Friends, here is an update that I recently sent to my financial supporters that I wanted to share with whomever may be interested.
My sweet friends and family,
Hello from 36,000 feet up. We just wrapped up our SIXTH month on the field and are in the middle of conquering a 60-hour “travel day” (as we call them…no matter how many days we’re in the air getting from one country to the next). Last Saturday marked our midway point, so my team and I celebrated by cruising to a South African beach for the weekend. Regardless of if you’ve kept up with any number of my updates, it goes without being said that I’ve grown exponentially more than I could have ever expected throughout the past half year. In honor of my halfway point, I want to share some testimonies—having to do with how the Lord’s worked both in and through me. But first, I must say a big thank you to every last one of you. Whether you’ve supported me in prayer, finances, or by simply reading, sharing, and celebrating my blogs, you’ve been a huge part of my journey and I’m unspeakably thankful for you each.
Prior to launching, I posted an Instagram story asking anyone and everyone to support me with $5 so that I could wrap up my last $2,000. And guess what—over 100 people sent me donations ranging from $5 to $500. UNREAL! You want to know what I absolutely LOVE? FIVE DOLLAR DONATIONS. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. Want to know why? Because five dollar donations say, “I love you so much and I’m desperate to get involved with what God’s doing even though I don’t have all that much to give you.” It sends a message of humility—that though those who send little don’t have much to give, they know God’s big enough to multiply multiply multiply. And guess what? God raised $2,000 on my behalf in less than 24 hours because people were humble enough to give out of the little that they had. I could cry thinking about it.
MONTH I — PHILIPPINES
About a month after I send out that message, my squad of 40 left for the Philippines, laying over in LA for one last day in the CA sun. I was shouting THANK YOU LORD all day. What a gift it was to stop in my city one last time before leaving the States. That was a very special day filled with sandy feet and Mexican food. My team of six had the privilege of living in close quarters with a Filipino-church-turned-family. We lived in a small home along with FOUR GENERATIONS of one beautiful Filipino family. We miss them dearly. While there, we partnered with their house church. Most days, we split up into groups to do home visits until we had sat in every living room in the village at least once. Within 10 days, I prayed for and saw NINE healings. One of my most prized moments was when I sat next to Marie on her porch where she not only received salvation but also healing. She spoke the most broken of English and only the Lord knows how we communicated effectively. Nonetheless, we were both in tears as we hugged in celebration of her spiritual and physical newness. This is us at house church the following Sunday. Look how precious she is.
MONTH II — THAILAND
Thailand took pretty different shape than our experience in the Philippines did. We lived in Chaingmai which remains one of my most favourite cities to this day, regardless of the numerous hardships that colored my month. Not only did I bring lice with me from the Philippines which took the entire month to get rid of, not only did I break a toe, and not only did I enter my month with a relentless cold, but my community at home suffered the Woolsey fire and Borderline shooting simultaneously. Thank you, Lord, for being our strength. I’m convinced that the enemy’s schemes are most commonly a word of knowledge about what God wants to do. Today, Malibu blooms like it’s never bloomed before. My friends and I spent our days doing construction on a Christian school that should be in full operation soon. We spent our nights ministering to the ladies in the red light district that’s directly behind our home. Since we have friends who live in Thailand full time specifically to minister to the ladies, we would only send 12 girls out. We want the ladies to trust the Americans who come through rather than simply expect them to preach. Some nights, we wouldn’t even say the name of Jesus, but would just be their friends, hear their stories, and show them it’s possible to be beautiful while covered up. The other gals would stay home to intercede for those ministering. We’re expectant that the Red Light District in Changmai will be no more in the next half decade. Please lift Thailand up in prayer as prostitution is rampant. Below is a photo of my friends oh so kindly de-licing my hair.
MONTH III — MALAYSIA
Month three, my team partnered with YWAM in Penang, Malaysia. Malaysia is a strictly Muslim country, meaning that it’s not only illegal to talk to Malays about Jesus unless they initiate, but it’s also highly illegal for them to convert even if they do initiate. We lived with a friend whose life is sought after daily simply because he converted to Christianity. His own family has attempted to murder him, but he’s intent on living out the Gospel whatever the cost. Pray for our friend Joseph as his father is expected to pass soon. Last time he went home to see his family, he was nearly murdered on the spot. A good portion of our ministry in Malaysia was simply being a friend to Joesph in a time of need. Otherwise, we spent our days preparing for the various Christmas programs that we were featured in!
MONTH IV — LESOTHO
Month four, we headed to Lesotho which is a little mountainous donut hole of a country landlocked by South Africa. My team joined forced with two other teams for the month. Entering not only a new month, but also a new continent and a new year, all three teams were committed to a hyper-disciplined pursuit after the Kingdom. We had at least one person fasting almost every single day of the month and ended up seeing over SEVENTY salvations and a handful of healings. Every single day, we preached in hospitals and prisons and churches and soup kitchens. When we weren’t preaching or praying for people or doing construction, we were in the Word. I’ve never seen a community of believers operate in such unified pursuit after the Lord. Praise God! Lesotho ended up being a favorite of mine simply due to the eager discipline that covered our month.
MONTH V — SWAZILAND
Month five was a STRUGGLE. Prior to entering the month, we did our first team change then headed into the great land of the Swazis. Swaziland is FULL of culture, and also tallies the highest HIV rate in the world. Our squad spent the month together at a base in Manzini where the majority of us camped for 25 days straight. All 40 of us shared an eight square foot kitchen and four bathrooms. I generally thrive in odd conditions like these, and though I was “thriving” in my external, my spirit was in some pretty deep disarray. If you read my blog dealing with sexual harassment, you know how frustrating I found it to walk even one block down the road. I wrote about what it looks like to love people who are difficult to love, and at the moment I thought I was dialed. I thought I knew how to forgive them and even how to love them. But it turns out that I’m still, two months later, learning how to release the bitterness I have toward Swazi men and honestly men in general (ouch).
MONTH VI — SOUTH AFRICA
South Africa was the most timely month thus far. I was tired and lonely. Yes, I was lonely even while surrounded by 39 other people. When you’re six months deep into community living, it becomes easy to seclude yourself for the sake of alone time. Entering into South Africa, my new team and I were placed at a sanctuary of a ministry where we helped our precious host, Erika, press reset after having a group of 50 in her care for the last two weeks. In the mornings, we did loads on loads of linen laundry. In the afternoon we cared for the indigenous flamingos. Yes, flamingos. South Africa is in a horrible drought, so all the parent flamingos abandoned their babies to find water. A local flew throughout the country to collect thousands of baby flamingos and brought a portion of them home with him. Therefore, my team and I were charged with caring for a couple hundred baby flamingos. We partnered with the directors and they become family. South Africa ended up being my toughest goodbye yet.
MONTH VI — NICARAGUA
And finally this month. Today, I’m in Cuidad Dario, Nicaragua working with a couple dozen teenage boys who all come from “at risk” families. A prerequisite for the boys being accepted into the school is that they don’t know the Lord. The ministry’s goal is to raise up this generation of boys to be respectable men who know the Lord and are able to bring others into relationship with their Heavenly Father. Although we traveled from the States to minister to low-income families, those we minister to daily are also intent on ministering to those in even greater need than themselves. Yesterday, we bussed into a pretty poor village and went door to door with the boys, then threw a massive fiesta for the whole village to enjoy. I have a huge feeling that the Kingdom will look a whole lot like Nicaragua and I’m really happy about that.
In review:
– I’m doing really well
– Thank you
– I love you
Another thing — my good friend Caitlin Casey is still fundraising and I want you to support her. If you want to as well, here’s the link where you can do so.
God bless you each,
XX, Adria
