Hello!
We did it. Month 1 is complete! We moved to Accra, Ghana, for our first squad debrief on the 14th February. We made it there after two 12 hour bus rides and enjoyed the sweetest time of squad fellowship and rest. We spent 4 days there before moving to Sunyani, for all squad month here in Ghana.
It’s hard to even begin to process everything that we seen and did in Month 1, it was simultaneously the hardest and sweetest time. It was a time of being stripped away of pretty much everything I’ve ever known and finding out what is really at the core of who I am. It was a time of diving so deep into God’s word and searching for Him in every single page to sustain us through this month. It was a time of learning about my team mates and how we could support & love each other, even though we had spent a total of approximately 14 days together before Month 1. You get to know people REAL well when you live in one small bedroom/bathroom set up together all month.
Month 1 was spent for us living in the jungle of the Western Region of the Cote d’Ivoire. We lived village life all month; think red dust roads, brick hut houses, chickens absolutely everywhere (also goats, pigs, ducks & cows), children surrounding you anywhere you walk (the best), cooking over coals, washing your clothes in buckets with soap, waking up early along with the roosters crowing, mosquito nets, squatty potties, fresh baguettes, rice with every meal, washing each others hair under a mango tree, climbing said mango tree for fresh fruit (thank you Prisca), drew water from wells and survived the month with little to no phone service and a few hours of Wi-Fi.
This was hard for us. Really, really hard. And yet now, when I look back on the month I smile and laugh at the memories we made and become overwhelmed with immense pride that we ran the first month of our race with integrity and pushed through right to the very end, being spurred along the entire way by the work of the Holy Spirit. You see, it was absolutely not by my strength that we finished this month, I would have been on the first flight home with the worst case of culture shock you have ever seen (not a joke), but the Lord faithfully pursued us each and every day and before we knew it we were here, in Month 2.
God was no where to be seen, and yet everywhere we looked. God wasn’t walking alongside us, He was carrying us to the finish line. God wasn’t looking at us from afar and wondering what on earth we were doing with ourselves (like I was), he was wiping every tear when we were sad, and laughing alongside us when we were happy. Having faith in Jesus Christ requires you to look past the fact that we cannot tangibly see a Saviour standing right in front of us, and yet if you are willing to get into the dirt with his people then you will see Him in their eyes every time you give them a smile and a hug. God is everywhere, and yet really nowhere, & faith is believing exactly that.
In Mark 12:41-44 it tells the story of Jesus in the temple watching the people give their offering, and he comments on a rich man and a poor widow specifically.
“Jesus sat down near the collection box in the Temple and watched as the crowds dropped in their money. Many rich people put in large amounts. Then a poor widow came and dropped in two small coins.
Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has given more than all the others who are making contributions. 44 For they gave a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she had to live on.”
As I read this story it completely resonated with me for this month. We didn’t have much, and yet we had everything that the people there could give us. We were literally given the absolutely best of what they had, and it was not at all what we were used to, but it was just like the widow who was willing to give everything she had to try and grow the Kingdom. How could we be anything but grateful? The Lord will do beautiful things in changing your perspective when you let Him.
Month 1 taught me more than I was ready for, I hope the next 10 months do exactly the same! I’ve posted some pictures below so you can see us in the midst of it all, I hope you enjoy them. Video number 2 is on its way too, make sure you’ve watched the 1st (see previous blog post!)
Love,
C xo
