Hello again supporters and friends,
I am writing this with less than a little over a week left before I leave for my trip. I am eagerly and fearfully anticipating September 27th, the day I leave for the Philippines.
Since my last letter I have attended training camp in Gainesville, Georgia and been placed on my small team. The entire squad consists of 53 people. As a squad we will travel from country to country together. We are placed in smaller teams of five to seven and once we arrive in the country we break up in our teams and go to the ministry that we will be working with for that particular month.
I have the privilege of being placed on the only all women’s team on the October squad. It was extremely easy to think of all the things we might not be able to do because we do not have a man on our team. We will be in many areas where it will be a necessity to have a man go with us such as to the market or out into the community. We had to be reminded that there are so many more things that we will be capable of doing because we ARE an all women’s team. I am so excited that we can go into a community and focus on the women who live in it. We have the privilege to encourage and raise up the women of the world in a way that a mixed gender team might not have. Each team gets to decide on our own team name. After much consideration and prayer our team chose the name HEPHZIBAH. We found this name in Isaiah 62.
1 For Zion‘s sake I will not keep silent,
for Jerusalem‘s sake I will not remain quiet,
till her righteousness shines out like the dawn,
her salvation like a blazing torch.
2 The nations will see your righteousness,
and all kings your glory;
you will be called by a new name
that the mouth of the LORD will bestow.
3 You will be a crown of splendor in the LORD’s hand,
a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
4 No longer will they call you Deserted,
or name your land Desolate.
But you will be called Hephzibah,
and your land Beulah;
for the LORD will take delight in you,
and your land will be married.
5 As a young man marries a maiden,
so will your sons marry you;
as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride,
so will your God rejoice over you.
Training camp was quite an experience. I was challenged physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Each morning began at 6:30am by getting up and working out. We then had breakfast. You would think that eating meals would have been the easiest, least complicated part of camp…that was not the case. Each day was based on a different country that we will be visiting. In the morning a board would post a description of the country and the customs that we will be expected to observe. Many of those customs included women serving men meals, making sure no one’s bowl went empty, women sitting on the floor, and lots of eating with our fingers! After breakfast we would have quiet time and then sessions or outdoor team building activities. Those activities led to many cuts and bruises on my arms and legs! The afternoons and evenings held more sessions and activities.
One night we participated in a role play of the underground church in China. Before the game started we were given an envelope that contained what our role in the event would be. We were told to get our headlamps and hide in the woods and then open our envelope. If you know me, you know I don’t like the dark, and I definitely don’t like being alone in the dark at night, spiders are not my best friends, and being chased really freaks me out! When I opened my envelope my worst fear was confirmed. It said that I was the missionary for my church. Instantly images of me running by myself in the woods surrounded by spider webs, being chased by the secret police popped into my head…I was terrified! As the game started all my fears came true. As I would walk in the dark woods by myself trying to find people to take to our secret church, I would have to dodge HUGE (I am not exaggerating) spider webs that hung between the trees. Then, I would see headlamps scanning the woods and know instantly that it was the secret police. I was running, jumping, crouching on the ground, sticking my hand in fire ant houses, and of course, getting caught and chased by the secret police. The police would take us to jail where we would be forced to do push-ups or other physical tasks while being yelled at and sprayed down with a hose. It was quite an evening! I just kept thinking that it was a game to me, but there are so many people who live that life. There are people who actually are tortured for their faith. It made me excited to meet and interact with people who have a faith that can withstand such brutality.
