What is UP my people! It’s been two weeks since my last life update, so you get to hear from me again, lucky you (;
Ministry these past two weeks has been a bit of everything, honestly. The last email I sent you (2 weeks ago), I was living in a Christian mountain village. Presently, I am now living close to 20 hours drive away, in a different Christian village (I lived here for all of December). Here in this village our ministry has included hangin with the awesome men of the Agape Rehab and Rehabilitation Center- we played volleyball, drank tea, sang some fun worship songs together, and played an Indian game called “karem” (definitely not how it’s spelled, but oh well). This week has also included teaching older kids and playing with toddlers at a local school, doing manual labor at a nearby church that’s being built, and helping out at a local hospital. It’s been a week full of sweet relationships!
My spiritual walk with the Lord lately has been so so SO good! Here in this village there’s quite a lot of flowers and nature in general around, so I love to put on some worship music and walk with the Lord through his creation. I gather different colored flowers, tie them together with long blades of grass, and temporarily keep them as sweet reminders of the Lord’s goodness and love for me. Right now I’ve been reading through the book of Isaiah as the Lord talks to me about the letters he wrote to Israel in particular. Also, I’ve been going through Proverbs with a group of people for almost a month now; we call ourselves the “Wisdom Seekers,” as we’re going to go through all 3 of the biblical wisdom books- Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job. MAN do I love wisdom!!!!! Alskgha;khg it’s just so good I love it.
So a biggie that my Father’s been guiding me more towards is TRUST…
Trust in the Lord is an interesting thing. Throughout my race I have been left with no other choice than to trust in God… in Thailand I trusted that the Buddhist schoolchildren I taught every day were being loved on by God the Father, even though most of those kids’ homes were not homes of love, light, and joy. In Malaysia I had to trust that God had NOT given up on all the lost souls in Penang- Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and on and on. Here in India, it’s been a completely different ball game; I personally have had to lean into the Lord day after day, trusting that he is the one sustaining me right now. I trust Jesus with my LIFE, and that’s no small act of surrender sometimes. Here are some of the things I’m learning to trust God with as of late:
My brothers- Jovi, Rocco, and Jagger. I love them SOOO much, words literally can’t even describe. I have a list of dreams that I keep, and one of the biggest ones is to see all 3 of those little dorks come to know Christ and LIVE in the freedom of that love. It would absolutely break my heart to see them walk without the freedom Jesus brings, to turn away from God’s loving embrace. BUT I’m not dwelling on the stupid “what-ifs,” because I have trust in God that he is the one who is holding my family in the palm of his hand.
My sleep- Okay stick with me on this one I’ll do my best to ~eloquently~ put it into words, lol. One of my spiritual gifts is dreaming/dream interpretation, something that’s been a part of me for forEVER. I’ve never been a good sleeper, but lately I keep having dreams every. single. night. Most of them are weird normal dreams that everybody has, once in a while I have one from God, and a few are nightmares… I’ve got a nice little mix goin’, can’t you tell? Anyways, several times a year I have a period that I call a “dream season,” a month-ish long period where I dream every single night. These dream seasons usually prevent me from getting good rest physically, so I go around feeling only have charged as I struggle to keep upright. I am learning that these seasons are PHENOMENAL time for me to lean on the Lord, to trust him that he will give me the energy and rest that I need. Not gonna lie it’s hard a lot, but I’m learning as I go, ya know?
My team and me as a team leader- I love my team (team orah) to death, we’re all so unique in our personalities and our walks with the Lord. Diversity is so great within the church body, but sometimes my team struggles with our differences. Of course, what church body doesn’t? I am learning how to deal with conflicts in a godly way, but it’s difficult at times to lead a team full of persistent (read: stubborn) and mighty women of the Lord. As the Lord has walked me through the steps of what it looks like to be a godly Christian leader, I have learned that there is SO much awesome good stuff in admitting my mistakes and learning from my mess-ups… and trust me, I mess up literally all the time! Praise the Lord that he loves using broken vessels, am I right or am I right? I am learning to trust God with my team; because the truth is that God is the one leading Team Orah, not me!
Time for PRAYER REQUESTS, yay!!! I’ve got oh so many, but I’ll highlight a few for you.
- On the World Race there is a thing that we do called the Parent Vision Trip, the “PVT.” It’s a week-long time where Racers are allowed to invite their parent/s onto the field to see and experience what life is like for us. God has so awesomely and graciously provided a way for BOTH my mom and my dad to fly out to India to come and see me! They get here this Sunday, crazily enough. I am SUPER pumped for this time we have- to witness the Holy Spirit move, have conversation with them, and in general just hang out together.
- My squad as a whole right now. One of our squadmates, Aaron, JUST came back onto the field after leaving at the beginning of month 2 in Thailand. Also, another squadmate just left today to head back home to America… pray for her as she transitions from the field to back home, and also pray for her team as they just lost a part of their team.
- My sleep! I reaaaally need good sleep.
- That I would remain focused on where I’m at presently and not get caught on the fact that I’m going to be entering into the last leg of the Race within 2 weeks!
Okay my dudes and dudettes, I’m going to sign off on this letter update. Talk to you soon!
Regan <3
