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We’re about to do something a little different here… you and I.
But before we do, let me fill you in on what has happened.
A month and a half ago, we had planned to go into Zimbabwe. A plethera of doors were being opened, and I had an established contact there, so my team began praying about going into this country, which is currently being defined by massive amounts of unrest. If you know anything about what is going on in Zimbabwe right now, then you know what I am talking about.
And… if you know anything about what is going on in Zimbabwe right now, you may be thinking, “Ohhhh… their poor mothers….” Let me reassure you, this was not something we took lightly. But I am under the firm conviction that the safest place to be is in the will of God. Therefore, the only bottom line I needed to know was an answer of YES to our question: “Is this where God is leading us to go?”
Combining faith and wisdom is always essential. I told my team that we would not go in there if, even at the border to Zimbabwe, God said no.
At the last possible minute, the doors closed to Zimbabwe (at least for now), and honestly, it left me wondering why we were even led down this road for the past month and a half to begin with. Is it that we did not hear from God correctly? Were we only fooling ourselves into thinking that this is what He wanted?
And then I thought of Abraham and Isaac. What LOGICAL sense did it make for Abraham to cart his only son up a hill with a knife in hand, purposing to sacrifice him to God… especially after God had already promised Abraham that he would be the Father of many nations? The math seems simple to me: Kill Isaac = no more only son = no more nations = promise unkept… I’m sure Abraham thought to himself, “Why is God asking me to do this?”
But in faith, Abraham walked up that hill anyway. He brought the knife. He made the altar. He even got as far as strapping his boy onto the wood and raising his weapon in the air, before God (at the last possible moment) said STOP.
And so, in a way, I find comfort in relating with Abraham. We were willing to go into a war torn country and frankly, risk our lives, because God said to. As much as it made her cry, I told my mom at the beginning of the year that anytime you take risks, there is a cost to count. And while The World Race doesn’t normally take first year missionaries out into uncharted tribal territory where we don’t speak the language and the people are aggressive and throw spears at unknown humans, there is still a risk anywhere you go. I would rather die a martyr than in a car accident.
So, in the aftermath of Zimbabwe, as I was sitting on the big, green, fluffy couch in our debrief hostel in Joburg, South Africa, asking God what He had for us to do this next month, I saw a little car on the map on the wall in front of me… driving all around Africa.
I talked with God and listened more about it for a couple of days, spoke with the other leaders, and offered the option to my 4 team members. Meredith (who operates in the prophetic gifting) said that she saw the very same thing- a map and a car. Michelle said that it seemed that God had set us up for a road trip (we had left all of our stuff in Swaziland, except for 1 small bag each, aniticpating that Zimbabwe would be difficult to get into). Matt had been itching for the unknown, and this was right up his alley. And Kelton was a simple, “Let’s go, guys.”
And so, a little over 24 hours later, God had provided a car that allowed us to go into every country, insurance, and a direction: east. We loaded our bags and our 2 tents, crammed into the Toyota Tazz, and started driving from Joburg, South Africa towards Gaborone, Botswana. We had 19 days until we had to be back in Swaziland for debrief with the rest of our squad… and so, we began the drive in prayer, Asking The Lord (ATL) to lead us one step at a time.
So…. back to the “something different” that you and I are about to do…
The next series of blogs is the journals from our trip. As often as I can get to the internet, I will update you every step of the way.
We have no agenda over the next 14 days except to listen to God’s voice and act upon 
what we hear. I have seen some beautiful sunsets, beautiful animals, beautiful people, and beautiful countryside here, but by far, the most beautiful thing I have seen in Africa to this day is the 5 of us coming into a deeper realization of our Kingdom giftings*. I told my team that unless we fully press into our identities in the Kingdom and allow the Lord to work through us as a Body, then this trip will be a waste. It will be just another dumb road trip where we saw some of cool things, met some cool people, and had a grand old time, but didn’t hear from God and didn’t accomplish what He had for us to do or become who He intended for us to become. God said GO. And the last time He told me to GO, I ended up here on The World Race.
We are driving in full anticipation that God has a plan for our team and for the people in the places that we go…
…the only kicker is, we don’t know what it is yet.
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*See Ephesians 4, 1 Corinthians 12
