As I write this blog, my arms feel 10 times heavier than normal, and I am fearful about what will happen whenever I have to stand up. This morning we went to the orphanage down the road, and for a little under 4 hours, manually attempted to uproot a ginormous tree stump using some garden shovels, one axe (we had a pick axe for about 30 min before it broke), and one, I have no idea what it actually was, what I called the heavy thing (it was like solid iron maybe with one flat wide end and one pointy end). By the end, we still hadn’t gotten the tree stump out (was there really any chance that we would) and had entirely used up all of our bodies’ strength. While we may not be the most effective tree stump removers, with our flesh failing us waaaay before we got through all the ridiculous amount of wood, one thing is for sure, God surely hasn’t this month (although, our request for a miraculous tractor to appear didn’t quite pan out). God has definitely shown up in huge ways this month and has been doing some awesome work.
When we arrived, our ministry hosts told us that they believed that we were an answer to their prayers. How incredibly humbling. They are so full of the spirit of God, and have definitely taught me so much just through observation of how they care deeply for and intercede for people, never giving up. It blows my mind that we are the blessing that they say we are because they have just blessed us so incredibly much. One of my favorite ministries that we’ve been doing has been house church services where we go to a home of someone in the church and read scripture, worship, and just pour ourselves out in prayer. I love how when we make ourselves available to God and willing to step out of our comfort zones, God just shows up in mighty ways. It still kind of blows my mind when God uses someone like me as a vessel to speak the words that others need to hear or have an understanding of the burdens of others without them even sharing about it. My team has been joking that we’ve already done almost everything we expected to at some point on the race just in this one month. We’ve led church services, played with orphans, done a little bit of manual labor (as evidenced above), prayed for the sick, visited a rehab center, and even did a little bit of street evangelism (passing out tracts). And in all these things, God has just been like, give me your hands and feet, and I will use them in ways you can’t believe. You might not think you’ve got much to offer, but I in you am planning on doing so much. It’s not always easy and it’s not always comfortable, but it’s always sooo sooo good.
