Just a warning, this blog may be jumping all over the place! We arrived in Bucharest for our squad debrief about 2 weeks ago. During this time, we had staff from Adventures in Missions come and speak to us. A huge part of this time together focused on speaking life into each other. Speaking truth (even if it is hard). Speaking love. Speaking God’s promises into those we love. As much as I like to think I fully grasped this concept before the race…I did not. In fact, even now that I have seen such life spoken over Jamos and I on this race, I am still learning! It is about edifying and calling people to greatness! I know, this may be hard to understand, but it is AWESOME! It makes sense! No one wants to stay the same person. We all want to grow and be the person God wants us to be. Right?
Bucharest, Romania
We also declared this month a month of HEALING for our squad. Whether that was healing for the past hurts or physical ailments of our current teammates or healing for the people we would encounter in Romania, it was declared among us that this month was for healing! It is not uncommon for World Racers to heal the blind or pray over someone who has no use of their legs only to watch them run and jump. In fact, that is what we do on this race. That is what we EXPECT to see while on the World Race.
Last week my mom told me that my granny, who is 90 years old, might have an infection that spread to her bone in her foot. If this infection was true, it would require amputation. My grandmother is a woman of great faith and told my mom that she was trusting God- that if this was his will for her life- she was okay with it.
But for me, of course, hearing such news from across the GLOBE I felt a little useless. I was NOT okay with her having to face this situation. I felt helpless- almost like I needed to be there in the midst of the situation. I shared it with Jamos and then, I said, “I am going to have my teammates pray for me”. It was early in the morning when I got the e-mail, so I walked into our common area and just said to anyone who could hear me “I really need prayer for my granny….” Of course the tears came to me- but so did the entire room of World Racers. As I held my granny’s picture we prayed for healing! We prayed that infection would be GONE. In Jesus name! We believed that this is a month of healing- and by golly, healing was going to happen! I also realized what an incredible experience this race is- even if it was just for me to be reminded that 1) God is alive and working today- still performing miracles and 2) community is so important in our lives.
Speaking of community, Facebook is a great tool for prayer requests! Immediately I updated my status to indicate prayer for my granny as well- and many of you- responded with encouragement and confirmation that you were praying! Again, community is awesome- even if it is in different forms! I am SO thankful!
And, I am happy to tell you that I just got an update from my mom who is at the doctor with my granny for the final check up/test running/results of previous tests and there was NO sign of infection in her leg!!! They did find a small blood clot in the opposite leg. Which, we will pray away for her- why? Because this is a month of HEALING. God DOES heal! Miracles are not over; they are only just beginning!
James 5:13-14
“Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church (OR World Racers!) to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person WELL; the Lord will raise him (or Granny!) up.”
