As our month in Thailand was coming to a close, we were hit with some news-all teams were about to undergo massive changes before heading to Cambodia. We knew there were going to be some changes by month 5, when our current squad leaders leave and new ones are raised up, but it came as a bit of a shock as our team had just gotten changed a few weeks prior. Knowing this information while we still had a week left of ministry would typically turn into a distraction, but I’m actually really thankful that I had time to process it with God. I came to the realization that I had gotten into somewhat of a comfort zone on the race. Even though it might not have shown on the outside, I really wasn’t giving God and the people around me my all.
In fact, the whole month in Thailand I had felt a deep hunger for more. God was calling me to leave behind complacency and compromise, meanwhile convicting me that I needed to be all in. I’ve been super stoked to be working in countries with so few who know Christ and I think it has been somewhat of a wake-up call to remind me that what I’m doing is so crucial. People need to hear about who Jesus is and what He has done, so many people have no idea. I was reading a book by Bill Johnson where he says, “Casual prayer gets casual revelation,” whereas deep cries move the heart of God.I realized that on a subconscious level I had doubted the power of prayer. And so I started crying out to God and asking Him to give me a new passion and fire in my heart.
Long story short, God responded to my cries.He gave me such a sense of peace with whatever was to come. Then He started blowing me away with revelations about the absolute reality of my forgiveness and how the mistakes I’ve made and sins I’ve committed in my past have zero effect on the person who I am today. By God’s grace, I can still become exactly the woman who He has created me to be–being forgiven and free actually has a tangible effect on the here and now. It proved to me that when you make God your priority, He notices and really does make everything else fall into place. He is faithful to His promise,“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13.)
For this next season of the race, I have the honor of serving with a group of amazing and powerful women. The first time we met, Susan shared that she felt God give us the team name “Unveiled,” which is pulled from 2 Corinthians 3:17-18, “Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” It immediately resonated with all of us. My prayer is that we be a team who walks in freedom and is unveiled to who we truly are in Christ. I am so pumped for this new season and ready to see the places God is going to take us in Cambodia and beyond!
