I am currently living in Lilongwe, Malawi. After a 38 hour bus ride, in which we had to spend the night at the border, we finally made it to the hostel where we had our six month debrief. Debrief is a time every few months between ministries to reconnect with our squad and be poured into by our squad leaders and squad parents.
I have now been traveling with these 55 people for six months and we have become like family. I love reconnecting and sharing about our times in each country and hearing new stories about their lives. Though we all come from very different backgrounds we all have the same desire to live radical lives for the Lord and we can all agree that we’re not the same people we were when we began this journey just six short months ago.
During each debrief there are times when we are called to share whatever it is God has put on our hearts. This is a time of rare vulnerability and people share everything from an apology to another squad mate, to a scripture, a word of encouragement, or the deepest secrets that they’ve carried most of their lives.
It amazes me how when one person shares a struggle or something they have overcome that the door is opened up for the next person to do the same. One courageous move sets the tone and people receive freedom – chains fall to the floor and satan loses his power over peoples lives.
The more comfortable we become with one another, the easier it is to share our struggles and I am convinced this kind of growth only comes from living in close community. It is so easy to go through life and have friends that you only share your surface self with, who don’t know you in a deep way. It’s too much effort to see inside of people and too painful to share what’s really going on inside of you. Instead of loving the chains off people and calling out uncomfortable things, we mostly choose to push down our struggles to save face.
I have been so guilty of this in my own life, but from now on I am choosing freedom. Freedom for myself and for those around me. I know I am called to live in community when I return home and I can’t wait for the opportunity to call people up and help them find freedom from their chains through God’s love.
