There’s a story unfolding.
A really good story.
A story of supernatural power, of unexpected miracles, and of tremendous purpose.
A story that began three years ago and has since been leading up to this very moment.
It’s the story of a closed door. Three years ago, when I joined a team of college theatre majors traveling to Kenya for a ten-day missions trip, I believed that God was going to do something incredible. That particular semester of college was the most spiritually fulfilling season of my life, and the timing of this trip couldn’t have just been coincidental. I knew in that season that God was calling me to more. But, as it turned out, that “more” wasn’t what I thought it would be, as the missions trip was completely cancelled right at the last second due to safety concerns. This closed door was a tremendous disappointment, one that caused a lot of confusion and frustration with the Lord. Why would the Lord call me to Kenya and set me on fire for serving Him on overseas mission, only to take away the one opportunity I had to do so? Little did I know that this closed door would make way for an even greater door that was suddenly opening before me. The opportunity to take a little trip that would send me around the world for 11 months, to serve those in need and live a life of abandon for Him. A little open door that would launch me into the greatest spiritual adventure of my life.
Now, the story is in its final chapter. And this chapter is the best one yet. Because the Storyteller, my Father, always brings his stories to a close in the most beautiful and satisfying way possible.
Three years later, and it all circled back to this beautiful conclusion.
I have made it to Kenya.
Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve been fascinated by the power of storytelling. I remember at an early age being transfixed by movies, theatre, and books, and falling in love with the way they transported me into crazy new worlds. At age 5, I was recreating classic scenes from “Star Wars” in my backyard, clad with a stick and a long nightshirt with a belt strapped around my waist. In elementary school, I spent hours indoors writing my adventure novels while the rest of my peers played soccer outside. In high school, I fell in love with performing and bringing stories to life through acting and singing in all different kinds of musicals and plays. But in my college years, I came alive to storytelling in a whole new way. I fell in love with the Storyteller.
Since then, I’ve been transfixed by the stories that my Father writes. Watching the way in which He carefully crafts events to tell beautiful stories of redemption, discovery, and hope, I’ve kept my eyes open to all of the ways in which His hand has been present in my life. I think about the time when I had a picture of the New York City skyline hanging in my college apartment, wishing I could live in that picture, and not knowing the Lord would very quickly bring those dreams to life. I think about the time when I thought that raising money for the World Race was never going to be possible, and then He brought almost a hundred people alongside me to fund this journey. And now, I think about the time when He didn’t let me go to Kenya, only to call me on an 11-month journey with the World Race that ended up leading back to Kenya.
But this ending wasn’t the only moment in which God brought something full-circle. Throughout this trip, God has proven Himself beyond faithful in fulfilling long-term desires of mine along the journey, sometimes by complete surprise. A number of moments that seemed simple to those observing, but were mountaintop moments from my perspective.
The first moment took place during Month Two in Nicaragua, when I got to step foot in the hallway of my old school classroom. For fifteen years, I had dreamed of going back to Managua, and I often fantasized about what it would be like to see Nicaragua Christian Academy once again as an adult. I held so many wonderful memories from my two years there, memories that have been playing through my brain ever since. Coming into this month, I didn’t know if I would get the chance to leave our ministry site to travel to Managua, but the Lord provided a way. For a weekend, I got to return to my old home and catch up with old friends, reminisce over old stories, and even revisit my childhood house! Having that weekend of reliving old memories and reveling in nostalgia was surreal, breathtaking, and satisfying in the most beautiful way.
Another moment happened in Thailand. About a year and a half before I applied for the Race, the Lord suddenly gave me a strong desire to go to Thailand. I didn’t know why; frankly, it was never a country I had thought much about until the Lord seemingly planted that desire in my heart. I suddenly found myself spending hours scouring the internet for pictures of this beautiful country, obsessing over one picture in particular – an image of Thai longboats sitting on a shore in a shimmering blue bay surrounded by large limestone cliffs. This was an image that took my breath away, and I felt this powerful longing to visit this place in real life, almost as if the Lord was promising to make it happen. When I later joined the Race, knowing that I’d soon be spending a month in Thailand, I held onto this dream loosely. I knew that there were no guarantees that I would be assigned to a ministry location anywhere near this place; I believed that if it didn’t happen this time, God would still bring me back to this location someday soon. As it turned out, the Lord wasn’t interested in waiting, and provided an opportunity for my team to go take a weekend trip to this beach. Standing on that shore, staring out at the longboats in the blue bay surrounded by the limestone cliffs, I was speechless. I didn’t expect the Lord to do it. I would have understood if He didn’t. And yet, He did it anyway.
And then there was Uganda. A country that for so long, I called home without really knowing anything about it. When I was two, my parents and I lived in the small town of Kabale while my dad was traveling in and out of Rwanda to do relief work. For those three months, my family called this little African village home, and for the years after, I heard story after story about what our lives there had been like. In my mind, I had many ideas about what my parents had experienced there, but in returning to this country on the World Race, I never expected those experiences to soon be mine too. When we got our ministry assignment for Month 10, I wasn’t too surprised to find out we would be staying in a completely different town. I imagined how cool it would be to see Kabale, but it seemed too unrealistic to ever be a reality. But as the Lord worked it out, my ministry hosts ended up taking us on weekend trips to serve in that very town! During those two weekends we spent in Kabale, I got to explore the markets I had only heard about in stories, meet people that I had only ever seen in pictures, and even visit the same street that I once used to live on. It was by divine appointment that this whole thing happened, as my team was the only team on the squad that ever visited this town. And I couldn’t believe it. The Lord, once again, proved Himself faithful, and brought a story that began 22 years ago full-circle.
These are the big moments – the mountaintop memories where I stood on the shoulders of God’s faithfulness and watched the sun set. But along this journey, there have been so many more. In fact, I’ve found myself realizing throughout this journey all of the little ways God has been preparing me for this story not only in my life, but in my family’s life before me. Costa Rica was the country where my grandparents met, fell in love, and began their lives on mission together. Honduras was the country my mom grew up in, and where I got to spend Christmas in one of her favorite places from her childhood (and even got to visit with her childhood best friend!). Guatemala was the country my family has always admired fondly from vacations there, and was the country of origin for several of our family’s exchange students. The Philippines was the country I had chosen in 7th Grade to research intensely for a country project in my Social Studies class. Rwanda was the country that my Dad had spent three months serving in with World Relief after the Genocide. And now Kenya is the country where God fulfilled a promise, and the country where He brought an 11-month journey around the world to fulfillment.
I think of all of the incredible detail that must have gone into telling this story to make everything fall into place like it has. How crazy was it that I got to visit my uncle in Manila, who just happened to be passing through? How crazy was it that I got to spend a weekend with two different family friends in Nicaragua, who just happened to be able to host me? How crazy was it that the Lord allowed my Squad 11 hours in Los Angeles in between our travels from Guatemala to Malaysia, which was just enough time to visit with my Aunt and Uncle and purchase some things I needed? How crazy was it that when our ministry in Rwanda was flagging, the Lord provided an incredible discipleship opportunity with two high school boys in the neighborhood? How crazy was it that the Lord provided a national holiday in the middle of our month in Cambodia, just as we were in desperate need of a break? How crazy was it that the Lord miraculously provided a place to stay in Belize, just as we were fearfully wondering if we would need to sleep on the street? As I think back through this year, a thousand beautiful moments flood my mind. A thousand crazy circumstances and a thousand crazy provisions. A thousands dreams given and a thousand desires fulfilled. A thousand times where things seemed impossible, and a thousand times where He came through. Again and again and again and again and AGAIN.
He is Faithful.
He is Faithful.
He is Faithful.
The funny thing is, the Lord never needed to promise these things to me. So many things He has brought full circle that He didn’t need to. Many things He has done, I never even thought to pray for. Before this trip, I believed God could do all things I asked for, but I didn’t always believe He would want to. I would have been okay if some of these things didn’t happen. Even if the Lord shut the door on Kenya a second time (which was still a serious possibility even up to the day we crossed that border), I would have trusted Him to bring me there someday soon. But instead, He chose to move now.
And now, I’m walking in the fulfilled promises of God as I serve here in Kenya on this final month of the World Race. These next two and a half weeks, my team will be serving with Glory Shiners, a ministry that seeks to disciple, empower, and transform the lives of men in the local prisons. We will also be doing a handful of other outreaches – assisting with Vacation Bible School at a rural school, sharing the Gospel to an unreached village in the bush, and serving at a local orphanage for infants. It’s been a beautiful month already, as I’ve been reveling in the glorious faithfulness of the Lord (did I mention I’m living in a lodge on a safari game park?! Come on Lord!!). Being this close to the end, some days have proven to be a challenge of endurance, but what always brings me back is the reminder of all I have gone through to get to this moment. And now, I’m holding on to the goodness of the Lord, knowing that He has proven Himself to be faithful before, and will continue to do so as I finish this Race and move on into the next adventure He’s writing for me.
My motto this year has been simple: “Just Say Yes”. And while there have been many things about this slogan that have spoken to me this past year, one thing has stood out in particular:
Saying “YES” is worth it. Why? Because the Lord never fails to say “yes” back to us.
And I think that’s been the beauty of this story God has written. Because in the midst of seasons where I wondered what the Lord was doing, all along He was carefully and lovingly crafting this beautifully story. A story of adventure, of struggles, of weakness, and of fulfillment. A story that has been going on for 24 years, and has many more new chapters to come.
A story of the “yes” that changed my life.
His.
“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'” Jeremiah 29:11
