As a wise hobbit once said:
“Go back?” he thought. “No good at all! Go sideways? Impossible! Go forward? Only thing to do! On we go!” (Bilbo, Tolkien)
And so it is with that in mind that I post this letter for you.
Dear Friends and Family,
A friend told me recently that you cannot compare one miracle to another. Great or small, a miracle is simply a miracle. Webster’s defines it as “an extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs”. With that in mind I witnessed a lot of miracles during my 11 months around the world!
· *Two days before I left for the World Race my knees hit my kitchen floor as the last bit of the $15,500 I needed for my trip was deposited into my support account!
· * In the Dominican Republic I preached my first sermon and watched multiple people give their hearts to Jesus! Did I mention I preached in Spanish!?
· *In Haiti, I met Jehovah Rapha (God the Healer) as two of my squad mates and I were instantly healed from Dengue Fever at a Haitian hospital and then got to see others receive healing as we prayed for them.
· *In Thailand I held dozens of sweet children that were rescued BEFORE being subject to the terrors of sex trafficking that plague the nation.
· *In Swaziland I rejoiced as HIV positive orphans tested negative for the virus after being prayed over!
· *On a mountain in Malawi, I danced with my squad mate Ashlee after God touched her right ear (that has only been able to hear at 30%) and restored it to 100% instantly! Now as she teaches, she can hear what all her students are whispering in class!
· *God held my hand and taught me how to lead my team of six strong women, and held it even tighter when I was raised up to lead our squad of 60 across Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe.
· *On the floor of a hostel in Cambodia my friend Hannah announced to our squad that she is no longer is allergic to gluten! This was just two days before we moved to Africa and had to eat bread and wheat paste every day.
· * And from one end of the earth to the other, I watched as a group of 60 Americans dropped baggage that they had carried their entire lives and stepped forward into abundant lives of freedom, myself included.
I could go on and on about how divine love encountered us in extraordinary ways! And please ask me to because the stories are worth being told! But now I am back in America, and I am faced with this question:
“God, what about here in America? Are you still a God of miracles?”
And this is what I have seen:
· *A little girl who came gracefully into the world in just two pushes, and the way her mama praised Jesus in the pain.
· *Clothes from home that still fit after a year of eating rice. People, this is a miracle!
· *A God that still loves and pursues me even if all I want to do some days is read the Hunger Games and watch Netflix.
· *The way my nephew’s nightmares always stop when I hold him and pray in Jesus name.
· *I stood beside a friend that showed up to the airport penniless and trusted God to provide a round trip ticket to South Africa. I waved goodbye two hours later after a stranger bought that $1,600 round trip ticket.
· * The generosity of others to love me, support me, ask me questions about my year away or just sit with me as I cry on the laundry room floor because I miss my babies, my squad or because there are just too many cereal options for breakfast.
· *A group of 60 Americans that continue to walk in faith as they board airplanes back to Africa, begin to put the dreams God placed in their hearts into action, or just settle down, find jobs and love their families well.
· *And then there are the hundreds of tiny “normal” things here… that are hugely abnormal everywhere else! Clean clothes(that you didn’t have to scrub till your hands were raw), fall leaves and Pumpkin Spice lattes, the snowflakes that accumulate to a day off from school or work, a strangers hello in a language you understand, antibiotics and the ability to call 911, electricity and running water, a country where you can freely praise God or have a negative comment about the president without fear of being overheard and arrested, a paycheck, smartphones, Chick-Fil-A, and toilets you sit on (even our porta-potties can’t compare with most bathrooms overseas!).
And when I truly look, I am left breathless in a sea of miracles and the truth of how God’s fingerprints can be found on every moment of a “normal” day. And I clench my fists and pray that the revelation does not grow hazy like a dream upon waking. What a beautiful life, and what a beautiful God!
My last day on the World Race, I was walking through a field in Northern Ireland and I was asking God to help me as one season, a wild and rich season, ended and another began. I looked down at the green Irish grass and saw a piece of paper stuck to my shoe. Written on that paper was this verse:
“I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” –Jesus (John 10:10)
In Greek abundantly (Perissos) translates to mean a lot of things: excessive, more than enough, overflowing, over and above, more than sufficient.
Looking at my life now, after the World Race, after a year of seeing through other’s eyes and looking deeply into His, I see how my life is, and always has been, marked by abundance. And how God is in all things abundant! And I wanted to thank you thank you thank you for how you have supported me so abundantly. Thank you for excessive prayers, overflowing funds and more than enough love! The Lord could not have taken me on an 11 month journey of miracles or given me the eyes to see how they are around me now if it were not for you and your support in every way! Thank you.
And it is with a heart filled abundantly with thankfulness that I step into my next season; as an apprentice at The Center for Global Action, or the CGA.
The CGA Apprentice Program is a launching pad dedicated to holistic development through community, discipleship, and apprenticeship. They believe God designed everyone uniquely and has placed a unique call on each life. They exist to activate our generation in its kingdom role.
It is there, in Gainesville, Georgia (yes, the real South!) at the global base for Adventures in Missions, that I will continue to “run the race” (Heb. 12:1) God has set before me in seeing His Kingdom brought to earth and His love brought to the nations. And I get to do it from right here in America! This is where He is calling me to continue to chisel and refine the dreams and purposes He has placed within me. And not only am I excited to go, but I am excited to invite you to partner with me!
My year at The Center for Global Action begins mid January and I am in need of $550 in monthly donations from supporters like you. This $550 a month covers the classes I will be taking, my housing needs, food and a few personal needs (like shampoo and deodorant). That is $6,600 for a year of life, right here in America, pretty darn good if you ask me. So I invite you to join me on the next step of my adventure, by supporting me in any way you are able!
You can send your (tax deductible!) support with my name on the memo line to:
Adventures In Missions
6000 Wellspring Trail
Gainesville, GA 30506
Or through the “Support Me!” link on the left side of this blog!
Thank you again for being one of the miracles in my life and I pray that your heart too will be filled with thankfulness for the abundant life that has been placed before us!
Love, love, love and more love, Rebecca Rose Coleman
