I know, I know… It’s been awhile since I’ve last updated you all. The past month has been filled with a lot. A lot of growth, busyness, adventure, testimonies, and family. Since my last blog, we’ve had some exciting things happen other than partnering with our typical ministries: we went to a jungle in Talamanca and worked with one of the only indigenous people groups remaining in Costa Rica for a week, helped host a skateboard competition in one of the biggest slums in C.R., celebrated Thanksgiving in San Jose, said many goodbyes to our loved ones in that sweet Central American country, sent off our beloved alumni team-leaders as they finished three months of walking alongside their teams, had a layover in Los Angeles, and finished our first week of ministry in Cambodia.
My favorite part of it all has been walking alongside these two teams in the day-to-day. Each of these girls are such fierce warriors of The Kingdom and they look so much like Abba. They love His people so well and run full-force into the hard things, unafraid because they know Who goes before them. It is such an honor to get to be apart of all that The Lord is doing in and through teams Xapa and Henini. Doing life with them is fun and sweet and they teach me more and more about The Father, every day.
I’ve also really loved walking alongside my sweet co-leader, Jenny, and our Alumni Team-Leaders- Sydney, Hannah, Bern, and Jordan. Each of them are wise beyond their years, just as weird as I am, and walk in so much freedom in who they are in Christ. They’ve spent the last three months giving their all to serve Gap Z and have represented Christ so beautifully. We had to say goodbye to our sweet TL’s on Dec. 5th and though we already miss them a ton, I am so thankful for the time that we spent with them and where The Lord is now taking them.
Here’s a photo from our time in Talamanca! This picture is from our first day of ministry where, after spending most of our day in a bus, we jumped in a pickup truck, dropped off our stuff, and did a surprise 6 hour hike to a man’s home for a house visit. He ended up not being home, but it didn’t matter because we got to pour out God’s presence over his property as we worshipped in his front yard, accompanied by pigs, chickens, dogs, and the jungle. We were taken out of our comfort zones and quickly became comfortable with being covered in sweat and mud. I watched as our squad grew in so much boldness in praying over people and giving them words. There was a morning where we woke up at 3am to do an hour-long prayer walk and pray for the nations and the lack of sleep, cleanliness, and comfort was so worth all of it. Sydney wrote a blog about what Talamanca looked like from her perspective and you can read it here: https://sydneyjacobsen.theworldrace.org/post/sweaty-sticky-sydney
Here’s another photo from our skateboarding ministry. In C.R., skateboarding is a hobby that is often looked down upon. Every week, the boys do skatepark ministry to build relationship and show the men that their passions are life-giving, bring community together, and are worth celebrating. We had the opportunity to host a skate competition and watch the community gather together to support these young adult’s talents. It was one of my favorite ministry opportunities yet and I loved getting to capture it.
Thanksgiving! I’m so thankful we got to spend part of this holiday season with our family in Costa Rica. We started off the morning with The Thanksgiving Day Parade streaming on my laptop as Racers ran around the house with Gallo Pinto in hand, the smell of peppermint filling the kitchen as Thanksgiving treats were being prepared, the clock ticking for us to leave for ministry, and a foot-tall Christmas tree glowing in the corner of the living room. The Lord answered my prayer in making the weather chilly enough for sweaters and a sense of home- and that day, we felt at home, indeed. We had Thanksgiving dinner at our neighbor’s home and were accompanied by our incredible base leaders and staff. My squad mentor from my race and his wife were able to come down and spend Thanksgiving with us, as well, and it added to the long list of things that I am thankful for. The Lord has done a beautiful job at sending people from home to Costa Rica and Cambodia between Daniel and Stephanie, my dear friend Claire who came up to jump into ministry with the girls for a week, my beloved friends in Jaco, my SQL Kylee, our base elders and their family in Cambodia who are from Chillicothe, and my friend Averie who was in Costa with me through Passport and is making her way to Cambodia while she does 11n11. I have been blessed beyond measure and I’m thankful that God not only has brought me a sense of home while in Costa Rica and Cambodia, but has cultivated home through this squad and the people that we’re doing life with.
Our layover in Los Angeles! We left early on December 5th, which happened to be Jenny’s 29th birthday! Whatta travel day.. Right before we left San Jose, we realized that our tickets were changed and half of the squad would be splitting up. Part of the squad were going straight from Houston to LAX, as planned and the majority of us were going from Houston to Baltimore to LAX, making our travel day much longer than planned. We also had to do plane changes because one of our planes started having difficulties and flights seemed to keep getting delayed. Jenny and I couldn’t change our flights to split up between the squad and we got to Los Angeles late that night and woke up the next morning to celebrate her birthday with her family who lives in the area. I absolutely loved getting to know her family and they made me feel like I was one of their own. I’m so thankful for them and I’m thankful that they let us have Jenny for these 9 months! There is never a dull moment with Jenny and she’s such an incredible sister to have. She is bold, intentional, kind, and hears Abba’s voice so well. I couldn’t have asked for a better person to spend this year squad-leading with.
Now, I’m back in Cambodia! Team Xapa, Jaimasi, and The Sovereign Sons are in Phnom Penh while I’m currently in Siem Reap with Henini and we just finished our first week of ministry! Every 10 days, I’ll be hopping on a bus to travel between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap to do ministry with my two teams. Henini is staying at Victory Church while partnering with them and teaching English at a few of the Universities in the area. Team Xapa is doing children’s ministry and is also teaching in Phnom Penh! Yay for 6 hour bus rides and a God who is stable when life is not. Since we’ve been here, I’ve already been in the hospital and so has quite a few other people from the squad. I was having sharp pains in my side and lower abdomen and found out that I had a parasite along with a gluten allergy and a few other things. On the bright side, tuk-tuk rides are never boring, Kairos (our ministry host’s son) is our new best friend, and there’s a wild monkey living in our backyard. I’m fine now, but have made a couple other doctor’s visits since for some of the girls on the squad- so please be praying for the health of our Racers along with prayers over such a transitional season for them in a new continent with new cultures, ministries, and new hearts to share Jesus with for the next three months.
If you’ve taken the time to read all of this, comment below or message me something that you’re thankful for today! Love you all and Merry Christmas!
