Alrighty,
Here’s the dealio. The Lord did some amazing work over my past six months on the field 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 your obedience in giving, your prayers, and your support! I love you all so so much!
Team Sonrisa was one of the two teams I spent the majority of my time with on the field. I joined in on their team times, did ministry alongside them, and had one on ones with them every other week (at least, that was the goal!). They welcomed me with open arms before they even knew me, invited me into some of the hardest parts of their stories, and despite what challenges arose they loved each other and me endlessly as they pursued the Lord first and foremost. True to their name, they smiled and laughed often. They were a team of resilience, joy, and endurance. I look to them as an example of seeking the Lord cheerfully in the midst of hardship. I am so thankful the Lord entrusted me to love on them through their journey, and am so excited to share these precious testimonies with you today! Enjoy 🙂
“I’ve wanted to be a missionary since I was four years old. Growing up, Abba cultivated qualities in me that I would need on the field: curiosity and wanting to know more about the world around me, eagerness in trying new things (especially new foods), and the desire to expand my worldview. One thing I didn’t have before the Race, was the ability to laugh at myself.
Abba solved that issue very succinctly over the last six months. So many of the various situations and work that I found myself in were things I never thought I’d do. From taking down a mushroom house to modeling for a website; putting together, practicing, and perfecting a dance in two days to getting lost in the streets of Little India, I have learned to laugh and I’ve learned to just roll with whatever comes my way. And honestly? Life’s so much better because of it. I can laugh off my mistakes now instead of dwelling on them. I am excited for whatever situations I get thrown into. Most of all, I can’t wait to see what Abba has in store for me next.”
-Cheyenne Weber
“Out of sooo many testimonies, the one I feel led to share happened on the last night in a small town in Southeast Asia, at a local’s house. Samantha and I had been visiting with this local often and building a really strong relationship based in love, but she wasn’t super talkative when we brought up faith. But on that last night, she got a call from a friend looking for somewhere to take her children after being abused by her husband. Our friend told the woman to come with her children and that we would pray to our God for her. When the woman came, she was vulnerable with us and we covered her in prayer. Soon, other people in the house began asking for prayer. And they began to pray to GOD for each other. It was a very Holy Spirit led night and it was beautiful to see the faith of the women in that house. They cried out to a God they had never spoken to, because they knew He is the only one who could transform them. Since being home, I have kept in contact with all the ladies we prayed over that night. Each of them is walking with the Lord now. And the lady with the abusive husband has been able to legally divorce her husband and move out, which is something very rarely allowed in courts in her community. Praise God for all the miracles He is granting in that small village in Southeast Asia!”
-Zoe Rowland
“On my race, I learned how to find comfort in silence, and peace in stillness. I learned how to find God’s presence and just sit with Him. I think the most beautiful memories I have from this trip were when I experienced joy more fully than I ever have. I could never have experienced the fullness of this joy without taking the time to get to know my creator, and listen to what He has to say about, to, and through me. The daily habit of surrendering each moment to what He wanted brought me incredible friends and powerful joy. Peace can exist in my heart when I lay everything in my heart down, releasing it to Him. This means intentionally leaning in to release whatever is competing for His attention, and realigning myself to His will. I think this is what wrecked me, and changed my walk with Christ for the better.”
-Lexi Hatten
“Back in February 2019 when the Lord placed the Race on my heart He told me I was supposed to go to India, but didn’t tell me much more than that. I was so excited for what He had in store for me in India, the lives I would impact and to find out the reason I was going on the Race to begin with. Starting month one in Thailand I was hit pretty hard with spiritual warfare, and I was doubting a lot of things I’d been taught my whole life about God. Not finding any peace, this spiritual warfare continued into month five in India, where I was struggling HARD. Thoughts questioning God’s goodness, His justness, His love, His character, is God really who He says He is? Is God a liar? Why would I want to even serve a God who is angry and full of wrath? These questions kept me up at night, brought me to tears and confusion. It got to the point where I thought I’d never get the answers I was looking for and I’d just have to live with all these doubts.
I was in the middle of month five and still questioning why I came on the Race, especially because while being on the Race I had more doubts about my faith than I ever have in my life. I was still looking for that “ah ha!” moment of why God brought me here in the first place.
One morning I felt the urge to talk to one of my squad mates about my thoughts and questions. We sat down, I gave her the WHOLE story and she told me that God was telling her that I needed to talk to my squad mentor who just so happened to be sitting across the table from me. Later that day I was able to sit down with my squad mentor and lay it all out. Every thought, every concern, every question and every doubt I’ve EVER had. I was angry and I was discouraged because I didn’t think I’d ever have a good relationship with God. She was able to help uncover past hurts, misconceptions, and lies I’ve been telling myself and believing for my whole life. Every couple minutes she’d stop to pray and ask the Lord what He wanted to say, and she’d tell me. The “god” that I said I knew WASN’T even close to the One True God. We figured out I had placed the character traits of my earthly father on my Heavenly Father and that’s why my relationship with God was so strained. We realized I’ve always pictured God as this “mean, wrathful, dictator” standing over us with His arms crossed when in reality He is a sweet, loving Father who reaches His hand down to hold the hands of His children. I always thought Jesus was nicer and more understanding than God and that I’d rather know Jesus than God when they’re actually the same. I realized that God is so crazy in love with me, that He’ll place people in my life to support me going half way across the world JUST TO RECOGNIZE HOW DEEP AND HOW WIDE THE FATHERS LOVE IS FOR ME. At the very end of our conversation I had my “ah ha!” moment I’d been looking for. That multiple hour conversation, that day, that moment was the reason I went on the race. That was why I was meant to go to India. God chased me down half way across the world to fix my relationship with Him. Hallelujah.”
-Rosie Ferris
“Strangely enough, it took the Lord sending me all around the world in order for me to learn some inner truths about…me. He taught me that it is okay to be where I am – emotionally and spiritually. He meets me there. I don’t have to prove myself to anyone, nor to Him, because my most genuine connections with the Lord will occur when I myself am most genuine; when I’m honest with myself about how I feel and where I’m at and what I’m struggling with. In fact, it’s in our struggles that we often grow the most. So He taught me to embrace them. He taught me this through putting me in a family that I literally could not hide or escape from (lol love you team Sonrisa), and thus, I couldn’t pretend with them. They saw me as I was. They knew my flaws and they saw my hard days, and they walked with me in them, helping me seek the Lord in every moment of the journey. I learned to be real and to be honest. And that lesson has absolutely transformed me, my relationships with people, and my relationship with God.”
-Claire Burton
Team Sonrisa
From left to right: Lexi Hatten, Zoe Rowland, Rosie Ferris, Claire Burton, and Cheyenne Weber.
