I am just going to go ahead and start this blog of by telling you THE WORLD RACE IS HARD! The past two months have brought many challenges but along with that, a lot of growth. I am so excited for what God is doing and I can not wait to see what else he has for me for the remainder of this adventure!
I just wanted to update you on a few things that have been happening!
I know it has been a while so I will try to quickly summarize what I have been doing for the past two months.
Last month I was in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. We were working with International Resources and Training Foundation, teaching English both in Plovdiv and the surrounding area. My favorite part of the month was teaching three little girls alongside my teammate Clare. A couple of times a week we met with them to teach English, and by the end of our time in Plovdiv there were five more children that had joined our group.
This past month I was in Skopje, Macedonia. All of our ministry was geared toward building relationships with people. We spent our mornings in a nearby gypsy village, helping to run a soup kitchen. We assisted with the set up, serving, and clean up of the kitchen. But my team and I quickly realized that our time there was more about building relationships and spending time with the children. In one of my past blogs I talked about the difficulties of communicating with someone who doesn’t speak or understand English. Through the soup kitchen the Lord taught me that there is more than one way to communicate and to minister to people. I learned this through the woman that ran the soup kitchen.
She spoke very little English but she was able to show me her way of set up and clean up in the kitchen. There was a man there that also helped run the kitchen but she was not a fan of the way he cleaned up. So she cleaned the kitchen while he cleaned the main/dining room. It was obvious that she has a very specific way of doing things when she didn’t let me do them until she had shown me the way she liked it done. By the end of our time at the kitchen she would come just stand there, letting me doing the dirty work, saying “BEAUTIFUL, BEAUTIFUL!” over and over again. I really enjoyed helping her because I could tell, even though it wasn’t verbally spoken, that I was serving her really well.
We finished up this ministry last Sunday, and then our squad came together for debrief (a time of rest and replenishment). A couple big things happened during this time that I would like to update you guys on as well. First of all, WE HAD TEAM CHANGES! I am now part of team Hephzibah. This word comes from Isaiah 62:4 and means “My delight is in her.” While I am sad to be leaving my old team I am excited for this new stage of the race and the new ways that I will be encouraged to grow as a part of a new team.
With a new teams we are also moving to a new continent… AFRICA! This month my team will be in Lusaka, Zambia. We don’t know what we will be doing quite yet so I will have to update you again when we find out. No matter what we will be doing I know that there is a lot in store for me and for my new team.
Prayer Requests:
– Please pray for my team – that we will be able to quickly learn how to serve each other in a way that promotes outstanding growth.
– Please pray for my health – I am currently alive and well but have had three separate colds/coughs. Pray that I have beaten it for the last time while I am abroad.
– Please, please, PLEASE pray for me over the holidays. It is so hard to be away from my family during this season.
Love you guys and am so thankful for all of you!
