Before we began our adventure into the deep south…of Africa, we got blessed with the opportunity to serve in Turkey and Israel and a very welcomed opportunity indeed. Especially Turkey, as it was a total surprise. I’ll continue on this note a little further down.
In last blog I referenced a change in teams…let me continue on that tangent for a bit longer. Romania was full of changes as I mentioned, one saw me step down as leader of team Abandon and with two new team members added from another team that got completely broken up, this other event fostered the creation of team S’MORE. Life in team S’MORE lasted about 3 weeks until the Awakening program we had in Brasov where with more changes happening on the squad another would take place that would once again involve me…this time, I was moved to a completely new team, team Intensity, to serve as the only guy, serving with 6 other girls.
As you can imagine, this was a bigger change for me and even old team Abandon, as the tight nucleus family I once called Abandon was officially no more. I was very willing to go with the flow and just let these changes be done with, willing to take on the more drastic changes, willing to hopefully spare others the burden changes like this can often bring, without much thought to how it would affect me (in retrospect). First of all, seeing my old ‘Abandon’ mates immediate response to the change completely broke me and made it hit home even more that I was no longer within that tight knit group that had been formed in love, through conflict, tears and lots of laughter, under a banner of seeking out more of what God had for us, and I would miss them dearly.
With this new change, we got briefed on our entry into Turkey and the Middle East, with some attention on ministering to the Muslim community out there, guidelines and other things to note. We had one more pass through Bucharest bound for Turkey, and with some more change in plans, we found ourselves spending the night there. While in Bucharest, in the midst of all this, one of my new teammates, Tara, in an accident, fell from a two-story building that had her rushed and hospitalized with a fractured pelvis and some internal bleeding.
Honestly this is a story that has God written all over it, and I could go on and say loads about it, but I would be running off on a tangent…again. Needless to say, she took her first few steps, although with crutches, but on her own, looking fab as ever and just officially left the hospital not too long ago. She is recovering very well, still in Romania and still bringing Kingdom there. She really has big stories and testimonies God worked through this whole period. Its been another change, and hard not having her around. Looking forward to seeing her soon…please continue to keep her in your prayers.
With a twelve-hour bus ride behind us, we officially enter the amazingly beautiful city of Istanbul, Turkey. Has to be by far one of favorite destinations yet. Anyway, to cut the long story short, we spent a month between Turkey and Israel ministering to the Muslim community out there. It was interesting experience of stealthy type maneuvers and conversations that was very often very fruitful. The people in these countries are so hungry for truth and although there are certain restrictions, there are also a ton of opportunities to love them and share God’s heart…especially with the youth. It adds a whole new perspective to a degree, on ministering to this vastly unreached and sometimes, even miss-understood community.
With all the new and many changes, life on the race has sometimes been frustrating and often challenging but all things that should have me running back to God’s heart and seeking opportunities for further growth in my life. The phrase ‘community life is not easy’ often comes up, but the flip side is it is so worth it.
**I know, I know, you haven’t heard from me in a bit and I come and overwhelm you in one shot…My team is currently serving in a little village called Ezindwendweni out in the bush, basically back to the basics, with no electricity, clean water or any of those nice conveniences. This is basically a village that has only began to get introduced to the outside world in the last 10-15 years. It’s very cool and I love it out there. Needless to say, as you can imagine, internet access is not easy to come by and this is one day we got to come into town and get some more supplies and a break and let all you know we are alive and well. I might not be able to respond to you questions or comments for a week or so, but it’ll be great to see ‘wm when I get to it…love you guys and again, thanks for the ton of prayers….I will tell loads more on our time in Swaziland an Ezindwendweni, next time I get a chance…
