hi everybody! It has been over a month since my last blog (so sorry about that!), so I just wanted to share what I’ve been up to!
After our month working with The Wildflower Home in Thailand, our team got to work with a ministry called Acts Co. Book Company. This organization provides Bibles, Sunday school material, and other Christian literature to people all over the world, for FREE! Serving them mostly looked like moving boxes, organizing bookshelves, and making friendships with the two men who work there. Their testimonies and personalities made a great impact on me – I will always remember them.
After this, we spent a month in Penang, Malaysia. There, we stayed with an international house of prayer called PenHOP. Our ministry included prayer, prayer, and more prayer. We would go into the prayer room for sessions that lasted anywhere from 2 to 7 hours, and we’d simply spend time with the Lord. Yes…seven hours! It seems like a long time, but after I realized that God is SO vast, and my relationship with Him can be SO personal, seven hours didn’t even feel like enough. There’s a whole world to pray for, a whole Bible to read, and so many questions that I can ask and hear His answers to. This month allowed me to dive into an intimacy with the Lord I have never experienced before. I could hear Him SPEAK to me. I could experience sweet sweet freedom in worship, singing and dancing and raising my hands to a God who deserves every OUNCE of my praise. I could just rest and do nothing in His presence, experiencing such perfect peace and comfort. It actually got to the point where I didn’t want to spend time with anyone else – I only wanted to be with Him. He is my refuge, my rock, my reason for living… there is nothing more fulfilling than being in His presence.
Most recently, at the beginning of December, we headed to our third country: India!!! This is the country I was most excited for when I chose to come on the World Race. We’ve only been here for a week, but it certainly is not what I expected. Currently, we are staying in a Christian village in North East India. We have spent our time encouraging local Christians, visiting rehab centers, and playing with neighborhood children. We are relocating in a couple days to a different part of India, and I’m really excited to see what the Lord has for us there.
So that’s what my scheduled ministry has looked like the past 3 months. But this is only the sUrface of the kingdom-building the Lord has been inviting me into. Much more has happened, specifically through relationships. He has introduced me to so many people at random times and places in my free time, and He has given me so many opportunities to share the love of Christ! It has become probably my greatest passion. I have always loved making new friends, but the Lord has shown me how much more I love connecting with people when I ALSO get to introduce them to the goodness of God. Since discovering this, His perfect plan has led so many people I’ve met to come closer to Him. Whether it was through conversations, dinner dates, or simple interactions, He has been moving, and I’m so thankful He has let me be a part of it. He is so so good.
Thank you for reading! I hope you get to discover and experience some of the very same things that I have. And if you want to step into that, I have a little challenge for you. Try setting aside an hour to just sit in the Lord’s presence. Whether that looks like an hour reading your Bible, listening to worship songs, praying, or a little bit of everything, stretch yourself into what may seem uncomfortable. I guarantee He will meet you there.
I also pray that He will give you boldness, a heart so overwhelmed by His love that you cannot help but talk about Him. As He has been challenging me, I also challenge you: share Him with the people around you!
Loving you far,
Claire
