get hard.
These are the people that I get to walk with daily for the next I don’t know how many months. I love each one of them, they are so good for me!
My Word For The next 11 months.
“HAGAH”It’s a Hebrew word defined as meditate. Here is some research I found and it explains my heart to walk in the dust of my Rabbi Jesus.
Look with me at Joshua 1:8 :
Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
The word “meditate” here is “hagah.” Typically we think of meditate as a quiet reflection. So here we get the idea that we should quietly reflect on God’s law day and night, which is of course a wonderful thing. But the original idea was even more powerful! So what did it mean? “Hagah” is an onomatopoeia for what a hungry lion does when he’s seeking food. Imagine that lion in your mind and hear his roar as he passionately and even desperately seeks after something to eat – “Hagaaahhhhhhh!” Does that sound like meditation to you, at least as we’ve defined it? Joshua 1:9 is about focusing on God’s Word but maybe not as quietly and passively as we might think. It’s about being HUNGRY for God’s Word day and night! And not just a little bit hungry for a snack. We’re to desire God’s Word like a starving lion. ”Hagaaahhhhhhh!”
I would suggest that most Christians treat God’s Word more like a snack, if that. No wonder it has “departed from our mouths” and we aren’t careful to “do everything written in it” as God declares boldly in Text. But there’s more. God goes on to say in Joshua 1:8 that our hunger and obedience to His Word is directly related to our “success” in life. Obviously it’s not being implied here that if you read God’s Word that everything will always go well. But no matter what you face in life, if you have been “Hagaaahhhhhhhing” on God’s Word then you’re going to be able to follow God through that moment. Why? Because His Word is not only our guide, it’s the way to live life fully. Somehow we’ve reduced it to a set of rules and obligations. But God’s Word is LIFE as it’s meant to be LIVED! The laws and “rules” are there but not to merely restrict us – they are there to give us LIFE! Of course there are things there about what NOT to do. But that’s because those things that we’re being told to avoid will DESTROY us! We have to really believe God’s Word is life if we’re going to hunger for them.
Listen to the “Hagaaahhhhhhh!” used again in Psalm 1:1-2
Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.
But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates (hagah) day and night.
If we’re going to follow Jesus as our Rabbi and truly be “covered in His dust” then we must know Him. And the way we know Him is by immersing ourselves in His Word. I want to wake up every morning hungry. I want to “Hagaaahhhhhhh!” all day for His Words so that I can be more like Him, so I can do what He does, and so I can go where He goes.
It’s time to work up an appetite and then to devour God’s Word . Day and night, I can’t get enough. ”Hagaaahhhhhhh!” God’s Word is my food and I want it more than anything! ”Hagaaahhhhhhh!” God’s Word is LIFE and to live it I have to know it. ”Hagaaahhhhhhh!”
This is one prayer that you can always pray for me that I will always be hagaahing the word of the Lord, to live it out, to have a thirst for it daily, not only for a snack but to be starving for it!!
Also Pray for me as I enjoy my last week with family and friends that I can focus to enjoy the moment.
Thank you all for your support!
A piece of you is going with me!
Blessings!
