Happy New Year from Botswana!!! I had limited internet access in South Africa so I am playing ‘catch up.’ My team (FireBreathers) will be in Gaborone, Botswana working with CREW, campus ministries. Our first week we will help with a leadership retreat 12 hours outside the city. I’m looking forward to a great month and a great year!
Love is:
– 30+ people crammed into a 1 room home worshipping the same God in a different language
– hiking up a hill to find no one home but finding others close by wanting fellowship
– seeing the stars after church service every night in India
– seeing people released from the stronghold of the devil to find God’s arms waiting for them
– sharing chocolate outside the store trying to eat it before it melts
– singing Taylor Swift to your teammate on his birthday (22)
– teaching a 2 year old ‘I love you’ in Spanish and hearing her say it back
– watching the sunset on the beach with your team
– taking turns in the air conditioned cab of the truck on your 14+ hour road trip so you don’t sunburn even more
-playing silly games with kids of all ages in Cambodia
– sharing meals with 40+ people
– learning John 3:16 in another language and seeing the joy and pride in your younger teachers faces
– picking up a kid you’ve never met for a hug or swinging them round and round
– coloring with or just holding a kid for a few minutes
– when a kid who was so shy he ran away from you, sees you again and comes running into your arms
– little ‘thinking of you’ notes from your team
– sharing your grandmother’s stuffing recipe for Thanksgiving
– trying to make holidays as normal as possible while being away from family and everything ‘normal’
– carrying a younger brother or sister to church for the weekly program
– opening up your home and your hearts to complete strangers
– investing in others
– so much more
Love is all around us. We should be love to one another, not just loving and kind, but love. The church we have attended in J-Bay has a theme of ‘When Love Came Down,’ meaning when God himself came to walk the earth as Jesus. I have shared with many that I feel I was called on the Race to love others. As Christians, we are called to be examples of Christ and to love one another. I have no specific skill set, I’m not a teacher or a nurse, writer, photographer, etc, but I can love. You don’t just have to be on the World Race to love others either, it is one of the simplest ways to share Christ with those around you. I told many that while I may not make a huge difference in someone’s life, if I got even one smile out of someone one day of the Race, I knew I had done something right and fulfilled my purpose.
This Christmas as you look around you, see family and friends, pretty trees and lights; remember those who don’t have as much as you, those who are missing family, and those who do not know the love of Christ. Take time to love those around you, and show them you love them through your actions. We did nothing to deserve God’s grace and love, yet He extends those to us daily.
If you’ve never read it, I would encourage you to read Love Does by Bob Goff. Several on Gsquad have read it and enjoy it. It helped inspire this blog.
