TEAM DEEPER.
It started with 4.
Christie, Tori, Jessi, and Agnes.
Our team began in Uganda, in our training week at Reformed Theological College (we lovingly call RTC). God, our coaches, and mentor poured into us for the week preparing us for the next 11 months of serving and growing in our walk with The Lord. Jessi had taught our squad the worship song, Deep, and it perfectly packaged what we were looking forward to in our upcoming journey.
Deep, way down deep
Way down deep down in my soul
I got the peace of Jesus
I got the joy of Jesus
I got the love of Jesus
And it’s deep down in my soul
When it came time to “name” our team, we were all excited and ready to jump off the starting line into our journey…so we decided on the name “DEEP.” Lord, take us deeper into relationship with each other and with You was our prayer.
April in Malaysia.
God had stretched and pushed us more than any of us expected.
Surprise! You get a new teammate! Evelyn from Indonesia joined, and we became…
TEAM DEEPER.
We began this journey and this team in hopes of God taking us deeper, and He has not disappointed. We recently found out that we will be changing teams soon, and Team Deeper will be no more…so in celebration of our time together, here are a few “DEEPER” lessons that God has taught us along our journey together.
“Ministry is not just a one-time event. It is not about fulfilling any other expectation and showing how fruitful I am in human eyes. Ministry is life, and life is ministry. It started from a small obedience to be humble and listen to God’s whisper, followed His example, turned it into action, and you cried because you understand His heart deeper.” Evelyn
“Bananagrams is not an international game”. – Agnes
“You are more adventurous, courageous, beautiful, artistic, fun, and capable than you think. You are incredible. Sometimes, you just have to take risks to see those things revealed. To let go of the known, to find yourself in the unknown.” – Tori
“Bunkbeds are not for sleeping in…bunkbeds are for feeling every move the other person makes.” -Christie
“Some lessons that God wants you to learn are easy. You learn your lesson, you move on. Other lessons are long term; our personalities are deeply ingrained with our sinful human nature and it takes time after time for God to remind us. Sometimes we think we have mastered a hurdle, and God kicks it up to the next level or teaches us the same lesson, but from a different angle. Through it all…He is gracious and so so patient with us, and loves teaching us over and over.” -Christie
“We celebrate our bowel movements.” – Tori
“We’ve gained a deeper understanding of His love for us and who we are in Him:
-His beloved daughters
-holy and blameless in His sight (Colossians 1:22)
-beautiful, without any flaws (Songs of Solomon 4:7)
And God has given us new lenses to see each other just as He sees us. With these sharpened lenses, we have grown deeper in unity; loving each other through challenges and discord, “hangriness” (hungry and angry, real thing), discomfort and missing home. Five amazing women who came together as strangers, have now become sisters.” – Jessi
“To master the “stank face” and “soft smile” practice is necessary and can become part of daily team time.” – Christie
“Things that seemed important to me – like having a warm shower and a nice and fancy bed – are not that important anymore. The opposite happened, people are what I now see as most valuable.” Agnes
“You know who’s not sleeping well in their tent because their sleeping pad sounds like a fresh diaper.” – Jessi
“Sometimes we look so hard and far away from our hostels that we miss our ministry opportunities. God places your ministry often right in front of you – sometimes they are your teammates. God is a God of surprises and likes to put people right at your doorstep”. Agnes
“A whole team of 4 can cram into a 2 person tent to watch a movie together.” – Jessi
“It isn’t important that we understand the WHY behind what God is asking us to do…It is important that we simply obey His call.” – Christie
“You can notice immediately that your teammate is wearing something you’ve never seen before and say, “Has that been packed away since month one…..?” – Jessi
“No matter what background you have, what culture you have, what type of person you are, when it comes to God’s love and His words, we can just fit in and complement each other. It was just an awesome time witnessing and seeing how connected the global Body of Christ is.” Evelyn
““When going deeper it doesn’t matter what the challenge is, we just want MORE.” God has spoken and he’s told us to dream BIGGER. We’ve witnessed many of His miracles over the past four months, and we are so hungry for more.” Jessi
