Birds Eye View

Choruses of “Goodbye”, “I’ll miss you”, and, “I love you”, swirled around 

excited handshakes and tearful bear hugs 

 

Maybe you bid farewell to that season with a joyous grin and 

a spirit ready for adventure 

 

But maybe you bid that season farewell with hot tears streaking

down your cheeks and a voice that trembled as you agreed to trust your Father in

whatever this next year looked like

 

We were all afraid of something, and simultaneously all expecting something from the Race.

 

I don’t know what you were looking for, or even what you weren’t.

But I know that things have been found, some surprises and even some promises. 

I know that even if you don’t feel as though you fully know yourself, that you have found more of who you are within who you’re becoming.

 

Your eyes have been opened in awe and closed in mourning, seeing the harshness of poverty but the richness of its inhabitants 

Your ears have heard the whispers of God and the shouts of orphans and widows 

Your mouth has gifted people with truth realized and also apologies given

Your hands have created physical foundations and lived in the palms of thousands that were strangers turned friends

Your nose has smelled meals of hospitality in twelve countries 

Your feet have stood strong in hours of labor and in hours of worship

 

Your body has thrived through days of plane, train and bus rides.. months of shoveling dirt, planting coffee beans, chopping up plantain trees.. and even more months of chasing kids whose faces beam with the love of the Father, eating everything put in front of you, worshipping in languages that aren’t your own, and rejoicing when you find a small reminder of home (shoutouts to Dr. Pepper, Salt and Vinegar chips, and kombucha.. you know who you are). By God’s grace, you survived through all the pooping problems, spicy foods, and Dengue. You learned that not only can anywhere be a bathroom, but sometimes there’s no choice except to MAKE it a bathroom. Surviving on one backpack of clothes is possible, and once everyone smells, you realize that nobody smells (the key to the hotter months, I’m tellin’ ya). The floor for feedback can be opened in a variety of ways and body 

movements. Other countries do have deodorant sticks, tampons and good face wash – whoever made us worry about that was crazy. If you run out of toilet paper.. don’t fear: socks, underwear, and bra pads have proven to be a fair substitute. 

 

I won’t forget to give acknowledgment to the millions of moments this year where you gave your heart away. Knowing that you may never again see, talk to or the hear the voice of those you had come to love, you chose to continue giving all of yourself to the people in front of you. You realized that those who had called you brave as you left the States didn’t quite understand, because it wasn’t bravery that led you here. The courage to say yes came from the Source of courage Himself. As you said goodbyes, one month after the other, you began to feel just how vast the love of Abba is. It’s too magnificent to fully grasp. It’s too sacrificially beautiful to not share. In it, you can begin to understand the depth of value He holds for each human walking our planet. Some days, it felt impossible to give more of yourself to those around you. But in the midst of it, strength could always be found in Christ. The people we encountered this year, the relationships we formed, the ministries we worked with.. they were all worth it. Every goodbye that we said and every moment invested was worth it. If my goodbyes hurt, it was because they mattered.

 

You see, joy and suffering tend to work side by side. As co-laborers, they complement each other. Joy can always be found in the suffering. We were the joy set before Jesus on the cross, and as He suffered for us, He kept His mind on what was to come – and that was the joy of relationship with us, forever. I think that we do something similar when we choose to keep loving people, through the pain and the goodbyes, the constant giving of self.. We know that they were also that joy that Christ endured the cross for.. so we endure through pain, through exhaustion, through the desire to put self first. The people we encountered this year are worth it. The people you will encounter the rest of your life will be worth it. Perseverance is calling our name, each and every day. 

 

All of us have experienced brokenness this year. For some, it was beyond comprehension. Our pride, our prejudices, the jaded perceptions of others and ourselves.. all have been dealt a death blow by the grace and kindness of God. He has refined many intimate details of our hearts this year. He’s asking us to trust Him to continue excavating the ground we are trying to build our lives on. The soil of your heart.

 

As you venture back into the place that we once called our only home

You need to remember the truths of your year

Some are personal, and maybe only Papa and you know of them. 

Some may have been softly spoken to you through the Spirit, or 

blatantly obvious through the way Jesus taught you to live this year.

 

I pray that you would allow me to speak a couple more to you

before we part ways and begin the next journey that we’ve been graced to run.

 

Number one: Anywhere and everywhere can be home as long as we remember that home is only ever truly in the centre of God’s will, living in communion with Him.

 

Number two: At one point in time, you didn’t know how you would live without those you said “see you later” to. Now, as we prepare to say that to one another, you can be assured that you aren’t only going to keep living.. you’re going to keep thriving after this goodbye. A beautiful season is always just that – a season. The relationships that have been created though, have the ability and the depth to continue. We get to move on from this year knowing that through all the lessons learned, there were friendships that we have forged in the fire and the laughter of this experience. I have hope that they will last and be something to count on years from now.

 

Number three: His grace is sufficient for you. It always has been and will continue to be. 

 

Going our separate ways after this year might come with fear

With melancholy, with heartache

But it also comes with peace and with joy

We can be so forgetful about the time when we didn’t know what this year would look like, about the struggle to leave home or the difficulties of fundraising $18,200.. USD for those who are curious

Yet in this year, God has been a promise keeper

He has been our steady reminder of grace

He has been a provider of both finances and peace like a river

He has been the only thing able to get us out of bed some days,

and the one we have taken our doubts and pain and frustration to

He has been the excited friend when you rejoiced about something with Him

He has been the Father watching in pride as you have 

taken off the training wheels

He has peace for you to grab hold of for this next season

 

You are going back to independent, prosperous countries who claim to have it all, 

to be superior, to be free. But what they need is the knowledge that they weren’t created to do life alone. 

 

They need the knowledge of the Savior and the gospel which supersedes opinions, independence, political stance, social status, self sufficiency or allegiance to their country.

 

They need to see and hear and experience what you have begun walking in

You are walking in abundance

You are walking in a community of Kingdom living

You are walking in boldness and courage

You are walking in humility and intentionality

You are walking in forgiveness and gratitude

And when you don’t feel like you are, dust yourself off, declare it and keep trying 

 

We are now at a crossroads, and we get to choose to walk in those things

when we return home. 

 

It wasn’t always easy this year, but it was worth it. 

 

From here on, it will be worth it.