In my last post, I mentioned how I was not as present as I probably should have been, so I decided to disconnect from everything that was holding me back from being in the here and now and to intentionally dig deeper into all God had for me in those moments.
So much fruit came from my obedience and intentionality and I want to share it with you all. It will be spread through a series of posts so that I can elaborate more on certain events. This post will serve as more of an introductory post to highlight the things that took place and are still in the process of occurring. There has been a lot that has occurred, but it’s rather juicy, so sink in.
One of the first things God made me do was sit with him for the first week of my disconnect to dive into some of the issues I was facing, like how I was struggling to love my neighbor. He began to align my heart and mind and to place them on things above. He had already downloaded a message on my heart about the situation, but as I sat with Him He taught me more about it. I was actually able to share it among my squad as a whole during debrief, so that we could all take the meat necessary for us individually to grow. I will be making a post that shares that message because I believe we all can learn something from it. So, be on the lookout for “Loving Thy Neighbor, Even when it’s Difficult”. Everything may not apply to each person, but I urge you to “eat the meat and spit out the bones” as one of my former teammates would say. I will get into why I said “former” in just a moment.
When God was finished tending to my heart, He released me to go out into the streets and to spend more time with my hosts to build intentional profound relationships. During that time although not much was left, I began to get to know everyone better. This is another post that will be coming soon; “Meet some Togolese”. I also, got to know some of the locals and one of them, her name is Jessica, began giving me French lessons each afternoon. I still can’t hold a conversation, but I know a few words and have learned what their syllables sound like. It was a great time to just spend and laugh also. While she was teaching me numbers we approached ten and in French, it is spelled “dix”, well she wanted me to sound it out, but I was highly reluctant knowing what that sounds like in English. As she continued to urge me to try, I explained that that word sounds like a bad word in our language. She asked me to explain and to spell it out, so she could look it up on YouTube ha-ha! I immediately said NOOOOOOOO and did my best to help her understand what it meant in English, so she knew not to look it up. All that and the word “dix” is really pronounced “dis” lol! It was a good time though and I am grateful no children were around.
Three major events also took place during this time. The first was an African wedding, it was quite an experience if I say so myself. It was loud, with people blowing horns at random moments and random dancing taking place. The Bride and Groom had to hold straight faces through the ceremony, so at first, I wondered why they were getting married when they seemed so unhappy, but I eventually observed that it was just a part of how they do things. The man had a grand entrance and the woman did also, they danced their way to the altar. It was nothing like that of the traditional American wedding, which was never really an expectation, but it was one for the books. I can’t say that I would want to endure one of those again, seeing as I can still hear the horns blaring as I write about it, but I am honored to of had the opportunity to join them in their moment of unity. They also were so amazing, they provided us with handmade dresses to wear to their wedding.
I ended up getting to interact with the bride more at one other major event that took place, Beauty for Ashes, and she is a beautiful woman. Three of the four of our teams on our squad were together last month, so the three of us Beauty for Ashes coordinators got together and decided to put an event together for the women. The turnout was so God … yes, it was good too lol. Fortunately for you, that is a post of its own as well, so when you see “For Such a Time as This”, just know there are some ashes that got turned into beauty for you to discover.
The other event that took place was for the children in the orphanage that our host cares for and the children in the community near the church he pastors. We had about 65 children attend the event where we provided a meal for them, did arts and crafts, played games, and sang and danced. The children had a ball and time flew by so fast that it made us all sad. One thing especially made me sad during the event though. There was a young girl that was standing outside as if she wanted to come in, so I went out to invite her to come to have fun, but she smiled and refused then began to walk away. I continued to insist that she come, but she kept smiling and walking away. Shortly after she left a man from the community informed me that she couldn’t even though she wanted to because she is Muslim, and we were hosting the event in a church. Poor kiddo, I felt so broken for her. She is a beautiful young lady and I pray that one day God reaches her heart and her family. Please join me in praying that for her.
All of our major events were during our last week in Togo, so we experienced so much greatest and even more depth in relationships before leaving. Leaving Togo was difficult for me, it brought me to tears. I absolutely loved our hosts and I spent a lot of time with them sharing laughs, learning their languages both French and Ewe, as well as getting to knowing them and more about the country. They taught me so much about why they worship God as powerful as they do and how important God is to them. They said, they may not have a bunch of material things, but we have God and He provides for us. They are so beautiful in and out. Togo thank you for everything you taught me.
Those are all things Togo and some things me, so let me give you a brief update on Squad Z and slightly more about me.
We as a squad are experiencing a lot of transition this month. We left Togo five days and are currently wrapping up our five day debrief in Ghana before we are placed with our new ministry hosts. We are also making huge strides towards self-governance which has also been the goal. The previous month, our alumni team leaders left, and team leaders were raised up from each of our four teams. Now, our alumni squad leaders are transitioning out and two of our squad members have been raised up to lead us as a whole body. We also just had team changes a couple of days ago … I was super nervous and now that I know who my team is I am super excited! Anyhow, we went from having four teams to now only having three. This also came with new roles. I was once a Beauty for Ashes coordinator which I technically will always be anyhow, but not officially anymore because an executive decision has been made to have only one on the squad instead of one on each team, seeing as each coordinator has trained all the ladies on their teams, so we are all capable of hosting an event. I am now a storyteller coordinator which I believe is very suiting as well.
My former team Scelte (Chosen in Italian) ended up being just that. Many times, we questioned and wished we were on different teams, now I can say that I love them, and I am going to miss them.
I am excited about my new team though because I feel like God is shifting us all into a new season of more unity and less chaos. Also, God did some really sweet stuff with His intentionality. I love how He flows in the spirit. Our leaders pray for some time about who should be placed where and to see how God reveals it in truth is amazing. My new team is, as written on the paper we received:
Anna … Also
Kayla … Known
Alycia … As
Kristen … Kingdom
Adi … Advancers
We got our name through a series of praying and asking the Lord when we first got together. The even more beautiful part is that our other teams sought the Lord in prayer about their names also and God gave them Kingdom Seekers and the other team got Fellowship. After I heard Seeker’s name, I laughed and said watch us all be something Kingdom. God then gave me a revelation about each of our names and how they are all kingdom. Our vision statement is a tri-fold and like the trinity, does not work without all the pieces. It is first intimacy with the Father, then community with each other, followed by executing mission after successfully applying the first two. Well, to seek kingdom is to seek intimacy with the Father, to fellowship is to have community, and to advance the kingdom is to pursue mission. None of us knew anything about what names we got through prayer until a day later and God gave me that revelation a day after that. God is in the details as much as He is in the big picture. He is so intentional, it blows me away all the time.
Another thing we have endured as a squad, but has affected me personally for many reasons, was one of our squadmates going home. She was one of my best friends on the squad, we have been close since training camp. She was also the only other black girl on my squad, so she understood a lot about my culture that other people can’t. She is like my big sister and she helps me and challenges me to grow in so many ways. It broke my heart to see her go and it still hurts and frustrates me at times, but I still keep in contact with her and I am trusting the Father with her about the plans He has for her. Please join me in praying strength, peace, and clarity for her in this season.
Enduring pain has been a part of my story for quite some time, but I have learned over the years that God is a comforter, so I take it all to Him. My heart is overall in a good place and I am excited about all the changes and what God has in store for this month in Ghana. This is the only country in our route where they speak English, so I am ready to dive in and leave all I have to offer with no hesitation.
I did not reach my final goal by the deadline, but I am still optimistic that the Father will provide. If you’re led, please join me in praying for the provision to be fully-funded.
Thank you, for joining the journey. I know that may have been a lot to take in, so I apologize for the wait, it was definitely necessary though. Month five here I am; present and ready for all you are. We just arrived at our new host’s house not so long ago. We don’t have 24/7 access to WiFi, but we have access for things such as this. It is beautiful here and the ministry is everything each of us prayed for. Fill you in more soon.
