I am currently at debrief in Lima, Peru preparing to head to Bolivia tomorrow for our third month of ministry.
This past month was an amazing time with my entire squad in the same location. We had sessions almost every night most of which consisted practicing vulnerability and sharing with each other the parts of our hearts we’d probably rather keep hidden. There’s something transforming about bringing things from your past into light. We often believe the lie that if things stay hidden we will remain safe, but in doing so deprive ourselves from being truly known.
Ministry was different every week. The first week was construction at the site we lived that will hopefully be a functioning orphanage by the end of this year. The second week we worked in a dump, literally. People live on the outskirts of actual mountains of garbage. Husbands, fathers, wives, mothers, and children glean from the garbage truck’s disposal. The living conditions are horrendous, but I learned a lot about joy and happiness by spending a week in a dump. Both should not be conditional on my circumstances. The people who lived at the dump were happy, joyful, and content. Of course it was awful to see people living like that, but they have something that most American’s lack, contentment. They aren’t limited in their joy by their living conditions or their jobs. For that reason, there was something oddly refreshing about being in the dump.
During this week of debrief we have spent a lot of time with our PHENOMENAL coaches Randy and Betsy Garmon. We have been processing where we are as a team and as individuals. We have had some changes to our team and we are now an all girls team! It’s so funny because at Training Camp last October I was adamant that I was not on an all girls team, the Lord obviously had to warm my heart up to the idea. I can honestly say I’m excited for this and love the girls on my team
Thank you so much for your prayers!
