Every month I don’t know what to expect. Surprising I know.
This month was a second all-squad month for us. Most squads only get one month to live all together, but do separate ministries within our teams. However, this month we are not only living together but are doing ministry together as well. So, this looks like walking around neighborhood to neighborhood, morning and evening sharing the love of Jesus with the people of Sunyani, Ghana.
With 58 of us entering the various neighborhoods, we can cause quite the stir, and most people are eager to hear what we are doing and why we have come all the way here.
“We have left our families, friends, jobs, and homes to come and tell YOU that Jesus loves you, pray for you, and hear your story.”
This is usually met with one of two responses.
1. “Wow, that’s amazing, God bless you.”
2. “Will you marry me and take me to America?”
The first one leads to a great conversation about how God has changed my life so radically that all I want to do is make sure everyone knows how much Jesus loves them and that they too can have a radically changed life.
The second, well, first I have to explain to them that I made an 11 month commitment that I wouldn’t date or get married while I’m on the Race, but that’s usually not enough because they are all willing to wait until December…
However, this creates an awesome opportunity to share what God has been teaching me. That only HE can fulfill their desires and satisfy their longings, and that changing their circumstances by going to America is not going to bring them fulfillment. Just as me leaving the country for the year didn’t solve all my problems.. contrary to popular belief. 🙂
As humans, we all have longings and desires in our hearts. There’s usually something that we think “If only I had that perfect job, the bigger house, a spouse, a child, more education etc” then I will have “made it”.
But God has created us with a reckless longing. One that is meant to be filled with Christ alone, and won’t be fulfilled until we meet him in Heaven.
This month God gave me a vision, of a compass, and He said that I need to keep my eyes focused on him at all times, like a compass always points us due north. That HE is the only thing constant in an inconsistent world.
I’ve always been looking for that constant in my life, either a job, a house, friends, spouse, family etc. However, things are always changing and shifting and causing me anxiety and a deep sense of unrest and longing.
But, the one thing that will never change is God.
So with Him as my focus, I will always be pointed to what is important. Just as the compass always reorients us to North, I want to be laser focused on Him and what He has called me to, and can’t be distracted by the things the world offers and says we will be satisfied with.
We have had the chance to work with the young and the old this month and I have been captivated in capturing the generations. From the young little babies the mothers graciously let us hold, to the school age children, the young mothers caring for their kids, and then the elderly who have lived so much life, yet still have life left in their eyes.
I’ve been inspired to seize every moment I have been given, because there is always something to be celebrated.
I am asked to simply show up and offer my heart, hands, and ears to the various people God places in my path. It may not be some big conversion story, but it may be.
We have seen a man healed from spiritual oppression after we laid hands on him and prayed for healing. He kept repeatedly yelling, “I’m FREE!”
After 8 months of unemployment, our group prayed for a man seeking a job, and 2 hours after we left, he received a call for an interview.
And we’ve planted seeds in the hearts of Buddhists, Muslims, and nominal Christians that there is a God who loves them unconditionally.
Those are things worth celebrating.
Let’s never cease to remember that life is a party.
