I left last Friday for training camp and I got to know my team and leaders! They are absolutely incredible people and they are so filled with the Lord’s joy. Right away, we all clicked and it feels more like we are a family than a team. We learned about the Lord, community, missions, intimacy, and how all of these things work together with equal importance in order for us to successfully share the gospel and the love of God with these people. On our first long layover in London, we got to explore the beautiful heart of the city. We visited a lovely cafe and got to see Buckingham Palace. I know I made it sound like our team gets along perfectly but of course, like any good team, we’ve had our share of struggles. One of our amazing teammates, Bailey,( check out her blog!-baileylane.theworldrace.org ) wanted more than anything to travel to Africa with our team but unfortunately, she got sick and had to go home. Our team wrestled with how to move on as a team after losing a teammate so early on in the trip. But we had reflection time in the airport and took time to speak to the Lord on our own. During this time, God reminded me that he is my God in the hills and especially in the valleys. God carried our team through this challenge and it (somehow) made us grow even closer together. After 58 hours of traveling by bus, plane, train, and foot, we finally made it to Livingstone, Zambia on Thursday night! My team and I have been anticipating this moment for quite some time but I never could have imagined that this is how it would be. As we stepped off the bus, we were quickly acquainted with the local children as they attacked us with hugs and kisses. In our community home, we are living with a few locals, a few volunteers from WorkAway, and many insects and lizards. It has been such an incredible and different experience to live in a home here and it is very different from my house at home. We have had the joy of doing worship every night since we have arrived here. This area is so beautiful and the people are the kindest I have ever met! They all greet us with a smile and an enthusiastic “Hello!” We are working on learning their language, it will come with time, it’s a little trickier than English. It’s a short taxi ride into town and an even shorter walk to a few shops that the locals own. My heart is so full of joy and God is so good. I cannot wait until Monday when ministry starts so that we can meet even more people to show God’s love to! God is so good and as my team and I are making new discoveries about how we’ll be living here, I have grown more and more in love with God and his people! Updates to come!
Please pray for our team and our determination, our outreach, and our unity to continue growing! Pray that the Lord would use us in huge ways to be able to love the people here and share the gospel with them through our actions, words, and relationships.
