So we passed the halfway point of the race sometime last month, and I have been meaning to write a reflection blog ever since. I feel like God has been teaching me one major thing in each country – here's the recap:
IRELAND: Prayer really works. Like, really. We prayed specific, intentional prayers when we arrived at our hostel – that God would put people in our path during our stay who we could tell about Him. There was one particular guy that we singled out as soon as we arrived, and we prayed specifically for the opportunity to witness to him. Not 5 minutes later, he walked into our room and introduced himself, and our paths continued to cross. He ultimately accepted Jesus one night when he happened to walk into the room where we were having Bible study.
James 5:16 – "The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective."
UKRAINE: Though we may not always be directly sharing the gospel with the lost, our work with established churches and believers is not in vain. Our ministry in Ukraine primarily entailed helping with cleaning and construction at existing churches, and helping to disciple existing believers (our beloved gypsy boys). This may be the month that I felt God working most tangibly. We were told by our contacts numerous times that we had encouraged them greatly and spurred them on to continue doing God's work with fervor. The impact they will make over time is so much greater than what we could have done ourselves in one month, and I'm grateful that we could help to renew their spirits.
Hebrews 10:24-25 – "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching."
MOLDOVA: I am valuable because of who I am in Christ, and He has given me specific gifts to use for His glory. God had been using my team to confirm my worth in Him from the very start of the race, but I feel like it finally began to click during this month. I always had the head knowledge but never fully believed it in my heart. During our time in Transnistria, Pastor Yuri recognized my ability to pick up on Russian quickly. He called that out in me and really encouraged me to continue in learning and practicing different languages, because it was something God had given me for a purpose. It's pretty easy for me to identify gifts God has given other people, but it's a lot harder for me to see it in myself. I feel like God used that month to really get it through my head that He has gifted me uniquely just as He has all of His sons and daughters.
Ephesians 1:3-6 – "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved."
KENYA: The power of Jesus Christ lives in me, and He speaks through me and uses me mightily even in my weakness. Although I didn't realize it at the time, Kenya was a crazy month of growth for me in the area of boldness. That's something that's been spoken over me from month 1 of the race, and I feel like I finally started to step into it. We did a TON of ministry in Bungoma – from speaking at youth meetings, home groups, and chapel at the school, to preaching, house to house evangelism, praying for the sick at hospitals, and visiting an orphanage. I became SO much more confident in knowing what God was asking me to speak about, speaking boldly in front of people (even helping to lead people to Christ), giving encouraging words to strangers, and praying for people I had never met (out loud – funny how I was terrified of that before the race). We each took a turn preaching during the Sundays we were there, and of course I picked the last Sunday in order to put it off as long as possible. I was so incredibly nervous that morning, but as soon as I stepped onto the stage, a peace that could only have been from God washed over me. I felt like He gave me the exact words to say, and I actually enjoyed my time preaching. If you know me – you know that's a God thing.
Ephesians 6:19-20 – "And also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth BOLDLY to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it BOLDLY, as I ought to speak."
TANZANIA: We don't always have to be "doing" – God wants us to rest in Him, too. This month was defined a lot by struggle for me personally. We worked with orphans and street children that month, just spending time loving on them and being part of their lives. Usually I end up bonding with one child right off the bat, but this month was different. It seemed all of my team members had their one kid, but that wasn't true for me. I'm not sure why it bothered me so much, but I thought about it a good deal. Looking back, I think God was trying to get me to just rest in Him, and to take a bit of a break from a heavy 4 months of relational ministry. Not to say that I didn't interact with the children and love them – it was just different. Another struggle was spending time with God and making Him the focus. I read through Romans that month, but I remember just going through it to check it off my to do list, and not really getting a lot out of it. That's when God started to speak to me about striving – and how I make my relationship with Him a daily checklist item. How I've made it into a huge effort, when that's not what it should be. He told me it was OK not to read multiple chapters of the Bible every day (and take notes on them), not to do an organized Bible study – but just to hang out with Him, talk to Him, and listen to what He has to say.
Isaiah 40:28-31 – "Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint."
MOZAMBIQUE: God's purpose does not always line up with mine, and I need to seek Him in every situation so that I don't miss my opportunity to fulfill the purpose He has for me. Our time in Mozambique looked nothing like we expected it to. Unfortunately, our contact Angie (who is American) was returning from visiting family in America, but was unable to re-enter Mozambique due to some paperwork problems, and was stuck in South Africa the whole month. We had a lot of down time in her absence, and I struggled with feeling useless and not being able to "do ministry". My perspective changed when we received an e-mail from Angie thanking us so much for just being at her home and spending time with her children when she was not able to be there with them, especially at Christmas time. I realized that God had us there at just that time for a very specific reason. It wasn't what we thought we were there for, but it was what God intended to use us for. And I almost missed that due to my limited vision of what ministry "should have" looked like.
Proverbs 16:9 – "The heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps."
