Hey, friends. Before you read this blog, I would love for you to watch the video up above! Thanks!
Here’s A Timeline
March 12th: AIM made a wise decision to cancel our squad’s Parent Vision Trip (PVT) due to everything happening with COVID-19 and the need to limit unnecessary movement between countries. This was hard for the Racers as they were excited to see their parents after seven months on the field but they grabbed onto The Lord’s perspective really well and allowed Him to be their source of comfort.
March 13th: Around 6:00PM, we were told that Eswatini’s borders were closing to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and we would be leaving to go to Petoria, South Africa the next morning at 7:30am and head back to The States. At this time, we were the only Gap Year Squad going home and we were meeting up with an 11n11 squad and a Semesters team who were also in Swazi and needed to come home immediately. They also began to significantly modify other World Race routes in effort of keeping our people and the people they serve safe while staying on mission.
This was hard and a lot of goodbyes weren’t able to be said, but I watched our squad collectively come to The Lord to praise him for what He had done. They didn’t come to Him asking Him to change their situations, no matter how badly they may have wanted to stay on the field. They didn’t come to Him with a victim-mindset, questioning Him and what He was doing. They came to Him in full surrender, proclaiming His goodness and thanking Him for who He is. They trusted Him and honored Him in the process. In a few shorts hours, The Lord grew our squad and gave them breakthrough in ways that had flooded my prayers for 7 months.
March 14th: AIM made the decision to begin the process of bringing all World Race, Gap Year, and Semesters participants back to the US. Since the outbreak in China was made public, they have worked diligently to keep our missionaries safe while also focusing to stay on the mission of being Christ to a hurting and fearful world. They heeded all recommendations of the World Health Organization, The State Department and the Center for Disease Control and in many cases held much higher standards than recommended for placement and routes of travel.
March 16th: We left South Africa and landed in Atlanta on the night of the 17th. Jenny and I flew to her house in California on the 19th and I have been self-quarantining with her sweet family since! They’ve loved us so well and I’m so thankful to be here in this time of transition.
March 19th: Within 5 days, AIM managed to effectively communicate to all Racers and their families about the measures needed to be taken and fly out 24 squads (over 500 Racers) back to the US from 18 countries on almost every continent. Adventures Staff has worked so incredibly hard to manage this and I’m honored to work with an organization that moves so quickly to stay ahead of everything and does what’s best for their people. What they’ve been working with hasn’t been easy but they’ve done it with excellence and much time spent in prayer, listening for The Lord’s wise-counsel, and I fully support the decisions they’ve made in the process.
Moving Out of Comfortability, Moving Forward Into Our Callings
When I first found out that our squad was going home with little time to prepare their hearts, pack, and process- my immediate response was to feel heartbroken. I didn’t want them to go through the pain of having to say goodbye to this life-changing journey and community two months earlier than expected. I wanted more for them than that. I wanted them to live in Eswatini for three months and love the people there with all they had. I wanted them to grow so much in The Lord as a squad and as individuals. I wanted them to wake up to more Swazi skies, laugh with the cooks in the kitchen, worship every Sunday at Swazi church, process and have a blast at final debrief with our mentor and coaches, and have their expectations of the final three months of their Race be exceeded. I wanted to protect them from life’s circumstances. But that’s not my job; it’s the Lord’s. And He will always have a far better insight on what each person on the squad and in Swazi needs rather than myself.
I quickly realized that I had been thinking so selfishly when I was packing later that night. I listened to “Let It Rain” by Eddie James and there’s a part in it where he says,
Let it rain
Let it flood
Open the floodgates
Remove everything with the rain of Your presence, Jesus
Remove everything that’s in the way
Remove everything that’s in the way of awakening
Remove everything that hinders Your calling
Let it rain
I listened to this and the lyrics began to flood my prayers. Who was I to hold on so tightly to the things that were in the way of God’s calling? Of the awakening that was to come out of this detour? He was calling 24 missionaries back home to minister to their communities and to set revival within their own hearts.. Who am I to pray for something other than what God’s best is? I never want to even try to get in the way of what God has for me or anyone else, yet when I heard the news- I selfishly asked for the miracle of us staying within those closed borders.
We’re All Just A Bunch Of Philip’s
The next morning, The Lord said something to me that took me aback a bit. I was doing my quiet time and felt like He was saying, “You’re all a bunch of Philips!”
Um, God.. What? Haha. He brought me to Acts 8:
Philip and the Ethiopian.
26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”
30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.
31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
32 This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading:
“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.”
34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.
God had to do something so extreme to get Philip where he needed to be.
I can’t help but try to put myself in Philip’s shoes through all of this. He must’ve been so shocked and had so many questions for The Lord. He was mid-baptism and suddenly was pulled from the water and placed in a completely different region!
But there is no doubt that The Lord was calling Philip to minister to the eunuch and share with him the good news of Jesus. The Eunuchs salvation and baptism led to a revival in Ethiopia. By the 4th century, Christianity was the country’s official religion! God did what He wanted to do through Philip and relocated him the moment His work was finished.
Though The Bible doesn’t say much about what happened when Philip got to Azotus, I believe that whatever God was sending him to go do had a sense of urgency. I believe there’s a possibility that Philip’s journey from Jerusalem to Gaza would’ve hindered him- whether it was because of the amount of time it would’ve taken to get there or something that would’ve happened along the way. Though it may have not made sense to most, God is all-knowing and broke all laws of physics in order to get Philip down the right path. How awesome is He?
I believe this even for the 500+ missionaries that had to be relocated what seemed so suddenly. Mid-ministry, coming up out of the water, waking up to something completely new and unexpected.. We look up and the ministry that we see before our eyes may take some time to adjust to- but it’s where we’re meant to be.
What if God has something so great in store for us in America in these next few months that even something as huge as The World Race would hold us back from it?
Though I would love to be in Africa right now with Gap Z, I’m so excited for what The Lord has in store for all of us. Our nation is confused and people are hurting. March has been unexpected for not just our Racers, but for all of you. For our loved ones and for strangers on the other end of the world. COVID-19 has shaken our nations up a bit. But all over the world, nations are coming together to figure out what’s best for us as a whole. Some people are turning to ration, some are turning to fear. Families are coming together, hearts are finding their rest, and life is still beautiful despite hardships. God is still good and He still has our best interests in mind. And if we don’t open our eyes, we’ll completely miss the ministry that God is calling us to within our own homes and communities. Whether you’re a Racer or not, you have a mission field you’re standing on. Don’t miss it.
What Now?
I have been asked this question a lot in the past week and honestly, I have no idea. I would love for extended grace and prayers as I continue seek out The Lord’s guidance and direction in where to live, work, and if He’s calling me back onto the mission field after everything settles down. There are a lot of unknowns, but I don’t need to know the answers when He’s the One in control. 🙂 Thank you all for supporting me and loving me so well through it all.
“The detour is the destination.” – Karen Harrison
