The past couple of weeks I have had lots of time to reflect over the first 7 months of the World Race and the opportunity to think about truly blessed I am. This reflection has included thinking about my entire life and how the hand of God has been upon me from the beginning. I was born into a Christian home and family being raised in church and surrounded by a family of believers living a lifestyle of Christ. Being a teenager, the Lord provided me with such a wonderful youth camp that has been a major part of my story and how God formed me into the Woman of God I am today. This overflowed into my college years when I went to work at camp for 3 summers and experience Christian community for the first time. Graduating college with a smooth transition from the classroom to a full-time job where I was already working during college. Down to how the Lord placed a desire to do missions in November 2011 and has led me around the world to serve Him in the nations.
My time on this journey has been so wonderfully blessed and God’s favor has been all over Q squad. It began with 3 amazing women of God who led us for 5 unforgettable months where they poured themselves out onto us. This pouring out allowed each of us and especially myself to experience God, the Holy Spirit, and life in great new ways for the Kingdom. We also have an incredible team working stateside in Georgia to ensure our journey goes as smooth as possible. This includes a squad mentor who pours into us, a logistics person to pave our route, and a beautiful married couple who met us on the field every couple of months to pour into us. The leadership of Q squad has been so uniquely put together for each of us and they have pushed each of us into such greatness. This greatness is making ourselves better for the Kingdom, allowing us to walk more in who God created us to be for His glory.
Top left: Vanessa our alumni squad leader and current squad leader Katie Stoddard; Top right: our coaches Chuck and Selena Day; Bottom left: Suzanne our alumni squad leader and Laura; Bottom right: Stacy alumni leader.
Continually through this adventure the Lord’s favor has been all over my squad from travel mercies, provision, climate and weather, safety, and providing for our every need daily. One story that comes to mind is when we were traveling from Vietnam to South Africa and one of our squad leaders got stuck in Qatar. She didn’t have enough pages in her passport so she couldn’t travel with us on our flight. This meant going to the US Embassy to get more pages and she was covered in the Lord’s favor. Immediately she met a manager of the airport who put her in VIP lounge until the next flight out with unlimited food and drinks. Also, she was taken to the embassy on a Saturday and it opened just for her. About one day later, she made it to us safety with a great story of God’s favor.
Thank you to everyone who has helped in making the route of Q squad so smooth. It has been wonderful to see how the Lord’s plan has worked out for us and He continues to pour His favor on us. I have loved the lifestyle of the World Race and having such a unique opportunity to serve Papa in so many interesting ways. My prayers are that the Lord continues to abundantly bless Q squad and provide so much for us everyday. As we enter the last few months on the field, I ask for your prayers that each of us stay focused on each opportunity we have to share Jesus’ love.
Q squad in Pretoria, South Africa
