I am going to try my best to put this first month into words. It started off a little rough, honestly. It’s an adjustment going from living in a house with A/C, a toilet that flushes easily, a car to drive and constant access to wifi to literally the opposite. Living in a church with no A/C, a toilet that has to be flushed with a bucket of water but no flushing the toilet paper(we had to burn that), walking everywhere or taking crowded transportation and having really no wifi access. These are things I have definitely taken for granted back in the States. I believe God is wanting to strip down my comfort in these things and teach me how to live without them.
Another thing that has been a challenge is living in constant community. If you know me, you know I LOVE people. I love hearing peoples stories and I love making new friends, but this is a new ballgame. I am living 24/7 with 4 or more girls. We sleep in the same room, we eat every meal together, and we go almost everywhere together. This is sort of a new thing for me. I have a twin sister so I have had someone by my side most of my life but as we have gotten older, I have become more independent. I am SO used to being by myself now. Back home, I do so many things by myself. I am having to readjust to what it looks like to be in a community like this.
With that being said, this month has been phenomenal. I have learned what it looks like to really love your community inside the church and outside the church. The people of Urraco served us so well and I am forever grateful they were our first month on the Race. They took us in like we were family and actually called us their family. I received hugs every day, i drank lots of Pepsi and ate really great food. I’ve never seen hospitality quite like that.
We went to Honduras with the intent of coming alongside this church and serving the community of Urraco, and in some ways we did that. But it did not look like what I thought it would. I didn’t necessarily have expectations for our ministry but I didn’t think that we would be serving them, by letting them serve us. We did do some evangelizing, we prayed over people, and we served the community but the biggest way we served them was by letting them feed us, show us their hospitality, and be there for us. They prayed over us and spoke life into us. What a life this is. I am blown away at what God is doing around the world. I am reminded daily to thank God for this incredible opportunity to be His hands and His feet and to walk this life with Him.
Please be in prayer for me to continue to grow, to continue to press into what God has for me, for health, for fundraising(I reached my $10,000 goal today, yay! But I still have $8,000 more to fundraise), and for unity to continue to blossom in my squad. My whole squad will be together for the next 6ish weeks through Nicaragua and Costa Rica. You can stay up to date on pictures and updates on Facebook or Instagram. I will continue to share as I have wifi access. Thank you all for coming alongside me on this journey! I am super appreciative of every single one of you!
