Something I’ve realized the past 9 months, over and over again is small pieces of the Father in the people I meet. It didn’t have anything to do with if they “knew” Jesus or not. It’s just them being them. How people have shown compassion, served, and loved us throughout this entire journey. I’ve learned so much about the Father’s character and His grace and love by people expressing it to me all over the world for the past 9 months. You know a theme in the Bible seems to be God sending the most unlikely, unqualified people to do His biggest work and then miracles happen. Not because of the people, but because they said yes to God’s call and He did the rest through their weakness.
(In Colombia, I walked into this tiny paper house, held together by little rusty nails and some mud here and there, hanging on the side of a mountain. This little old lady welcomed us in and offered us her very best. We sat in the middle of her slowly sinking floor of her two bed room shack because her house had just been robbed of the plastic table the week before. I sipped some watery coffee out of a bright pink plastic cup and watched her sob as we shared stores with her about what Jesus has done in our lives. Compassion, hospitality, love, and service. Jesus man. side story)
In Ecuador, month 2, my team and I served at this place called, “Camp Hope” which was a day facility for disabled people from 6 months old to 35 year olds. We met a girl training to be a doctor, and she was volunteering there to get credit hours. We all quickly became friends and started hanging out almost every weekend. You know when you meet that friend that you can’t remember what life was like before them, it just makes sense. We naturally had deep Jesus conversations on our long drives to the beach or driving through the mountains. She wasn’t in the church and didn’t even have Jesus on her radar at all, but she sure did love us like she knew Him. She drove us around and showed us as much of Ecuador as we could see in one month. She served us hard and loved us big in many ways. She was so kind and shared everything she had with us. I saw so much of Papa’s character in her.
Flash forward 9 months, to about a week ago. My team and I are now in Albania, our last month of the race. This girl we had met back in Ecuador 7 months ago, someone we thought we may never see again, calls Annie up. She says that she is traveling through Europe and she is going to come to Albania to see us for a couple days. We were so excited and so confused all at the same time. Thinking this is crazy! This never happens!
Crazy enough, she comes to Albania. We meet up with her and got dinner that night. At dinner, she starts telling us about all the things the Lord was doing in her life. She had just graduated from medical school and after this trip she was going back to Ecuador to serve in the jungles there. She told us about the church she was apart of now and how she had several conversations with her friends and family about how Jesus was changing her life. She told Moriah, about a conversation she had with her mom, about what God looked like. She said she had never really pictured God before; but now when she does she pictures four blonde girls.
Thanks Jesus for bringing this crazy adventure full circle. You’re the best! This thing has been a freaking blast and I’m excited about the next season of my life. Thank y’all again for everything! Traveling for the next couple of days so keep us in your prayers! Much love from Montenegero!
