A Time to Reflect

With 7 months behind me on the missions’ field I am flat out exhausted. Our team has run hard and never looked back until a time of reflection the other morning. As a team we have spent almost every morning this month connecting in some form or fashion whether in prayer, sharing what we are experiencing or just having a good laugh. Each morning we come together in the front room with our sleeping bags and cups of tea and practice what I would call Koinonia (derived from Greek meaning Christian fellowship). I have to admit I was skeptical at first if we would ever reach this point of community and relationship but to an outsider I would suspect they would say we have arrived. However, to arrive means to reach the end of a journey, which as a team we agree is not our position.

I am not suggesting we have everything figured out but after spending three plus hours repeatedly saying “Do you remember when…” I can see the growth both individually as well as a team. I know for me it’s hard to see growth I have experienced because I often fail to look back from where I came. I tend to focus on the “I still need to’s” of life and conversely don’t receive the due encouragement that comes from the past. I know a lot of people are reluctant to look at the past but there can be power in doing just that. How many times does God call the Israelites to recall what He did for them in the past and then and only then do they ever give God the due credit?

So as a team we looked back month-by-month both team and personally and I will give you some insight. To be sure and true to my blogging tendencies I will keep this as short as possible. 

January (Dominican Republic) –

Personally: I was confident I had most things figured out in life and that the Race would provide me with a decent amount of new experiences but nothing ground breaking. I laugh now as I typed the last sentence.

Team: We liked each other but immediately found ourselves getting in the way of loving each other. We had people detached and others wanting to go to other teams. We agreed that we didn’t want to institute schedules or mandate team time but rather to let it happen organically. We enjoyed our ministry in the slums that month and I think it set the proper tone for the rest of the year. We saw what a 5-hour church service looks like and we saw people baptized in the Spirit.  

Personally: I still wasn’t on the Race. I kept my distance and fought attempts by other teammates to grow closer especially with our girls. As leader I felt I had to keep a certain distance and maintain my false credibility.  

Team: As a team we were more isolated and confined at the orphanage. It wasn’t the safest thing to leave the property so we started spending more time together. We had a game night that we all remember fondly. We saw one member attacked with spiritual warfare after visiting and ministering to a witch doctor. That member let us in to their struggle and through much prayer and rebuking we saw freedom. Many felt connected to this ministry and agree it was one of our favorite ministries thus far.  

Personally: The Lord relentless presence became apparent to me. I started to understand that the variances in the world across different cultures are minimal and that sin is consistent. I had a vision, which tangibly manifested itself in the discovery of our ministry. I was also confronted with the fact that being a Christian goes deeper than spouting off your latest theological montage.

Team: I believe this was a turning point for our team. Our ministry fell apart resulting in us coming together in prayer and seeking God’s will for us. We saw God speak through two different team members to reveal a family that we would ultimately minister to for the month. We experienced as a team the likes of Rubbish Mountain and the killing fields. We decided we were ready to fight for unity and the desire to grow closer.

April (Thailand) –

Personally: I became aware that I was on the World Race and that if I wanted to change this year I was going to have to expose myself to God’s truths. I started to see this journey as a transition from boyhood to manhood. I also started seriously considering marrying my now fiancée and building a kingdom oriented family. In addition, I came to the conclusion that I had to drop my desire to please the world and find my own identity in God and what that looks like going forward. 

Team: As a team we were split up into three different groups. The men and women went different way this month, which allowed for health growth and a desire to reunite at the end of the month. Our take away was that we value our team and when not all members are present we lack certain giftings. This led to our desire for the month of May to be off on our own and not surrounded by other teams. I can speak for the guys and say we say the Holy Spirit moving in some of the most remote villages in the world. We also traveled to Burma that month where Christians are persecuted and killed and saw a thriving church. Two of our girls were baptized in the Indian Ocean and one was broken of the spirit of rejection, which is no easy feat other than the Lord ministering.

Personally: I drew a line in the sand on many fronts this month. First, it became painfully clear that spending time with God, the scriptures and meditating on both were imperative. Second, that God has used the last few years of life and my experiences with the Long family to prepare me for marriage and it was time to trust him in that. Lastly, that I do have the ability to be a leader when done in love and not out of pride.     

Team: Our team tasted independence but only briefly. We had a traveler from the UK join us in the first part of the month followed by one of our squad leaders and lastly by another team who we traveled to Singapore with. We did live in close quarters this month and inherently spent more time together as a result. I believe this was a crucial month for us in which we would chose to dig in instead of riding out the rest of the year together. Heading to Africa we felt healthy and functioning, as the body of believers should.  

June (Mozambique) –

Personally: Longing for home and my family and fiancée set in. Ministry was mainly in the African bush, which will try any human’s patience. My only option was to turn into my God and my team. I was broken of a lot of what I considered my rights and expectations. We were with three other teams and I had to face the reality of what the bible calls overlooking offenses. As one of the most influential moment yet in my life I sat down with senior pastors of a local congregation and corrected them through the Holy Spirit and scriptures in a grass hut over candlelight.

Team: Our team grew to love each other. We not only grew spiritually but we stepped up in our gifitings and ministered to the locals as well as the other teams. From preaching, to cooking, to praying, to one on one conversation, to washing dishes we covered all bases. We learned that we prefer to be with each other as opposed to floating from one friend to another in the squad. Another thing we tackled was where to go the following month through prayer. We were led to Swaziland unanimously. We definitely turned a corner and I think all of us starting asking what is possible this year among us?

July (Swaziland) –

Personally: This was not an easy month for me in that God was stretching me hard. Our ministry was at an orphanage that was fairly disorganized and I found hard to connect to. I have a real heart for children and to see them so lonely struck the core of me. It made Jesus words that we will always have the poor and orphans real and started me asking what my role is in helping. On another level I knew I was going to propose at the end of the month and that led me down a trail and search for what it means to be a husband to an amazing Christian woman. I spent the last week with my fiancée and I would be lying if I were to say it was easy to leave her knowing we both still have almost four months in the missions’ field.   

Team: As a team we learned what it means to pray and listen as individuals so that when we come together as the body we can see how the Holy Spirit is working through all of us. We spent a large amount of time praying into our August ATL and were faced with hearing two different locations from the Lord. We had to work through the implications of that and in hindsight we understand why the Lord chose it that way. Had we all had the same word we wouldn’t have so vigorously sought to hear him and in return grow through the process.

So here we are now in August and down one teammate. He escorted an all girls team to Lesotho and will reunite with us at the end of the month. As a team we have spent more time together this month than all the other months combined. We encountered a teammate seriously wanting to go home just a few days ago but have overcome that. We all agree that the fellowship and bonding in the Spirit that has taken place each morning is key and must be carried out the rest of this trip. We are faced with the fact that we don’t have all the answers but agree that if we go as the Holy Spirit leads us we will grow in maturity. I believe at the end of this we’ll be true brothers and sisters in Christ. How many people can you claim you have spent a year of your life with fully immersed in community and exposed both in your flesh and Spirit?