“And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:44-47)
I think of this scripture when I think of the race. Our time on the race usually consists of a lot of house visits and encouraging the people of the Church. It also includes living with the ministry host. Those are my favorite moments. Living with other families.
One thing the race has taught me is that we have just as much responsibility, if not more responsibility, to build up the Church and encourage other Christians.
Our ministry host family is just as much our ministry as the actual ministry. This month we stayed with Antonio and Maria and their two daughters. We love Antonio and Maria and they loved living in community with us. We were able to show them what community looks like, in living together. Antonio loved playing cards with us and just laughing and having fun. He’s quite a little jokester. Antonio loved showing us around Ecuador as well. He loved showing off his city and his friends. Diana, their oldest daughter who’s in college, would come into our room when she was home and just want to sit with us.
Sometimes we made the meals and sometimes they made the meals. A give and take. Just like in the verse. What’s mine is yours.
They served us by giving us time to rest and getting us free massages from their friends’ spa as well as free passes to the Hot Spring, which felt amazing.
It has been so encouraging as I have traveled the world to meet other believers and to see the work they are doing around the world. To see their hearts for the Lord and for others.
I have physically seen the Church around the world. And it’s beautiful.
The other night I was reflecting on how as we spend time with this family, and as they plant seeds, we reap the harvest and rewards from the seeds they plant, because we have encouraged them to keep working. And them the same to us. The picture of the Kingdom. The fruit that increases to our credit, as well as to theirs, just as Paul talks about in Philippians 4:17.
The Church is a family. We are advancing the kingdom just by encouraging.
The last week of ministry in Ecuador we stayed with our ministry contact’s brother in a city 7 hours away from Banos in El Carmen. This family was incredible as well. They live on a farm and are such hard workers. Juan Carlos, Lorena’s brother, has a smile that could encourage anybody having a bad day. And Ginny, his niece, who lived on the first floor of where we lived, was the cutest and sweetest child you will ever see in your life.
The hospitality overseas is incredible. They truly fulfill Peter’s command in 1 Peter 4:8-10.
Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies- in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.
On the last day and night we were in El Carmen, we went to the farm and they took us on a walk through the jungle. As I walked through the jungle, I thought, man this is something that not very many people will ever get to do. Juan Carlos’ brother-in-law got to show us his home, where he grew up. He knew that jungle like the back of his hand. We even got to drink bamboo water out of a bamboo tree.
It would have been easy this week to complain about having no running water, having to hold our breath every time we went into the bathroom because our toilet was full of 8 peoples pee, and being so over cold bucket showers that I just didn’t shower for a full week, but rather than complaining being on our lips, praise was on our lips (for the most part). I think from just a natural overflow of gratitude for these people and for the God who brought us all together. When you sit back and really see how beautiful that is, you can’t help but be thankful.
Same for those back home, when we really sit back and think about the people in our lives who we cherish, who we get to see everyday, you can’t help but be thankful, no matter what we are going through. No matter the traffic we’re sitting in, or the line we are waiting in, or the fight we just had. When we take a step back and cherish- it gives us a thankful heart.
A couple summers ago, I was going through a hard time after all my money was scammed from me (long story), and I was going through a Bill Johnson study called Strengthening yourself in the Lord. In that study, he said that whatever we’re going through, we might not ever have that exact situation happen again where we can give the sacrifice of praise to God in that very moment. I won’t have money stolen in Heaven, so what a wonderful opportunity to lay down my sacrifice of praise on the altar. I hope that makes sense. Bill Johnson explains it well. You should read the study.
But it reminded me that I’ll never be in this exact place ever again, to give thanks and praise in this very moment, and very spot in El Carmen, Ecuador.
On the last night of ministry, we went to their church. As we sang the Revelation song on stage,
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
Holy, Holy is He
Sing a new song to Him who sits on
Heaven’s mercy seat
Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty
Who was and is and is to come
With all creation I sing praise to the King of Kings
You are my everything and I will adore you.
Clothed in rainbows of living color
Flashes of lightening, rolls of thunder
Blessing and honor strength and glory and power be
To you the only one who’s King
Filled with wonder awestruck wonder
At the mention of your name
Jesus Your name is power, breath, and living water
Such a marvelous mystery
tears welled up in my eyes as I looked out and into the faces of the people we had spent time with that week. They were our family. Even without knowing how to talk to one another sometimes, they were our family. They loved the Lord so deeply, and they loved us so well.
I looked in the back of the room and there was Lorena’s mom, dancing and praising the Lord to the song, even though it was in English. Lorena had just told us about her mom having cancer, and she had just had a hard day of chemo. And there she was praising the Lord with us.
That’s something to be grateful for. I couldn’t help but kind of get nostalgic. I felt like a lot of the race just started flashing through my mind.
Thinking about Pastor Shamson and Coveta and the boys in India and all the house churches we got to go to and preach the gospel at, our adventure in Nepal to Chisapani with some of my favorite people and playing mafia around the bonfire, our jungle village living in bamboo huts in Thailand with the Burmese refugees worshiping God every morning and night, spending every day with the orphans in Ethiopia in the middle of nowhere, times of encouraging other american missionaries in Peru, hiking a 17000 footer in Bolivia, hiking Machu Picchu and worshiping at the top as a squad, experiencing life in community and receiving and giving feedback that has shaped us into better versions of ourselves.
Moments we will never get back.
I’ve truly loved being able to spend time with the Church around the world, and to be loved so well by our ministry hosts and try to love them in the best way as well.
I’m not just thankful for the Church around the world but the people of the Church that have been with me through this whole journey. My World Race family. I’ve been thinking about the race in how there’s nothing like it. Even though I’ve been living in community for the past 8 years, I’ve never lived side by side with people 24/7 where I’m never truly alone, where they see all parts of me. There’s a beauty in it. That they truly, truly see me. My true self. But see all the ugly parts of the truth too. And love me anyways. We walk with each other through every growth process that comes with every piece of hard feedback. Lots of tears go with all the laughs.
We are ambassadors of Christ, “sents ones” to proclaim His message. He gave us the ministry of reconciliation. Reconciliation to Him and thus reconciliation to one another. And that’s what we have tried to do as we have gone from country to country. I love the heart behind having hard conversations with people for the sake of one another. We want each other to know Christ, and we want there to be thankful hearts between each other, not bitterness, not unforgiveness. Just like Jesus showed us. That’s why we are here. That’s the picture we’re meant to give the world.
Here’s a video I made of the month, where we were and the people we’ve been with.
