Alrighty,
Here’s the dealio. The Lord did some amazing work over the past six months in my heart, in the hearts of my squad, Gap Y, and in the hearts of our ministries. I have collected testimonies from each team on the squad and will be posting them to share just a glimpse of how the Lord moved, not just through me, but through the squad’s eyes as a whole and through the ministries they worked with. To my supporters, I cannot thank you enough for allowing me to be a part of this walk with Gap Y, and to see the movement of the Lord’s Spirit through them all first-hand. Thank you for you obedience in giving, your prayers, and your support! I love you all so so much!
Please enjoy the testimonies of our men on the squad who are powerful in faith and centered on Christ, through and through!
“A short testimony I would love to share is about my favorite country in Southeast Asia. Following Christ can take you to unexpected places and the Lord showed me that specifically on my trip. One day two of my squadmates were walking with me and we ran into a mother and her daughters. They invited us into their home, (complete strangers) and gave us tea. Although we only knew a few words in Hindi we were able to enjoy time with their sweet family. We were invited back again the next week and my friends Austin, Claire, Jesse and Lalramsan went. It was soooo BeAuTiFuL to share our testimonies of the Lord’s goodness and to hear their religious background and testimonies as well. Our translator Lalramsan was such a blessing and I could feel the Lord’s presence so strong while we were talking with this family. Also just hearing the Lord speak love and truth over this family through Austin and Claire showed the Lord’s heart pursuing them. This memory is one I will never forget because we were walking with the Lord open to what He had in store and He handed us such an awesome relationship and the ability to show love to people we wouldn’t have been able to meet otherwise.”
-Logan Gee
“When I got to training camp I didn’t really like my team too much. They weren’t the type of people I would have been friends with if they went to my high school. But over the race the Lord taught me that there are amazing people who are not necessarily like me. My team made me choose people that I would not initially which is a good skill to have. They pushed me closer to the Lord and fought for me in my struggles.”
-Jesse Srader
“Prior to these months of missional living, I can’t honestly say that I’d ever experienced real community. Only a few people were really involved in my life at any given time. This was a drastic change when our squad of over forty people started living together, often in very close quarters. I was a little confused at first, not really knowing how to interact with so many people on a real and personal level. As the days, and months went by, God guided me through this. He revealed that the key to making our relationships function as a Church body was to set aside our many differences and personal preferences to make more space for our one common interest; Jesus. This became the core of our people and through focusing on His love for one another we became one in Him. He used this unity in many amazing ways, most of which we will never know the full fruit of. He allowed us to function in peace as we all pushed each other closer to Him. God really used this tine to teach me the value and beauty of the Church, as He meant for it to be. I cannot fully communicate the wonder of this intricate piece of His plan, but it is good and I will seek it out for the rest of my life here on Earth. Be blessed.“
-Izac Grooms
““My race looked a little different than most. I transitioned on and off the field a couple times in the past 7 or so months. In the midst of these transitions that you have no control over it’s easy to fall into confusion and get caught up in constantly thinking about what’s next. But the Lord was sweet enough to teach me about the importance of obedience during the race. How to walk in obedience and expect nothing in return. It’s easy to walk in obedience and immediately look to what’s next. But the Lord breaks this habit when He calls you to obey, when He calls you to sacrifice, and you have no idea what will come of it. When this happens your faith is truly tested. But what feels like stretching then turns into growth later. whether it be big or small acts of obedience, I can rest in the comfort of knowing that He is so good, knowing that He will protect and guide me. All I have to do is obey and trust that He knows even when I don’t.”
-Aaron Burgess
“God showed me “his will will be done”. Multiple times on the race people kept telling me “God’s will will be done”. In Thailand, the Lord showed me a vision of a room, certain people and things were in the room. I thought nothing from it. But over a month later, after being in Penang Malaysia, we went to Kuala Lumpar. One night, in the upstairs of a hostel that I did not even live at, everything in the vision occurred. The people were the same, I knew what they were to say, I knew the time and looked at the clock on wall, I was right… a pool table, six clocks, all sorts of things. This showed me that no matter what God already knows what will happen. Through-out Southeast Asia I moved a lot, but I knew God had a plan, even when I don’t see it. When I pray now I always submit to God’s will and sometimes I don’t like it, but I trust his plan is better than mine. And ultimately his will will be done even if I don’t want it to be done, so I should just submit to his will.“
-Sam Osuna
“One day when my team was in Southeast Asia, we had just come back from doing house visits. We had prayed over the sick and rejoiced with fellow Christ-followers in the area. I felt so drained. I felt so worthless. And as I was walking back into the property that we were staying on, one of the children that live there invited me to cut bamboo with him. I was exhausted, but the Lord had me join him in cutting bamboo. He was teaching me that even though schedule ministry was over the Lord still had more for me. So I cut bamboo with the boy—his name is Rohit—for a little bit. Afterwards, when we took a break, Rohit asked me to tell him a story about Jesus. I talked about Jesus and his redemption for a little bit and he was really interested. He then asked me if he, his brother —Abijit—and I could go up on the roof of the school and talk more about the Bible. The Lord opened an amazing door for his glory to be shown to these children. They asked if I could teach them about Adam and Eve. And so I talked about how sin came into the world but how Jesus redeemed that: how God stepped in to save the world. Then Abijit started telling me about pain he was having in his head. The Lord spoke to me and said, ‘Teach them how to pray.’ I began to talk about how near God is as a father and how powerful he is as Lord. His younger brother and I prayed over his headaches in Jesus’s name, and the Lord took some of that pain away. Abijit was still feeling some pain, so I told him we would pray one more time in Jesus‘s name that all pain will go away. As we prayed, the Lord completely healed Abijit. The boys were in awe, and honestly so was I. Rohit then asked if we could pray over his ankle, which had been hurting for the past couple of days. So Abijit and I prayed over Rohit‘s ankle, and again after the first time God took away some of the pain. So again we prayed one more time. I remember asking God to heal Rohit so that he may jump for joy in worship. The second we were done praying in Jesus’s name all pain was gone from Rohit, and he immediately leapt in the air, praising the Lord!”
-Austin Buckner
“The Lord was very convicting over these past six months. He called out my entitlement and my comfort and radically changed it. I was put in uncomfortable social and physical situations and God used those situations to bring me joy. He confronted my sense of entitlement, whether that be with my time or with my possessions. The way I spend my time is not my own and neither is my possessions. God worked in amazing ways to break down my walls and being able to trust in Him with every aspect of my life.“
-James Geither
Team J-Walkers
Left to right- Logan Gee, Izac Grooms, (front) Sam Osuna, (behind) James Geither, Austin Buckner, (behind) Jesse Srader, Aaron Burgess, and Cal Herrmann (Squad Leader).
