I realize that it hasn’t been exactly one month since I left the United States, it’s actually been a month and 3 days. I couldn’t post a blog on the exact one month date because I didn’t have WiFi. But hey, it be like that sometimes on the race.
I wanted to start off this blog by giving a brief timeline of where I’ve been this past month and what we’ve been doing:
- January 9th my team and I arrived in Cusco, Peru, where we had training camp.
- We divided into teams on the 12th. Team TIM’S TOTS (aka team Cohesion) was made up of David, Josh, and I.
- Training camp ended on January 20th. My team and I felt the Lord opening up doors for us to go to Arequipa, Peru, for our first few days as a team. Here in Arequipa we stayed at my grandparent’s orphanage. We painted one of the boy’s dorms at the home, as well as cleaned out a room in the new church building. My team and I had some really good bonding time here, and we were really blessed to be able to stay at the orphanage! We also got to make a really cool new friend who stayed with us at the home and explored the city with us!
- Next (on the 26th) we felt the Lord leading us into Chile a few days early so we went! We took a bus to Tacna, Peru, and spent the night there. The next day we took another bus over the border to Arica, Chile, where we spent the next few days. Our ministry here looked a lot like getting to know one another by diving deep into who we are and who we have been shaped to be. We also had some really great conversations with people at our hostel about what we are doing and where we are going. I really enjoyed this time getting to know these guys, even though the town we were in was so different than any that I’ve seen before. We made a real adventure of it. My favorite mem was eating dinner at a cliff by the ocean and then running down to jump in as the sun was setting.
- On the 30th we arrived in Iquique, Chile, where we had our first mini-debrief. This time was for us to reflect as a squad on the past 10 days on our own. It was good being together with everyone again. During this mini-debrief, our leadership felt the Lord telling them to switch up the teams. So, say “oh hey” to team leftovers! One of my favorite memories from this weekend was going to the beach for a sunset swim and some good acoustic worship. Shoutout to Alyssa for being a BOMB worship leader and shoutout to Savanna for organizing this FUN night with me.
- My team stayed in Iquique for a few more days because we felt the Lord telling us we needed to rest and catch up, while also getting to know our new team and figuring out the culture that we want our team to have. One of our team leaders, Kae, met a Korean missionary who lives in Iquique and we had the opportunity to get ice cream with him and get to know more of his story. I really enjoyed being able to speak to him in Spanish, see some of his beautiful artwork, and pray for his future as a missionary in the city.
- Next, as my team and I prayed about where the Lord was leading us next, doors opened up for us to go to the city of Calama. Through a connection with one of my best friends from college, we were put in contact with Pastor Sergio. We got to Calama on Feb. 6th and stayed there till the 10th. We had heard that Calama was one of the most dangerous cities in Chile, but the hospitality that we were met with here was out of this world. The people we met were some of the kindest I’ve ever met. One of my favorite times was going to the home of a woman named Aida. She taught us how to make empanadas and some of the team got the sweet opportunity of helping her sell the empanadas at the river! I caught some kind of cold this week, so I wasn’t able to be there at the river, but I am feeling much better now ptl. Another one of my favorite memories was being able to talk on a Christian radio station here in Chile about what we are doing on the World Race and about the experiences we have had so far!
- Next, my team and I felt like the Lord was leading us to San Pedro de Atacama for a few days! We got here yesterday and I am LOVING this little city. I’ll post pictures some other time (probably just on instagram though ;))
I don’t want this to be a normal thing that I stop contact for a month and then update my blog with a long list of things that we’ve done, but I felt like I really wanted to take some time (just this first month) to really understand what it is that we’re doing out here without the distraction of updating my blog. Unscripted life is really something else and I’m glad I’ve taken time to learn more about it, but I do want to keep you more up to date on what I’m doing and how the Lord is working through my team and I. Consider this my apology and my reassurance that you will be hearing more from me in the future.
Okay, now that that’s over, here is something that I’ve been learning recently. It’s something that I’ve been thinking about a lot the past few days, and something that I think the Lord is going to keep teaching me throughout this next year. Here it is:
My goal for this year is to know God. I know I know, this isn’t , or I guess shouldn’t be, any revolutionary discovery that’ll leave you saying “wow, what a unique goal!”, but it is something that I truly desire for this year, and for the rest of my life. With that being said, I have had a lot of moments where I have missed being at college. I have spent a lot of time looking through my old photos of the good, and even bad, times I had there. My community was good and letting go of that was hard. Leaving that to follow God was hard.
I’ve learned recently, though, through looking more at the life of Jesus was that he also had a good community that was hard for him to leave. Matthew 26:39 shares a prayer that Jesus himself prayed in the garden before begin betrayed by Judas. The prayer says:
“My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
I can’t tell you how many times this past month I’ve felt like, and cried that, I don’t want to do this anymore. Sometimes I just feel like the pull of life and the memories of what I had are too strong and it gets the best of me. Recently though, I’ve found victory in reminding myself of Jesus’ prayer though. How he had community and how it was hard for him to leave. I don’t think he wanted to. And I can certainly say that when it came time to go I didn’t want to either. But Jesus knew that the will of the Father is greater, and that knowing him was greater than anything else we can experience here on earth.
I remember saying goodbye to one of my best friends, Jonas. He dropped me off at the airport and I cried almost the whole way there. As I got out, got my bag, and gave him a 15 second hug, my heart broke for what I was giving up to come on the Race. As I said my final goodbye, Jonas looked at me in the eyes and said “go chase after God”. That was the last thing he said to me face to face. And that is what I want from this year, I want to know God even more than I ever have. And I want to chase after him fully even though it’ll cost me things that mean a lot to me. Jesus knew that knowing the Father was worth losing things he cared so much about, and i believe it was hard for him, but he knew it to be true. And I know that too.
As I said before, I ***probably*** wont be taking a month off from blogging again, so you’ll for sure be hearing from me soon. I won’t promise, but i sort-of promise. okay?
I hope you feel the Father’s love today and choose to get to know him more.
Much Love,
- Michael
