Today I woke up and drank fresh squeezed orange juice in a hostel in Lima, Peru. Last night I ate pizza on the roof of that hostel under a tiny strand of Christmas lights. Tonight I sat on that roof again and shared my testimony with my teammates, then proceeded to tell them about some of my favorite things, stopping every few seconds because all ten of us were laughing too hard to speak. I’ve spent around 35 hours on busses since Friday night, but travel days are turning out to be some of the best days I’ve had so far on the race. I braided more hair than I ever have in my life. I ate a lot of weird bus food, and enjoyed most of it. I worshipped on the roof of a school we spent the night in. I walked around with a cat on my shoulder. I watched some really beautiful sunsets and sunrises from bus windows. I spent an evening on the bus watching Barbie Swan Lake (because what other movie would you watch on the world race). I rode through endless banana fields and past miles of sand dunes and ocean. And currently I’m camped out on an outdoor walkway bridge at the airport with my team, bundled in sleeping bags and surrounded by packs, while we wait to board a plane in the morning and fly to the jungle.
Life is all about these funny little moments. Yeah, I know I’m in another country and living like a missionary, but that’s not what’s spreading the kingdom. You’d think that being on the race would teach me how ministry is all about the “big things” like feeding orphans and healing the sick and planting churches. And yeah sometimes we do some of those things, but more than anything the race has taught me about the importance of little moments. Ministry is all around us, not just at our ministry sites. We haven’t been at our ministry sites since Thursday because of all the traveling, but that doesn’t change the fact that God is working. The choices I make in each moment are what bring God’s kingdom here. Choosing to invest my time in something simple like braiding someone’s hair grows our friendship, builds a relationship, spreads joy, and reflects the caring joyous nature of God. Deciding to stare out the window instead of watching a movie in the bus lets me notice God’s creation, appreciate the simple beauty of a banana tree, make eye contact, smile, and wave at someone on the street, or remember how spending time looking at another lake in another country changed my faith. Choosing to stay and listen when someone’s signing a worship song on the roof even though it’s late and I want to go to bed refocuses my heart for the night and let’s me remember what I’m here for. It could be a smile on the street, a note for the person at the front desk of the hostel, or a quick prayer for someone you walk by. It could be as big or small, quick or long as you make it. It doesn’t have to be much. Ministry can mean the person sitting right next to you who you’ve known forever. You just have to decide to live your life recognizing how every moment can spread God’s kingdom.
And wow, when you love every moment of your life, it makes time fly. Life is crazy fast people, one minute I was settling in to my home in Ecuador and now I’m headed to the Amazon. I can’t believe it. I’m so excited for what Peru holds for my team and I. We are headed to a small village on the Amazon river to do evangelism for the next month. No one there speaks English and we’ll be taking a boat to ministry everyday. It’s going to be hard, but I’m so excited to see us grow as a team. We’ve been living with the whole squad these past two months, but this month we will just be staying with our team. Going from 40 plus people down to just 10 people is a big change, but if the past two days have shown anything, this next month is going to be filled with a lot of laughter. Team Abundance is headed into the jungle everyone, and it’s going to be something to remember.
And now I’ve got to go because my friend Maddie and I made a pact. You see, we found out there was FroYo at this airport and decided to wake back up at midnight to go get some. But then I never actually went to sleep because I thought of all these things to blog about. It’s okay though, because FroYo is better than sleep anyway.
