Hola, family, friends, and supporters. Today is our last day in Peru. I figured I should post a blog before I leave this time. Let’s begin with some facts before I get to the nitty-gritty :)!
• Country: Peru
• Dates: February 8th – February 28th
• Local Currency: Soles (good exchange rate here)
• Local Language: Espanol (Spanish)
• Ministry Partner Name: Savage Ministries
• Minister Partner Location: Trujillo, Peru
• Ministry Partner Contacts: Joel and Maria
Rarely does this happen, but we had another ALL month squad ministry. The first few days I was very exhausted because I wasn’t getting the introvert time that I needed and because I didn’t know where exactly I belonged amongst the crowd of my squad. I would feel anxiety after I would get my plate of food because I had to figure out who I would sit by. It was like being the new kid at high school. I was simply overwhelmed. Over the days and weeks, I grew to love being with all of my squad. I made new friends and had fun times with them. Now that it’s our last day and I know that I won’t see them for awhile, I’m going go miss them!
This month in Peru, God was calling me in many ways to be a better version of myself and Him. God told me this month:
• to be more vulnerable with my squad and team
• to be more intentional about getting to know my squad
• to have a better servants heart and to serve others more
• that it’s okay to be an introvert and it’s okay to need to have introvert time
• to work on the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22)
• to not compare myself with others and to love myself more
• to strip me of a huge comfort
As you can see, God gave me a lengthy list to work on. Some of these things have been easier than others, some things have been mediocre, but some others have caused me to massively struggle.
God is putting me through certain struggles now to grow more in love with Him, to depend on Him more, and to truly make Him my first priority. It has been mentally exhausting and painful, but God has been slowly showing me that it is good to be beautifully broken right now. God has lead room for me to grow at a rapid rate, and this makes me excited to see how I will be by the end of the race.
God is not a mean God, He is a loving God. He will love and fight for me, you, us, no matter what. God has been with me every step of the way, He always has. He wants an intimate relationship with me – He wants an 11 month honeymoon with me. Because I’m still in my beautifully broken struggle bus, it hasn’t been the best and most exciting honeymoon with God yet, but I know that He will provide that in His time.
Because I have been obeying God by working on these areas and because I’ve made some huge sacrifices, He has been showing me more of Him, showing me more of His love for me, giving me more peace, and He has given me some spectacular blessings!
Those blessings are:
• A new iPad 2! Mine got stolen on the bus ride from Ecuador to Peru.
• Reuniting with my left Chaco that had been missing since the last day of our last ministry. Thank you Karissa and Stacie for finding it!
• Two friends showing me their love by doing acts of service. Thank you Jenn for cleaning the bathrooms for me and thank you Olivia for doing the rest of my laundry :)!
• One of my squad mates giving me her iPhone. Yes, it is possible to get a free iPhone on the World Race. It’s too good to be true, right?! Thank you, Kristy for listening to the Holy Spirit :)!
• …and more to come!
Tonight the entire squad will leave at 10:00pm on a bus to begin our journey to Bolivia. It will be 45 hours before we arrive in La Paz, Bolivia. From there, all the teams will go our separate ways to our own ministers. Some teams will have long bus rides ranging from 5 – 80 more hours! My team will take a bus that’s only 5 hours. All I know about our ministry is that it’s located in Caravani, Bolivia and we will be working with two male missionaries. We have not been informed what we will be doing there yet. That’s the World Race for ya ;)!
