It’s been really hard for me the past month the just sit down and write a blog post. So many things have been happening that I don’t even know where to start or choose what to write about. So I finally came to the decision to write about the past 2 weeks with my new team, the SheBrews, as we travel from Guyana to Suriname to French Guiana to Brazil and simply asking the lord (ATL) what he wants us to do and where he wants us to go, with the goal of getting contacts for future world racers. As I sit down to write this I was wishing that I had a cup of coffee to help with my concentration… and based on how blessed we’ve been the past 2 weeks it’s no surprise that there is already coffee being brewed by the maid in this beautiful house that a Brazilian family has welcomed us to with open arms. I honestly feel like the Lord is opening all these doors and making all these amazing things happen and I’m just along for the ride. There is no way that any of us could take credit for any of the blessings that have been bestowed on us, except by the love of our Father. So let me tell you about some of the blessings and what can happen when you simply ask what God has planned for you each day and then be willing to follow Him.
If you are wondering what I mean by “Ask the Lord,” it can of course come in many different forms, but for our team we would spend 20-30 minutes in silence just listening to what the Lord had to tell us; sometimes this means reading his word or a devotional or maybe taking a walk or even listening to some music. It started in Paramaribo, Suriname when we asked the Lord what he wanted for us and our team. He told us that he really wants us to minister to one another and grow unified as a team and that this month was going to be happening one step at a time. We decided to start at a coffee shop since we all are obsessed with coffee, hence the team name. On our walk over a church caught our eye, so we decided to stop to check it out and then found a christian school behind it. Next thing we know we set up a meeting with the HR director for that school district and now we have a contact that will bring in future world race teams to Suriname for 66 different elementary schools. All it took was me listening to the inclining of the Lord to walk into a building and then He did the rest. Afterwards we continued on to the coffee shop where we did affirmations to each other and my teammates somehow affirmed everything about myself that I had been questioning. God is good!
Next stop was Kourou, French Guiana. We had originally tried to do some research and stay at a convent, but the Lord had other things in mind. We ended up at the beach with all our packs and gear and no where to go. The crazy thing was that none of us were worried in the slightest. We actually were really excited, like that butterfly feeling of anticipation when something exciting is going to happen. As we prayed we all received from the Lord the message of, “just trust me.” So we did. I spent the day enjoying his beautiful creation by swimming in the ocean and basking in the sun on some pretty cool rock formations as well as getting to know my squad mates better. A few of my teammates walked to a local McDonalds and were greeted by a local teacher named Heidi. When she heard our story she was able to connect us with a French family from her school who housed us for the next 3 days. In one of the listening prayers we did, one of my teammates got the name Melissa and wouldn’t you know it, this woman, Celine, has a daughter named Melissa and her room is where we slept for those days. They not only opened their house to us, which has a pool by the way, but also cooked for us, made drinks for us, showed us the space station, let us use their laundry machine, had great conversation and even took us all out for dinner for the husband’s birthday one night. They have an 11 year old son who took us to his English class one day and we were not only able to practice english with the students but also made another contact for future racers. Once again we didn’t do anything except show up and the Lord did his thing.
Once we got the the Brazilian border we also learned a good lesson in listening. In the morning we prayed and a few of us got the word, hotel. It’s funny how clearly the Lord can give us direction and then we forget to ignore it. We went on to cross the border and decided that it would be best to take the 6pm bus to Macapa (our next destination) so that we could sleep on the bus overnight and get there as quick as possible. We show up at the bus station after a long day of travel and the bus is already full. We ask the Lord to give us a sign and are hoping that 7 seats magically appear on the bus. Before we even finish praying a woman approaches us and tells us how to buy tickets for the bus the following day at noon. At that point all we wanted to do was get out of that unsafe, gross city and get on our way, but it was at that point obvious that God didn’t want us to leave yet and we needed to follow His plan, not our own. We proceeded to find a hotel, which ended up being really nice and we all ended up sleeping for 11 hours straight! It’s the best night sleep that I’ve probably had since coming on the race. Once again God knows better than we do.
We decided to next go to Belem, which was not an obvious stop on our way down the Amazon… it’s actually the opposite direction. As we questioned this decision after being warned that it can be a dangerous place, we asked God what to do. He told ALL of us that he would protect us and not to worry. As we boarded the riverboat and set-up our hammocks for sleeping, we were helped by a Brazilian english speaker named Victor. Once we got talking and he heard of our situation he offered up his parent’s house to us. Talk about not only a blessing but also protection; they live in a gated community with 3 spare rooms. They have taken us to their country club for swimming, fed us above and beyond, taken us to the most beautiful catholic church I’ve ever laid eyes on, taken time off of work to drive us around the city, made multiple contacts for us, and it’s only been 24 hours. The father, Francisco, is a civil engineer that owns his own construction company and with his wife, Yolanda, has built and started an elementary school in a poor neighborhood for children who have been abandoned. She spends her days running the school and the rest of her time heavily involved in her catholic church. The craziest part in that Yolanda is always telling us how she feels so privileged and humbled that God chose her to house and provide for us.
I have received more than I could imagine and it was not by my own works but by His.
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”-Ephesians 3:20-21
So I encourage you all who read this to open your eyes to not only see the plans that the Lord has made for you and to simply ask, listen and follow. If you create the time and space, it’s a lot easier than you think.
