Dear [Insert your name here],
I am so pumped to share with you about our month in Georgia, it truly was my most favorite month yet on the race. Personally, I grew so much in the Lord this month and saw myself processing things on the spot and seeking the Holy Spirit for wisdom and guidance in every situation. He really challenged me to speak up in uncomfortable settings, taught me how to focus on his presence in the moment and not focus on the future. I am beginning to see His promises unfold in my life, and doors being opened up for whatever He has in store for me next.
I had a new team [Relentless Pursuit] our mission is to relentlessly pursue God, each other and people. Get it? We partnered with a church who just started two months ago. It has been the coolest thing to see God moving in churches in every country we have been to, and to be a part of it. I have this huge desire for churches all around the world to be unified and work together the way that God calls us to. I am actually praying audaciously for it, if you want to join me in that. While working with the church we were able to help teach kids English [aka play a lot of games because their attention span is 0], children’s ministry, preaching/testimonies, prayer/worship, lead bible studies. I also had the opportunities to share a new song I wrote.
As a team, we went out on our own to do street ministry. We invested in several locals that we met by getting to know them, inviting them over for dinner and games, and made sure to introduce them to a family apart of the ministry. Our first night of outreach, I said hello in passing to this German man and through broken German I shared about Jesus, even though he was too intoxicated to understand, I wanted to make sure those seeds got planted. He then invited us up to his house [or so we thought] after three times of asking us and turning him down, we decided why not? Through his relentless pursuit of us, I was able to pursue this woman [We will call her Hope] for the month and be reminded how Jesus goes after the one.
The last night I was able to see her, we showed up unannounced in the middle of dinner. They quickly stopped eating, her sister ran to the market to pick up more food, and her friend set up the table to make room for us. I asked Hope where her scars on her arm came from, I hadn’t seen them before. She shared her story, tears filled my eyes and my heart was hurting for her. Though she spoke Georgian, the Holy Spirit gave my heart understanding. Before we left, I prayed over her for healing as she was unable to bear children [now I know she can, thank you Jesus]. I also prayed, for her to feel Gods love for her, that Hope’s husband would come to know Jesus and that their marriage would be what God intended it. The presence of God was in that room; you could see in her eyes that she saw hope and felt loved for the first time in a long time. Hope’s sister and friend were also touched by the love and compassion that we had for her. As I sat in my room with Jesus that night, I thought “If I only came to Georgia for just ONE to experience Gods love, if I came just for Hope-it was WORTH IT!
I think one thing us racers struggle with is the pressure to perform as if there is this unspoken expectation of leading 100’s of people each month to Jesus. I know I would LOVE to see that every day, but I also understand that God is moving in everything. Even when we can’t see what He is doing, He is still doing something. Our part as believers, is to not be afraid to love on those around us and share about what He has done in our lives. To be unashamed [Holy Spirit gives you boldness] to share the truth about Jesus’ pursuit and sacrifice for our freedom from sin and our ability to now walk in relationship with God, our father, our creator.
I’ll leave you with this final thought to ask yourself, how is your relationship with Jesus changing how you think & live? If you don’t have a relationship with Jesus, I’ll challenge you with this. Open up your heart to the possibility that you were created by someone for a purpose, who cannot be understood completely in the mind but rather in the heart. If you seek him with all your heart, you will find him. That’s a promise.
I love you very much, and I am excited for what God is doing in you. Hope to hear from you soon!
Love Always,
Adrian Riney
P.S. I would love to hear about how you are doing, feel free to comment below.
P.S.S. Egypt is the bomb.com and I cannot wait to share what all God does.
P.S.S.S. Seeing the pyramids and going on a boat down the Nile river was by far the coolest day of my life!!!! Seriously though, I think I cried at least 5 times. [Pictures to come soon]
