Hi Everyone!
Sorry I have not blogged as much as I personally would have liked. Every time I tell myself I want to write about this past year, I struggle with the words to even describe what I am trying to explain.
Honestly it has taken me forever to write this blog because I’m not sure if I know how I feel about coming home soon…About this year coming to an end for me.
HOW IS IT ALREADY OVER?
Of course I am excited to see my friends, family and dogs (can’t forget them) but it’s also so hard to say goodbye to the people I spent the last 11 months with and just this whole way of life this past year.
Well…the World Race is officially over. A year that was both amazing, life changing and challenging in different ways. A year that became normal to me, a new way of life that I adapted to. A year that was full of beautiful places and people. AHH my heart is heavy…
S Squad has gone back home (except the few of us that have decided to stay an extra few weeks) and it feels weird.
-Part of me feels like we said our goodbyes like we did each month as we headed off to our separate ministry sites knowing we would see each other in a month.
-The other part is trying to process how most of my SSquad family is home with their family, in separate parts of the USA trying to transition back home. That we will not be meeting back up to go to our next country together. (Good news is that we have this thing called Project Search Light where all the Squads that left in January meet back up in January for a few days to help with transitioning back home)
Just FYI: I decided to stay for another 3 weeks (thank you military school allowance) and travel with my girl Laurie-you know, the beautiful red head in a lot of my pictures. Surprisingly we did not get to spend a lot of the year together except month 1, month 7, month 11 (the Camino), and during travel days and debriefs. We wanted this time to spend together and be able to explore Europe a bit before heading home. We will be going to Paris, Ireland, Scotland, Manchester (to see the futbol game in honor of Dan), and end in Italy.
This past year has been a time of many experiences, opportunities and emotions. I don’t think I’ll ever fully be able to grasp what even happened this year in words.
Even as I am typing this, there are just so many thoughts and memories running through my head-it’s crazy and it’s beautiful.
Here are my thoughts at the moment about this past year…
One: I grew so much in my intimacy with the Lord.
I fell in love with reading my bible and read it consistently through the year. I would love to say I read it every single day but there were times I didn’t and it’s ok because I celebrate the growth.
Because of different disciplines I was introduced to this year, having deep convos, listening to podcasts and sermons, our sessions by leaders, spending more time in the Word, and being exposed to strong and wild Faith, I was able to truly see the Fathers Heart.
I have been filled with more gratitude for God this year than I could imagine…For the experiences that I have had and for being privileged in so many ways back home (hot showers, clean warm bed, washer and dryer in the house, etc).
I was able to find Freedom in who I am as Kristen and who God created me to be. I no longer feel like I have to do a list of things to be the “Perfect” Christian and that Jesus loves me right where I am at. Yes He wants the best for us, for us to feel whole and loved and worthy of course, but he also is there in the dark moments eager for us to just lean on Him and trust Him in everything. He wants us to Love Him and Love others.
This year I realized my biggest gift is compassion and loving others. I was able to love His people without boundaries all over the world. I will never ever forget the love or heartache I had this year and only hope I will be and feel the same back home.
This year I was reminded at how much He has already brought me through. Looking back at who I was before Christ, or even who I was before The WR and the decisions I was making to NOW. Daannng talk about renewing of mind. Am I perfect? No. Do I still fall in some areas? Yes. But looking at different areas of my life to now all I can think about is How Good God is and how I would not be where I am today without Him.
Two: this year was a year of learning to live in a community with all different people.
We learned to grow together, be uncomfortable, break down walls, work through things, understand each other better, give hard truth, encourage each other, push each other, have fun together, live life on mission, worship God, love each other, and become a Family.
It wasn’t always easy for sure if you can imagine putting people who are all different under one roof, spending 24/7 together, but we ended the Race being a big family who loved each other even through the annoying, aggravating, hard times (that’s a true family right there)
We were a Squad who completely stepped out in faith this year and left footprints all around the world. We impacted people’s lives and people changed ours.
God created each and every one of us so uniquely with different gifts. It was so incredible seeing us all come together as one Body to do what God has called us to do all around the world.
I am so proud of everyone and how much they grew in their confidence, gifts, their faith and more. SSquad is not going home unchanged!
Three: We Lived What We Believed! We lived a life on mission.
The World Race gave us the most amazing experience to see and be a part of so many different cultures.
We were able to serve others, love others, share what Jesus has done in our lives and who He is, give our time to people, make them feel loved, seen, heard and known.
We were able to see the heart of Jesus and have our hearts hurt like His for His people.
Even writing this I get teary eyed because I cannot even fathom how I was able to experience the love, peace and joy from the people I met this year.
Here is the majority of what I did each month just as an overview of my ministry this year. (Other teams on my Squad had very different experiences. We travel together but are placed with different ministries around the country so what we do looks different from each other month to month)
Colombia: bible studies and cooking with the women in the rehab program, outreach to the displaced children and families in the mountains, visits with addicts and homeless, prayer walks, VBS
Ecuador: Outreach to College students (CRU), Events for and with the College Students
Peru: ministering to the families of men who are involved in gangs, teaching the children, playing vball with the wives, speaking at church, prayer walks, evangelism
India: Visiting different villages each night to share the Gospel, Testimonies and Encouraging words and spend time with the church families
Nepal: School visit, Hike to Leper Colony, Spending time with young women out of brothels and sex trafficking, sharing encouragement and the Gospel to unreached villages and people living in the Himalayas.
Rwanda: Teaching the children, loving the children and people in the village, hospital visit, medical clinics, speaking at the church, house visits, Community Event (Crusade)
Uganda: Doing life with the refugee women and their babies (cooking, hair braiding, sweater weaving, farming, dancing, daycare, soccer)
Kenya: Conference for Pastors from all over Kenya, loving the orphans and kids from the village, tribe visits, kids event
Ethiopia: Painting the school (desks and windows), house visits-supported them with food, oil, arts supplies for kids and one family a new bed, Youth Program
Romania: Roma Community (kids program and handing out glasses), relationship building in community, handed out bibles, women’s program, manual labor (cleared out land for a new community/church building by hand)
Camino: Sharing the love and joy of Jesus to people on the Camino
I had the opportunity to serve in many different ways this year and be changed forever.
Each month was filled with so many blessings and so many lessons. Not every month was easy but I know God was trying to teach me something within myself. I loved the missional aspect of this year and loved how much it has impacted my life.
Yes the living conditions were not always ideal but I thrived in those months. I Love Love the simple, village life. There is something about it that is hard to explain but I know overall it is because of the peace of just enjoying what you have and living in the moment without all the distractions.
I will never forget the sweet moments of just spending time with people. Talking with the women and playing with the kids.
How can one ever go back to their old ways after experiencing something like this?
I know God has called me to be home and to be intentional and spend quality time with family, friends and supporters for a bit but I know He is calling me for more.
Someone once told me… “People don’t just wake up with a desire to live the village life or in the worst conditions around the world to just love people without boundaries. This is something God has put on your heart for a reason.”
I am unsure of what that looks like for my future but I will be ready and prepared for whatever it may be.
In the meantime, I am looking forward to seeing anyone I can from back home and just enjoying the sweet, simple moments of life.
Thank you God for an unforgettable, life changing year!
I will be home December 18th!
Thank you so much for you love and support!!
~Kristen~
Below are the approximate numbers of the Fruit from SSquad living a mission filled life. This is a difficult number to calculate but it puts it in perspective of the impact.
People we shared the gospel with: ~2.307
People who prayed to receive Jesus: ~1,015
Healings: ~200
Deliverances: ~342
Baptisms: 15
Bibles given out: ~295
People plugged into a discipleship program/church: ~659
Squad Personally discipled: ~530
