Hiiiii! Quite a bit has happened since the last time I wrote to y’all! Four-day travel day, continent-switch, debrief, team changes, squad-leader training, arriving at ministry site, mini-debrief, country change…wowza. That’s a broad overview, but with some more details, here is a bit about life lately…
Travel
There’s not much to say on this, I just want to tell you about our travel “days!” We rode a bus from ministry to Tegucigalpa, Honduras; flew to Panama; flew to Toronto; stayed in Toronto for 13 hours; watched Christmas movies and drank holiday Starbucks drinks; flew to Ethiopia; flew to Malawi; bussed for four hours to our debrief site. Whew!
During our time in Malawi, we also traveled from our debrief site to our squad leader training site, from our training site to our ministry site, and our ministry site to our mini-debrief site. From there, we traveled to Zambia, which is where I am now! The picture above is our pavillion where we play games during free time and have meals and church.
Debrief
We had our second full debrief! We were on Lake Malawi, and it was so beautiful. We got to watch the sunset over the lake, snorkel with colorful fishies, rest in Father’s presence, catch up with the rest of our squad, spend one-on-one time with our leadership team, process our last four months, and cast vision for the months to come. We reflected on areas of our lives – areas of hurt or shame in our past – that Jesus has taken for us that we keep trying to pick back up and bear on our own. We wrote our “Jesus statements” – declarations of why we love, choose, and follow Jesus. We processed through reasons we get off-track in our pursuit of Christ and his will. We talked about service, why we serve, and who we serve. We also had team changes! And along with team changes, a shift in leadership, which I shall talk about next!
Squad-leading
Update: I’m a squad leader now! These are my cutie teamies, Marah and Alyx! For the first five months, we had alumni squad leaders (Katie and Rachael) who have done the race before. During December, they trained Alyx, Marah, and me to be the raised-up squad leaders for the remainder of the race. Training included lots of introspection, podcasts on connecting with the Lord, responsibilities regarding burdens versus loads, and leadership. For the rest of the race, I get to be with a different team each month, and my main ministry is now my squadmates! I am honored, anxious, and SO stoked to see how God moves in the next half of my race.
Mini-debrief
Mini-debrief was so, so good, y’all! Led by various members of our squad, we had worship; sabbath; family discussions about politics, Catholicism, and homosexuality; separate male/female time; and sessions on overcoming bitterness, preaching, calligraphy, casting out fear, faith in prayer, and burdens and loads. It was an incredible weekend of coming together, offering wisdom God has given us, and receiving wisdom God has given to our squadmates.
ALSO, we got to celebrate the new year together! We had karaoke, sparkling grape juice, pictures, snacks, and we got to see (or hear…there were lots of trees in the way) some fireworks!
Another also, we had a send-off for Katie and Rachael, our incredible leaders who have been walking alongside us on the field the past five months. They have been constant sources of encouragement, wisdom, comfort, and laughter. We love them a lot, and they love us well.
Adventure
My adventures for Malawi and Zambia include snorkeling in Lake Malawi, living (tenting) along the Zambezi River for the month of January, and going on an overnight safari in Botswana. I just…God is so fun. What a wonderful world he’s given us.
Praises and prayer requests
A Christmas spent watching movies and making Christmas cards with Katie Kastl
Allison, Katie, and Rachael – incredible women who continuously teach our squad about strength, friendship, humility, and love
Team Rooted – a fun, gracious, and vibrant group of humans who are filled with childlike wonder
Sweet, simple moments when Jesus uses parts of his creation like pups, hippos, and stars to remind me he loves me
A month of tenting (a month when we get to have our own space to sleep in)
Humility in servant leadership
Increased dependence on Holy Spirit as I step into a position that is beyond my own capacity
Peace – just, so much peace. Jesus is our Prince of Peace and his perfect love casts out fear, and I tend to have a hard time allowing his peace to guard my mind and rule in my heart
Presence – I find myself struggling more frequently to remain present and not get lost in daydreams of life after the race
Renewed strength and passion on K-squad – the middle is hard, and we could all use prayers for endurance and reminders that the joy of the Lord is our strength
That’s all for now! Thanks so much for your support, encouragement, and prayers. I hope y’all had a holiday season full of rest, celebration, laughter, and love!
