Hey everyone!
I’m writing to you from Brasov, Romania during my squad’s month 1 debrief. If you are wondering what a debrief is, it is basically a time to reflect on what God has done within us during the first month on the field, relax, be poured into by leadership, and have fun with the squad!
Yesterday our coaches Brian & Cathy gave us a teaching on mission, one of the 3 values that the race focuses on. They made really amazing points about how Jesus spoke with authority & that we do not necessarily need to be casting out demons to show His power. When He created us He created us with the ability to speak, and since we have the Holy Spirit within us we actually have the power to speak with the same authority that Jesus did when He walked the earth.
For our activation after our teaching, leadership explained that we would be doing something called “ATL” or “Ask the Lord.” Within our teams we split off into pairs & asked God to give us vision of who we were supposed to minister to. The Lord gave me a vision of a woman in the main square of Brasov, with blonde short curly hair & a red jacket, as well as a vision of a fence with greenery on it & a coffee shop. I felt pretty strongly about the woman, so after lunch Emily & I set off to the main square in search of the woman that God had shown me. When we arrived there the first thing that I noticed was that literally everyone was wearing red of some sort…some had red boots, red hair, red t-shirts, red jackets, and among everyone that we saw there I didn’t see the woman that I was looking for.
Old Nikki would have been discouraged right away, ready to throw in the towel, but not this time. I stood confident in the Lord. Emily & I walked around town for a while after that, and still no sign of the woman. Eventually we made it back to the main square on our way back to our hostel & I saw a woman that met the criteria except for the fact that her coat was a deeper red rather then a fire engine red that I had seen. We kept walking & came across the same woman a few blocks up. I came SO close to disregarding her again, but when Emily asked “Nikki, do you think it’s her?” I immediately felt my stomach twist & I knew that the Holy Spirit was telling me to go up to her. I was able to catch her attention, and she said she spoke a little English. I told her that God had told me to pray for her, but she 100% couldn’t understand what I was trying to say. Eventually we parted ways, and as Emily & I walked back to the hostel in silence I had still not been encountered by a feeling of discouragement, but instead a feeling of encouragement. I prayed for her as we walked back, and during the activation debrief with the squad Brian, Cathy, and my squad mentor Kate helped me to come to the most amazing conclusion.
I obeyed what God had put on my heart, and that really is all that matters.
Even though nothing “miraculous” happened that day, I learned that walking in obedience to the Father is all that I need to do. I stood firm in what He had shown me & I didn’t loose my faith in Him even though the activation didn’t go exactly how I thought it would. When we walk in obedience without question, that’s how we plant & water seeds…it’s the Lord’s job to grow the seed. Thanks God that we can speak with authority & that walking in obedience to you is always ALWAYS worth it.
All the love,
Nikki
