(Hello my friends!)
I made it to Cote D’Ivoire!!
Still in awe that I am actually here. Currently typing this blog from the comfort of a hammock on my host family’s patio. We have country music playing on someone’s portable speakers in the background and ceiling fans on FULL blast. It is 9:30pm and 90 degrees here and y’all…it is BEAUTIFUL. We arrived 6 days ago and it has been a dream.
After all the blogs, vlogs, conversations, prayers and fundraising, I am finally doing what God promised me so many months ago.
Here is a little run down of what it took to physically get to Africa:
Jan 13-15 Launch in Atlanta, GA (for more training and preparation)
Jan 16, 12:25am Leave for airport
Jan 16, 5:40am Board plane from Atlanta, GA to Washington D.C. (got bumped to first class. Whoop! Whoop!)
Jan 16, 1pm Board plane from D.C. to Ethiopia (total of 11 hours and 26 minutes plus a 3 hour delay)
Jan 17, lost track of time, boarded plane to Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire (6 or 7 hours)
Jan 17, sometime in the late afternoon, landed in Abidjan and spent the night in a nice retreat house in town
Jan 18, 6am, my team loaded a bus and took a 10 hour ride to our final destination, Korhogo in North Cote D’Ivoire.
Needless to say, it was a long few days and it was totally and completely worth it. But telling you my travel arrangements is not really what I want to talk about. I have something SPECTACULAR to share with you and I hope you will take the time to celebrate and thank God for His faithfulness in my life.
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About 5-6 months ago I felt like God told me I would be fully funded by the time I launched in January. That was when I first began fundraising. And what a process and lesson that has been! As time went on and launch approached I was still about $6,700 from being fully funded. Feeling less confident that I heard God and more confident that it had been my own desires, I let go of that promise. I accepted that I would be fundraising while on the field. And I wasn’t upset about it. I was actually looking forward to seeing the tangible impact that my ministry on the field would have on my friends and family back home.
Flash forward to Friday, January 12, I received a call from someone saying that 5 months ago the Lord told him and his wife to financially support me in a big way. Not only that, but the Lord told them not to give until the day before I leave. This is a couple whom I have never actually met, but we have a mutual friend.
The moment God made me the promise, He also fulfilled it, but I had to be patient to see it.
How cool is our Father?!
Also, how cool is it that this couple is so obedient to the Lord and trusts Him with everything enough to support someone they have never met?! That is the kind of obedience and trust I want.
Then my last fundraiser, Adopt-A-Box, was really taking off. All of my friends/family have been so generous and I just cannot believe how much people believe in what God is doing through this mission.
By Sunday, January 14, two days before leaving the country, I was FULLY FUNDED. God kept His promise even when I stopped believing in it. I cannot begin to tell you what a weight this has taken off of me. Fundraising has been the most difficult process of the race, thus far. I have never fundraised before and was not confident in my ability to do so. But throughout the entire process God covered me in peace and assurance that He would provide. I had no idea how and when the funds would come through, but I knew they would in His way.
All this to say to you, EVERYTHING works out in GOD’S PERFECT TIMING. He doesn’t break His promises. He is faithful. Whatever He has promised you that you have not seen fulfilled, know that He has not forgotten you. He loves you more than you know. You are the most important to Him. Remember that and hold on to it.
1 Thessalonians 5:24 “The one who calls you is faithful, and He will do it.”
Joshua 23:14 “…You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed.”
Note for future racers: fundraising is hard in the best way. It is the first step of the race where you truly have to press into God and trust Him to make a way when you run out of options. Do not lose hope. God is with you in this. If He has called you to the race, He has made a way to get there. Trust in Him throughout the whole process. Work hard and make plans and be obedient when He wants to change your plan. I had several fundraisers that just were not successful like I anticipated. It was discouraging. Every time I took control and forgot to ask God what He wanted me to do, I failed. Every time I invited Him into my plan and gave Him control, I was successful. Give Him the driver’s seat, not the spectator’s seat.
Thank you for reading 🙂
Dieu vous protege! (God bless)
Au devoir pour le moment! (Goodbye for now!)
