WOW! WHAT A MONTH! I cannot believe I am already ending month 5 and flying to Europe within the next couple of days! The fact that I have already been to now two continents and on my way to our third out of four continents is just not real to me. I figured I should just give y’all a quick update with where I am at on this crazy journey since I haven’t really done that yet! So…. CENTRAL AMERICA! My first three months were spent in Belize, Honduras and El Salvador. Belize was amazing (started off strong) and I honestly did not want to leave this amazing country. I was perfectly content with just staying there the whole eleven months… so I thought… little did I know I would feel that about nearly every country. I learned a lot about leadership and what it looks like to really (and I mean REALLY rely on God). I often times tried to operate out of my own strength, which I quickly found out was NOT going to work long term (or even short term for that matter)! I also had my first encounter with a demon possessed man, missed that opportunity, but I wrote a blog about it called the “Man in the Plaid Shirt”. We worked with girls from abusive families, ate dinner with men fresh out of prison, did manual labor, made connections, did a week long VBS, cleaned, shoveled, and painted murals at a school. We also went to an amazing hole in the wall restaurant called Ala Madrids just about every night for the best authentic food I have maybe EVER eaten. Then we packed up and headed to Honduras where our ministry was working in an orphanage for disabled adults. At the beginning of the month I was SO nervous because I had never worked with anyone with special needs before and I really did not want to mess up or really know how to interact with them. HOWEVER, the Lord really softened my heart and took away any fear. He really showed me the meaning behind the greatest commandment which is essentially to love. I learned this is surprisingly really simple (By no means is it easy, but it IS simple). So, by the end of the month I was in tears having to say goodbye to those sweet faces. We also had an Awakening, which in World Race terms is when World Racers in different months of their race all meet up in one country. It was during this time that I saw the Lord multiply food (WOW SO COOL RIGHT?) and made friendships that I hope will last a lifetime. Next up, El Salvador! This month started off as an ATL month (meaning “ask the Lord”) so every morning we would wake up and be on the Lord’s agenda for the day. This was so exciting because every day looked different but yet was so practical in the sense of I could actually do this back at home. Unfortunately, I only had about a week in a half in this beautiful country, but the experiences and divine encounters God gave me was enough to last me the entire month. The rest of the month was spent at home being with family (which was much needed). The Lord taught me how important it is to hear His voice and act on it, how to love the least of these and the importance of family. Some of my favorite memories from this short month were taking prostitutes to dinner, generously giving away my clothing, baking cookies for the homeless, mall ministry, meeting a homeless man from California and feeding the hungry. In just the short time I was there, I also was able to talk to an atheist about God during one of my quiet times. He had so many questions and was so interested to hear all that I believe (we are friends on Facebook now, woohoo) and I strongly believe the next person that talks to him about Christ will welcome him into the family.
Welp! We closed the chapter on Central America and many, MANY, travel days later finally arrived in ASIA! Our first stop in Asia was Vietnam. This honestly has been the hardest month for me on the race yet. Since Vietnam is a closed country it was so hard for me switch in my head from evangelizing to being Jesus strictly through my actions. This month really taught me how to hold my tongue, the importance of quiet times, and how my actions really do have an impact on people (Fun Fact: Communication is only 7% verbal, just let that sink in). I had to really grow in patience and it was just a hard month for me to love people and so much more. I could not wait to get out of Vietnam honestly (in the nicest way possible). So, a few buses later we arrived in the promised land (literally), CAMBODIA! Cambodia has been a country the Lord placed on my heart while I was still in YWAM, Australia. As soon as we arrived in Cambodia we had team changes! So, I am now a part of a different team with new girls, but same squad. I am no longer a team leader (that was humbling), but all of us got switched out of our roles and placed in either no roles or a new one. So I currently do not have a leadership role on my team, but I am so grateful for it. Coming into this month the Lord gave me the word “foundation” and boy was He right. I have seen so many things come to pass that He promised to me months, even up to a year ago, setting a foundation for where He is taking me in the future! It’s hard to compare, but I think it’s safe to say this month has been my absolute favorite! I have led people to Christ, had visions come to pass, and made dreams my reality. I have also seen so much life and joy, but also in contrast seen physical death happen in the villages. Cambodia did not disappoint and I still don’t even know how to feel about all my dreams and visions coming to pass. However, I think when God fulfills your dreams it’s really hard to process because He is just so much bigger than we can even fully comprehend. I am loving my new team and just doing life with them. They are some of the most driven, Jesus-loving, God-fearing women I have ever met. They push me closer to Christ day by day and God knew exactly what He was doing by putting all six of us crazies together! The people here in Cambodia are so friendly, so beautiful, so generous and have 100% captivated my heart. I am sad to be leaving them, but I have a feeling I will be back to this wonderful country again someday. Also, this month the Lord has been teaching me to trust in His promises and has been taking me deeper in what my faith actually means to me. I have had so many questions this month concerning His character but this excites me because I am actually building a foundation upon which I believe (knowing the why behind my faith). I still have so many blogs to write for this month and a couple from last month still but I hope this short little update will give you a better idea of what the last few months have been like here on the race! We are only a few weeks away from the halfway mark which makes me want to cry (happy and sad tears) but I cannot wait to see how God continues to move! Please keep me and my team in your prayers and feel to reach out with encouragement, it is always welcomed!
