Adventures WorldRace SethBarnes Sponsorship Giving

| by archiveworldraceblogs

Quick recap of the past week for all of us here in Byron Bay:

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Saturday: We had worship time with both the M and N Squad leaders. It was awesome to have them here for a week for encouragement and guidance. Anyways, it started POURING down rain just as we started worship. But that didn’t really stop us and I joined some others in dancing in the rain. It was an awesome and freeing experience. As we ended and thinking about how we were ever going to get dry, the pastor from the local church drove up and offered to ferry us back and forth to the church to sleep under a roof and not get flooded. I almost stayed back because my tent was still dry, but I’m so glad I went. It was an awesome chance for all 30 of us to be in one room and relax. Good bonding times. And that situation turned into the pastor offering to let us just stay at the church the rest of our time here. What a blessing. We had been trying to find better housing and just when we stop looking, God provides.

Sunday: Before our squad leaders left to go to their next location, they baptized four World Racers in the crazy ocean off the Main Beach here in Byron. It rained a little bit, but we prayed for it to go away and God sent the sun to shine down as four racers fully committed their lives to him. It was an awesome moment and we were all blessed to see a great picture of freedom in Christ.

Monday: Yep, we all got up and headed into town to watch the Superbowl. It was on at 10:30 in the morning here. Interesting, but still so much fun. I headed back early with some of my team because we had offered to pool some of our food budget money and make enchiladas for everyone! It was so fun. Because we were on a budget though and tortillas are ridiculously expensive, we made our own from scratch. It was a process, but totally worth it, and props to Jake and Chris for wearing aprons and rolling out the dough for us!

Tuesday: We had to pack up all our stuff from the campsite and take it over to the church so I spent my day doing that as well as spending some time with God. Part of what he is teaching me is to seek after and pursue him, so through reading and Bible studies and conversations and journaling and praying, I have been seeking after God, listening for him and looking to find him. Some of my teammates were out in town playing volleyball and meeting some awesome people and it was so cool to hear their stories about how God had orchestrated certain conversations.

Wednesday: I needed to get back to town. Some of the M Squad teams were doing a 24 hour prayer ministry, so I went to pray for them and encourage them. The girls from Team Seven had a box out on the sidewalk near the beach with notes that had scripture or truths written on them for people to take. Their box was labeled, “Your Answer is in Here” and it did catch your eye. I felt like God was calling me to go hang out with them for a while, maybe talk to a few people before I headed back to meet my team. It started to rain a little bit, so we moved the box under this awning in the park and while it was raining an older guy walked up to us and picked up a piece of paper. We asked him about what it said and it started into a long conversation that we had with him. He asked us what freedom meant and how we knew that God was real. He had grown up Catholic and knew quite a lot about Jesus, but some other spiritualities and religions had mixed into his view. There was something about him though. He challenged us, but it was all in love. He really listened when we talked and was never put off by our answers or what we said. And when he looked at us and talked directly to us, it was crazy. He had the kindest eyes. They were four different colors and worn on the edges but they were so kind and the feeling I got when I looked at him was that he was loved. Not only by whatever friends and family he had, but also by God. We don’t always have to have all the answers. We can be seeking for truth and God still loves us. He loves us all.
 
Thursday: Jessica and I woke up at 4:30 this morning along with Jake and Tyler and we all headed out to the lighthouse. It was a good hour and a half walk from the church but we made it in time to watch the sunrise over the ocean and pray for Byron Bay. Jessica and I then walked up to the lighthouse and the eastern most point in all of Australia. It was beautiful and we were both blown away by God’s beauty. 

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