[Brief update: I’m 100% healthy now, and I am feeling great. I’m currently in Indianapolis catching up with old friends from college and church. I’m staying with my friends, the Moffetts, who have undoubtedly the cutest one-year-old boy that I have ever laid eyes on. I’m not sure when the job search will start, but sometime in the next month or so. Also, I am flying down to Fort Lauderdale, FL on April 30 to welcome lovely Racers back to the States. I’m so excited to get to see them again for a night!]
I’ve heard a lot about this book called “The Year of Living Biblically” by A.J. Jacobs. I haven’t personally read it yet, but I’ve had several friends who have. It’s about a man who decides to follow the Law of the Old Testament for an entire year. The Israelites couldn’t even seem to get it right, so I’m not sure what makes Jacobs think that he can. Regardless, he even goes so far as to follow rules such as not wearing “clothes of mixed fibers, not shaving beards, and stoning adulterers.” (Supposedly he got away with that last one by throwing a pebble at a friend who admitted to having an affair.) Basically, he lives out the Bible for a year.
I can’t say that I lived out the whole Bible last year. Because of Christ it’s not required, having broken the necessity of the Law. Of course I didn’t follow all of the laws and commands. I often struggled to follow the “basic” ones in the Ten Commandments. Praise the Lord for grace and forgiveness. However, I can say that I saw the Bible lived out in every country we went.
The Word became real to me this year. I saw it lived out in my daily life. I saw my WR family walking in the truths of the Bible. I saw the poor being cared for. I saw captives being set free. I saw demonic strongholds conquered. In every country, I saw so many passages of the Bible come to life before my very eyes.
South Africa: Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses,
let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily
entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on
Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set
before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the
right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews 12:1-3
The Beginning of it all. None of us knew what we were getting ourselves into. I was giddy with anticipation, yet overwhelmed with what the year would hold. We were cold (our “bedroom” was regularly a toasty 41 degrees Fahrenheit), limited on personal space (which we quickly became accustomed to), and just beginning to understand the enormity of our decision of leaving everything behind for a year. Honestly, it was a trying, albeit exciting time. But all I could do was focus on Jesus. He was the reason I was doing it, and I trusted that he would mark the course for me. I saw that “his paths were beyond tracing out” (Romans 11:33) and wanted to follow the course that he authored. 
Swaziland: A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families, he leads forth the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land. Psalm 68:5-6
In Swazi, we worked at care points were go-go’s (grandmothers) cook meals for children, often AIDS orphans. They do this out of the kindness of their heart because they know that if they don’t, no one will. The Lord’s love compels them. The Lord makes sure that the children of this AIDS-stricken land are watched after. Families such as the Blacks are following the Lord’s calling in Swaziland to make sure that these precious children have families through the G-42 project.
Thailand: The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor. Isaiah 61:1-3
At night, our team would walk 15 minutes toward the beach in Phuket to the bar district where men would come to find women who prostitute themselves. We would sit on bar stools and share a Coke with these women. We would laugh together at our miscommunication due to the language barrier. We would play endless games of Jenga and Connect Four. We would offer hope, telling everyone we could about a way out of their lifestyle: a job was waiting for them if they turned their back on the bars completely. Sometimes, the moment was even right to tell them about the Lord. While we were in Phuket, we saw four women released from darkness and come out of captivity from the bars. The women who come to work at S.H.E. (Self Help and Empowerment) also have the chance to be discipled and grow in their knowledge of the Lord.
Stay tuned for verses that came to life for me while we were in Cambodia, China, the Philippines, Nicaragua, and Guatemala.
