Yep, it finally happened… We made it to month 11 of our World Race journey. It’s so hard to believe that it has almost been a full year since my journey around the world began. This time last year we were in a field full of tents in the foothills of Ducktown, Tennessee, starting our training camp. Trying to comprehend the last 11 months is something that isn’t gonna happen overnight. I’m not exactly sure how long it’ll take to be quite frank with you. All I know is that it’s been an intense year of growth for me in so many ways.
(Matt and myself at Training Camp last July)
(Myself and Kat at Training Camp)
Month 10 came to an end just a few days ago. It was an incredible month in Honduras with our entire squad, and it will definitely go down as one of my top 3-countries/ ministries on the entire race! It was an incredible month of seeing the Lord move and seeing the Kingdom be brought to the beautiful country of Honduras. It has always had a special place in my heart, because that is where I first fell in love with overseas missions in 2007. It was such a blessing to be able to return and see the progress that has been made since last time.
(all 40 of our squad packs prepared for loading)
(a cool photo of part of our squad at the "Jesus statue" in Tegucigalpa, Honduras)
(Jess and I at the overlook for Tegucigalpa)
(Our ministry contact, Tony, and myself before leaving Honduras)
The night before we left Honduras, one of our teammates, Tiffany, had the opportunity to lead our nightly squad time. It was a cool month because at the beginning of our time there, the Lord put it on my heart to have everybody share their testimonies before we left for month 11. So each night, 2 or 3 squad mates would share their story and then we would have a time of prayer for each other. It was a great way to get to further know each other and most importantly, to hear what the Lord has done in each of our lives over the past 11 months. I hadn’t heard many of the stories from my squad mates, so it was a huge blessing for all of us to be together and have the opportunity to share that time with each other.
(Neal, Myself, Sarah, and Jess)
Anyways, back to my original thought. So Tiffany decided that she would do an activity with our squad, which would in the end, be one of the most powerful and moving things I’ve ever been a part of.
Basically we all set in a circle with our backs to each other. Once we were turned around, we closed our eyes, and Tiffany walked around and initially picked about 10 people out of our squad. Once those folks were selected, Tiffany began to play some worship music. As the music played, Tiffany would then read off several different “lines”. Some examples would be…
Somebody who has touched your life…
Someone who you’ve seen changed this year…
Somebody who’s talents have blessed you…
Somebody who you trust…
Somebody you've become best friends with…
Somebody who shows you the joy of the Lord…
All in all, this went on for about 10 minutes. As she read these off, the 10 of us in the middle, were instructed to walk around and if it matched up with somebody sitting with their backs to us, we were suppose to lightly go squeeze the shoulders of that person. It was one of the most humbling and encouraging things I’ve ever had the opportunity to be part of.
After the 10 of us had our time in the middle, we set down with our backs to the center, and another 10 took our spot. They were given a new list of “lines” and did the same thing. Eventually, everybody had his or her chance in the middle. By the end of the activity a large majority of our squad was in tears, because in that moment, for me, I realized how important the people sitting in the circle with me had become in my life. We all began this journey together last July in Tennessee, and now here we are, month 11. We’ve seen each other at our best times, and sadly, we’ve seen each other at our worst as well. Through it all though we’ve learned the importance of community and what it really looks like to share the love of Jesus with each other.
Fast forward…
(Nicaraguan volcano)
Unbelievable, here we are, month 11. This month 4 of our teams, including my team, are in Nicaragua, and the remaining 2 teams are in Panama. My team is working with one other team in the city of Jinotepe, Nicaragua. Jinotepe is located between the Pacific Ocean and Lake Nicaragua, which is home to Ometepe Island, and it’s beautiful here!
This month we are working with a ministry called “Nueva Vida” aka “New Life”, which is a rehabilitation home for kids from the streets. So in a lot of ways, it looks very similar to our ministry in Honduras. We are all excited about our month here, and believe that we will finish this month stronger than when we began the race 11 months ago! Please continue to pray for each of us as we serve here and prepare for our World Race journey to come to a close. I’m so incredibly grateful for each of you and how you’ve loved and supported me over the past year. I could not have done it without each and everyone of you.
Love y’all.
