This past week we spent time in Banos for debrief. It is a quaint little town nestled in the Andes mountains. It is absolutely gorgeous and it was just what our squad needed. Debrief is a time of rest, relaxation, and reflection. My time was filled with adventure but it was also filled with lots of reflection.
Each night we would meet together as a squad and worship. On this particular night we met at the squad leaders hotel instead of the church. There was art covering the walls, a fire going in the middle of the room, and the presence of the Holy Spirit was so evident.
Ecuador was a great month for some of us, while other teams struggled to make it through. Debrief had revealed areas that we all needed improvement in. We were poured in to and encouraged to get vulnerable with each other like never before. It was such a great week.Christina had shared with me something that her team had done earlier in the week and I felt the Lord asking me to have the entire squad participate in the same activity that night around the fire. I’ll admit that I often question whether hearing God’s voice is my own or in fact His but he kept nudging me, so I shared. I asked each person to write something they struggled with, were struggling with, or a label they found themselves identified as on the piece of fire wood to be burned. We needed to leave some things in Ecuador in order to better serve each other and our ministry in Peru. As the pieces of wood were passed back to the front of the room it was evident what most of us were struggling with and that was fear. Fear of not being enough, being too much, fear of man, etc. The enemy had convinced several of us that fear was bigger than our God.
2 Timothy 1:7 says “ for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self- control.”
As I read each word written on the pieces of wood I was overwhelmed with the grace that God so freely gives us. We are nothing without Him. We are weak and imperfect, yet He still loves us. He hears our cries and our pleas for help. He conquers our fears and for that I am so thankful. He is using our brokenness to bring glory to His kingdom. He allows us to come before Him with those fears, struggles, and inadequacies so that we may become perfect through Him. He is such a good good Father.
I’m learning more and more each day that the enemy is great at deceiving us. He is the author of lies and he does his best to pull us in to believing them. My prayer is that as I enter Peru that I would meditate on 2 Timothy in a whole new way. That I would hear God’s voice and be obedient to it, whatever the situation may be. That I would be bold in sharing the gospel and not miss an opportunity to share the love of Jesus Christ. Please join me in praying for these things as well as the needs of my squad. Several of us have dealt with or are dealing with sickness. Others are experiencing spiritual warfare in their dreams. We will need your continued prayers for this month as we serve in Peru.
