What an awesome few weeks this has been.
We covet your prayers here in Jamaica! (Posting this from my phone, so sorry if it’s formatted strangely!)
After intensive leadership training camp, our team of girls arrived for three days of training and sessions. Tears were shed as people opened up and began walking in a new freedom.
We arrived at our team location on Monday night. (my birthday!) we drove to a small church located near the slums of Spanishtown outside Kingston.
We were greeted with hot delicious soup full of chicken bones and chicken feet and a humid temperature of 94 degrees.
We set up our beds on a dusty floor and prayed for a breeze to come through the gated windows! Very quickly the team started to see the challenges mission work often faces us with: uncomfortable living spaces, crazy new foods, strange atmospheres and people with different personalities. We talked about how so many missions trips keep you in a “bubble”, with a nice place to stay and planned schedule, but God doesn’t work in our man-made schedules! We leave freedom for Him to move in our time here. He stretches and grows us in new challenging circumstances. We prayed over our church, asked for peaceful sleep, took three minute cold showers and settled in for the night.
We woke up refreshed and strengthened, and ministry has been taking amazing turns since! I’ll be posting a blog with some amazing ministry stories soon!
On another note, something God has been teaching me in a leadership role is how to be firm in love. I found myself wanting to say “yes” to everyone and everything, only to find myself stretching too thin and beginning to feel sickness coming on from exhaustion. God showed me that loving discipline and decision making are essential to growth, not only in our spiritual life but in a team setting. Realizing that always saying “yes” is not the best way to love others opened my eyes to new forms of leadership.
With a week left, I am excited to see God finalize and begin things in each of my girls lives, and stoked to hear about the impact they will make back home!!
I have only $155 left to raise, and am sure the Lord is sending it in His good timing. If you wish to help finish out funding, click the support link above!
Stories of ministry coming soon!
