The Next Season
Well, the Race is over. God brought me through 11 crazy months of traveling the world, sharing the gospel, feeding the hungry, making disciples, holding orphans, visiting prisoners, building churches, and much much more. I lived in constant 24/7 community with 40+ other people who were almost as crazy as me. I saw God work miracles, heal the sick and broken, and free those in bondage. Through it all, I was changed. I found who I am in Christ. God showed me some giftings I never knew I had and awakened passions I had never dreamed of. My world view was wrecked and I am no longer comfortable being comfortable. The question is: Where do I go from here?..What’s next?
The answer is that I still don’t have the long term answer to those questions. I expected to come out of my 11 month journey with my life planned (even though I was intentional about not making plans). That didn’t happen. I didn’t go to Project Search Light and have some great revelation about what my life is going no to look like for the next 30 years. There isn’t a specific country I feel called to go to to start a ministry. There isn’t even a specific type of ministry that God has told me to go start.
All I know for sure is that I am going to spend my life serving Him. I know that He has given me a passion for discipleship. He has given me a passion for seeing people set free from bondage. He delivered me from the addiction that was tearing my life apart and I long to see others become free from the things that are destroying them. Jesus came that we might have life to the full. (John 10:10). The enemy wants to stop that from happening. My passion is for silencing the lies that the enemy is whispering in the ears of my brothers and sisters to keep them from living the life that Jesus has planned for them. My desire is not only to see others set free, but to see them set free so they can then set others free.
A year ago when I left on the World Race, I didn’t see myself as someone with much to contribute. I had only been following Jesus for about a year. Before that I was a criminal and a junkie. When I signed up to travel the world with a bunch of folks who had mostly spent their whole lives following Jesus, I really didn’t think I was at all qualified to speak into their lives or even to serve alongside them. What did a former junkie really have to offer? Honestly, nothing. I wasn’t qualified to speak into their lives and I’m still not…God is though. That’s the beauty of it. I don’t have to be qualified. He qualifies me. He is the one who picked me up when I was at my lowest. He is the one who forgave me. He is the one who died for me. Something that I learned while I was on the Race is that all of us have stuff in our lives that make us feel unworthy and unqualified. It turns out it is all of that junk we carry around that God uses to bring freedom to others. As unqualified as I felt, God quickly presented me with an unimaginable amount of opportunities to use my life experiences to speak into the lives of my squadmates. Revelation 12:11 says: “They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.” This is how I want to live my life. Testimonies bring freedom. My mess really is His message.
So, what does this look like for the immediate future? Well, I’m going back on the World Race. This former junkie is stepping back onto the field as an Alumni Squad Leader. On my Race, my Alumni Squad Leaders poured a lot into me and my squad. They gave of themselves wholeheartedly to lead our squad through some pretty scary and uncomfortable stuff. The loved us at our worst. They fought for us in prayer. They encouraged us and called us higher. God truly used them to walk us through our brokenness into a place of freedom. Now he has called me to serve another squad in the same way.
When I left to go to Project Search Light, I had made no future plans. I didn’t know what was coming next, but I had it in my head that, whatever it was, I would probably be in America until at least some time in 2016. As usual, I was wrong about that. I will be leaving in early September to Squad Lead. I will be gone for five months in the field with the squad and will probably be going back out for debriefs in month 8 and month 11. For this to all be able to happen, I will need to raise $6,500. I have reconnected the support tab at the top of this blog page for donations toward this trip. I will be setting up a separate account via PayPal to raise money for incidentals. I would be honored if you would prayerfully consider partnering with me on this next mission and beyond. When I support raised for the Race last year, God taught me a lot about trusting Him. Now I have come to realize that the life He is calling me to will most likely involve a lot of trusting Him financially and relying on Him to come through.
As for plans after this five months is up, I have applied to the G42 Leadership Academy in Mijas, Spain, where I would be taught by leaders in business and ministry from around the world. The school specializes in helping people realize their calling and move toward making it a reality. As I find out more about this opportunity, I will be sure to keep you all updated.
Thank you all so much for all of the love and support you have given me. I am humbled by all of you and how well you have loved me. Please keep me in your prayers as I set off on this next adventure. The prayer support I had was evident while I was away last year. God truly heard all of your prayers. I know that I can’t do this without my prayer warriors having my back. Please add my future squad to your prayer list as well. Pray that I can lead them half as well as I was led. Pray that we have the fortitude to stand up to the attacks of the enemy. Pray that we live our lives walking in the presence of the Holy Spirit. Pray that God does such a work in us and through us that the kingdom makes a huge advance and hell runs away screaming. Thank you for all that you do for me. Love Y’all!!!
