These first almost 2.5 months on The Race have been ridiculous. Mountain views, playing with kids, teaching English, farming, jungle & mountain hiking, singing in church, leading Sunday school, sharing testimonies, door-to-door evangelizing, laying hands & healing, 37.5hrs of travel, riding janky ferris wheels, worshiping at waterfalls, prophesying, bucket/not showering, making bricks, leveling land and so much more!
All these things are (mostly) amazing, but I won't frunt- the best part has been living in radical Christian community. The culture during these 11 months is something I've never experienced. The ability- at any hour of the day- to have someone to pray with, to have someone approach you asking if they can pray for you, to be challenged to grow in God, to share hearts openly, to freely receive constructive criticism, to know you are accepted not IN SPITE OF rather BECAUSE OF the Christ in you, to have people who care deeply about your relationship with God, to witness stages of brokeness, to be privileged enough to share in someone's revelation/liberation, to stand with someone, to have a safe place to use & refine new spiritual gifts…I could go on. THIS is why metamorphosis happens here. You have 6 or more mirrors in which you get to see yourself from every angle. You have 6 or more pieces of iron sharpening you. You have 12+ shoulders to cry on, hands to push you and feet to kick you in the booty (hey, we all need a good kick or two!)
Right now, I am living in Trujillo, Peru with 2 teams (14 people) in an orphanage under construction. That means I have 13 journeys , 13 worship styles, 13 collections of revelations, 13 lifetimes of lessons…to soak in. We each take turns leading worship in the morning and in only 4 days I was encouraged to see/honor God's glory in nature and wrote a prayer of praise; was reminded that God's love does not change, but rather it's our ability to receive and pour out that love that waxes and wanes; was taught a new way to study The Word; and embraced that the devil should say the title of this blog about me every morning because of the power of God in me that gets going the moment I open my eyes! I've been exposed to dope new worship music (2 of the songs below). I've gained a new level of freedom in my praise. I'm learning what it means to serve in a deeper and more real way. I'm working on the little things and being refined by God. I am changing into that woman God always meant for me to be.
I need these 11 months and therefore I need you. You all have been INCREDIBLY supportive and I'll never be able to actually express the depth of gratitude I have in my heart. At this point I have $6,900 (WOW!) in my support account. The next deadline is $10,000 by March 31st. That's 18 days to get $3,100. SUPER DOABLE! Especially when God's ya accountant :o) This is the perfect time to make that "I've been meaning to" donation, to tell 5 friends about your friend who's doing this crazy race around the world, to speak to your church about supporting a missionary, to share my blog with your bookclub/PTA/exercise class/social org/fraternity or sorority/classmates/co-workers… I even have very cool business-esque cards my Aunt-E made that I could email to you if you want to print and hand them out. However, you want to partner with me is great!
DONATE ONLINE
MAIL CHECK: Adventures In Missions P.O. Box 534470, Atlanta, GA 30353-4470
(please include a response card)
I love y'll, but I do NOT want to see your faces next month :o)
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
