This week I arrived in South Africa to begin month 6 of the World Race. I have served in 6 countries so far and will be home in about 5 1/2 short months!
To celebrate the halfway point of my World Race, I want to give you a recap of some of my favorite ministry experiences so far. I also want to let you know how I pray for each of the ministries I’ve worked with and open up an invitation for you to join me in prayer.
So to begin, a few notes on prayer:
We can advance the kingdom through prayer.
Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field — Matthew 10:37-38
Prayer influences the way that God acts and should be consistent with His will as revealed through Scripture.
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And we know that he hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of him — 1 John 5:14-15
We should pray with faith and expectation.
But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind — James 1:6
And now, a glimpse at the first 6 months of my World Race:
Month 1
I began the World Race in Sielmat, India working with a ministry called Bibles for the World.
The Gospel first came to Sielmat in 1910 through a young, solitary missionary. Since then, the church has flourished in Sielmat as it has not in almost every other area of India.
While in Sielmat, my squad and I helped with construction of area churches, prayed over patients at medical camps, and studied with pastoral students at Trinity College and Seminary.
I made 2 especially dear friends in India: Jeremy a hilarious 13-year-old boy with unrivaled loyalty and Seiboi a 25-year-old who is paralyzed from the waist down after a fall of multiple floors but retains his optimism and ability to form long-lasting friendships.
I pray that the Gospel will continue to thrive in Sielmat as churches grow. I pray that patients continue to receive healing and experience God’s grace and love at the free medical clinics hosted by Bibles for the World and that the students at Trinity College and Seminary continue to receive training that will prepare them to go out and teach the Gospel with confidence and success. I pray that Jeremy grows up strong in his faith and receives an education that will enable him to provide for a family and serve others. I pray that he finds joy in God’s presence. I pray that the Lord would heal Seiboi so that he can get up and walk. And if not, I pray that He would fill Seiboi with peace and use him as an instrument to spread the Good News.
Month 2
I spent month 2 in beautiful Pokhara, Nepal working with women who perform in a thriving dance bar industry.
My team and I visited dance bars in Pokhara until late in the evenings, watching women perform and inviting them to our tables to chat and initiate friendships. We then invited the women to our home for the month for “beauty days” to paint their nails, wash their feet, make flower crowns, and share snacks.
I pray that the women who work in dance bars in Pokhara would be loosed from the chains of this unsavory industry. I pray that through the Nepali friends my team and I worked with, the women we befriended would continue to learn about their beauty and wholeness in the eyes of the Lord. I pray that they would not seek love and affirmation away from God and would be able to find other stable employment.
Month 3
For month 3 my team and I were on the coast in DaNang, Vietnam. We spent our time teaching English classes and practicing English conversational skills at a local cafe with Vietnamese university students.
I taught beginner English classes with my friend and co-teacher Trinh about fun topics like breakfast foods, international travel, and American Christmas celebrations. As friendships developed at the cafe, I also had the opportunity to share the gospel with several individual students. Many of these students had never heard the Gospel before due to restrictions placed by Vietnam’s communist government.
I pray that students at the cafe would continue to learn English and improve their career prospects. I also pray that the students would discover and seek the Lord. I pray for confidence and safety for my friends like Trinh who disciple young Christians in Vietnam.
Month 4
My team and I taught English again during month 4 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. We lived and hosted classes at a church called Phnom Penh Promised People Presbyterian Church in the heart of the bustling capital city.
I taught elementary and high school students about topics like government, careers, and Valentine’s Day. These classes served as a gateway for students to become involved in the church.
I pray that 5P Church would continue to flourish and serve as an oasis for believers in the midst of the overwhelmingly Buddhist city of Phnom Penh. I pray for continued reconciliation, recovery, and peace for the country of Cambodia following the Cambodian genocide. I pray that the English classes my team and I began would continue and would lead students to church involvement and a relationship with the Lord.
Month 5
My team and I began ministry in Africa for month 5. We lived in the village of Molepolole, Botswana and served at a daycare for orphan and at-risk preschoolers for our first 2 weeks in the country. We sang songs, learned games, and made worksheets for the children.
During our final week in Botswana, my team and I journeyed to the even more rural village of Ranaka and lived with a pastor and his sweet wife Ida. We traveled by foot through the village each day in the pouring rain with Ida to worship and share scripture at schools and clinics and on front porches.
I pray that the preschoolers we grew to love in Molepolole would be provided all of their physical needs like food and clothing. I pray that their school would continue to run and care for them. I pray for steadfastness and energy for their teachers. I pray that the children would grow up knowing that they have a place in God’s family. I pray also for the village of Ranaka and for Ms. Ida’s family. I pray that the Lord’s presence would continue to be known throughout the village and in her home.
Month 6
This month I am living in Pretoria, South Africa with my team. We are serving with an organization called Beam Africa to care for at-risk youth in the community.
We spend our afternoons serving the kids a meal, helping them with their homework, and playing and singing songs with them. These children live amidst poverty and brokenness but have joyful and loving spirits.
I pray that through Beam Africa these children would learn how precious they are to the Lord and would grow up in relationship with Him. I pray that their physical needs would continue to be provided for and that the racial tension surrounding them in South Africa would dissipate and create a more safe and harmonious environment for them to grow up.
Thank you for joining me in prayer for my new friends around the world and for supporting me through every step of this journey. There are more updates to come soon!
With love,
Brooke
