After one of the smoothest travel days on
the race this far, we are now in Swaziland. My team is partnered with team
Cherished Flame this month along with our fabulous squad leaders and we are
working with AIM missionaries here. This month there are several ministries
that we will be a part of; feeding centers for children, an HIV Hope House, the
local hospital here and more. Our schedule is very flexible and our contacts
have encouraged and empowered us to follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit for
where and how we minister from day to day. In World Race jargon this is
essentially an ATL month (not Atlanta, Ask The Lord).
One of our first days here we spent some
time in prayer ATLing about what God has for this month. For some time now I
have felt that the Lord was calling me to a month of prayer. In praying about
this month He began to confirm that prayer is going to be the majority of my
ministry. I reflected on some wisdom that my team and others had given me over
the past month and there was a recurring theme, rest. That is a lesson that the
Lord continues to teach me, and one that I continue to be too stubborn to
learn. But God has a gentle yet direct way of getting His children to listen
sometimes.
For a while now my foot has been giving me
a lot of trouble. Last month the planters wart I have spread and the new ones
got infected (which I just found out Friday), because of the infection it
became unbearably painful to walk. I think this is God taking away many of my
excuses not
to spend a month in prayer. You see, I am not the “sit around and let
someone else do the work” kind of person; I want to see things first hand, I
hate feeling like I missed out if anything happens, ever, and spending a
month doing ministry alone in my room isn’t exactly my idea of ministry. But
God is changing my heart on what true ministry looks like.
“The body is a unit, though it is made up
of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is
with Christ. … Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. … But in
fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he
wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it
is, there are many parts, but one body” (1 Corinthians 12:12-20).
Ministry is simply obeying the Lord and
loving Him and His people in whatever part He created and calls us to be.
He also confirmed my calling for this month
by reminding me of a desire He has placed in me. In Romania I heard of a story
of a woman who prayed and fasted for a conference that was going on in her
town. That day the conference changed. The previous days it had been all but
lifeless, and that day the Holy Spirit moved and hundreds of people came to
know Christ. God reminded me that prayer changes things! He also reminded me of
a passage that has convicted me for several years, “But when you pray, go into
your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your
Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” (Matthew 6:6). When I
heard the story about the woman, and when I think of this passage, it speaks to
my heart; this is the kind of woman I long to be. A woman humbly on her knees.
Even with all of this confirmation, God in
His goodness continued to give me more! On Friday I went to the doctor to get
my foot checked out (a divine appointment which I will tell you about in my
next blog). The doctor, who happened to be a great man of God, asked me to pray
for this country because he senses a spiritual battle coming here soon. As he
talked God reminded me of a vision that one of my squad mates had for me at
training camp. The vision was of me standing on a hill in an African country,
alone, dressed as a warrior looking down at a village below. Immediately I knew
that the vision was for this month; God planned long ago for me to be a prayer
warrior here this month.
Here is the deal: if I’m being really
honest, the reason that I don’t want do this, that I don’t want to “miss out”
by going to the hospital or feeding centers, is partially selfish. I want to be
there and see miracles first hand because I want to see them;
yes, I want God’s glory to be known but there is still a small part of me that
wants to be able to say “I was there.” And until I am out of it and
God’s glory is the ONLY reason, my ministry is best served in my room.
So this month will look a little different
for me than months past:
8:00am – wake up, get ready, have
breakfast, journal, have quiet time
10:00am – Pray
12:00pm – Lunch
1:00pm – Pray
4:00pm – Free time (time in the hammocks
with teammates, watch a movie, etc)
6:00pm – dinner
7:30pm – Team time and Feedback
9:00pm – Free time
11:00pm – Bed
Each day will
probably look different and each day I will ATL what He wants. I may even get a
few days on location for ministry, but my calling this month is to rest in the
Lord, to be on my knees for my team and my squad, and to be on my knees for
Swaziland! …Not that I really have a choice, I can barely walk remember?!?!
Many blessings,
Kim
