This past month my teammate led us in an activity to reflect on all that we have learned this year. We went month by month to try and focus on a few lessons from each month and wrap it all up in one word. It was extremely hard to narrow down a whole month to a word and a few sentences, but I hope this shows a good glimpse into my year and what I have learned.
Asia
India: COURAGE
India was a month of courage. I learned a lot about what it means to be courageous to step out of comfortability in my environment but also in the ways I serve. This was the first month with totally strangers living on top of one another, learning community, world race structure and standards in serving. My team and I worked in a special needs orphanage and my favorite home I got to serve in was called courage. The Lord spoke a lot to me about how to open up my heart to be vulnerable to the people around me. To open my heart to this new world race family, the kids we were serving, our fellow missionary peers and the Lord. Courage to let me heart be open for change and growth. It took so much of me to fully open to this new world.
Nepal: HOLY SPIRIT FREEDOM
This was the first month I truly understood who and what the Holy Spirit was and how the spirit moves in my life. I walked into so much freedom this month. I discovered past lies that I was still believing and putting my identity in. I was able to put them into light and let the Holy Spirit move in my heart and transform my thoughts and perspective about myself. Our ministry was also very “spirit” led. We practiced as a squad everyday doing listening prayer and living out what we heard the spirit say. We let the Holy Spirit guide our days to pray, talk and evangelize to people all around the city. This month I learned who my identity in the Lord is and I was able to find so much freedom by connecting to the spirit through these realizations.
Thailand: COLLIDE
I used the word Collide for this month because it was a month where so many of my passions came together and worlds collided. I was working for a business missions cafe to help girls get our of sex trafficking. I loved our ministry but it also brought up more westernized realities for me. We were working long crazy hours in meetings and supporting a business driven family. I got to see so much of the behind the scenes work in a missionary driven business. I was struggling to find time for myself to take care of my health, my team and my relationship with the Lord. I was overworked and old behaviors came up from home of striving and perfectionism while wanting to serve and be apart of everything that I could. I learned so much about how I was spreading myself thin at home, what I can handle now and future priorities for hopefully starting my own ministry one day.
Cambodia: JOY as STRENGTH
Cambodia was such a good month but also very hard. My ministry was all over the place but I truly enjoyed it all. I think the biggest lesson I learned this month was about the Lord’s JOY. Two years ago I was struggling to understand what joy in the Lord meant. How was it different than happiness? The Lord totally redeemed it for me as I was faced with some tough decisions and caring for a teammate. God showed me that even when he was going to endure the cross it was for the joy on the other side. I learned how to have joy before things were solved or “better”. I learned how to depend solely on the Lord and that having joy in difficult times was putting my trust in him.
Vietnam: CELEBRATE
This month was focused on so much celebration! December tends to be my favorite month at home too, but this was one of my favorites on the race. I got to make great friends with the students and staff in Da Nang and my new team. I learned that the Lord wants us to celebrate. He asks us to have childlike faith. He puts playful qualities in us that desire to gather as one and celebrate one another. I got to celebrate my birthday with my team, Christmas with my squad and throw holiday parties all month to celebrate Jesus. We can bring people to Christ by throwing them a welcome home party just like the prodigal son. I know that by throwing these “welcome home” parties for so many students in Vietnam meant an even bigger celebration in Heaven. How beautiful!
Africa
Ethiopia: THE (Church) BODY
This was a month where I feel like I got a taste of the kind of community god designed us to live in. Our whole squad lived on a compound in a small village in the countryside of Ethiopia. We would spend our mornings reading the word, drinking coffee, and worshipping together. We would spend our free time playing games, guitar, and soccer with one another and the kids who lived on the compound. It was a month of fellowship. Month of preaching and teaching. A month of family dinners. A month of learning how beautiful it is to do life and really depend on others. I got to see the hear of Jesus by truly living on mission every second of everyday with my squad the the Ethiopians we lived with. Everyone has such different gifts and qualities to offer. God designed us to be one body together and learn from one another.
Rwanda: FAMILY
This was a month of merging so many worlds, values and the heart for family. I learned so much by living with my host and his family. Their doors were open to not just their friends, but everyone in the community and from their church. If someone needed a place to stay or to get clean water they were willing. Pastor Moses demonstrated how to truly love your neighbor. He planted churches around Kigali but saw that his own neighborhood was struggling with street kids every where. He decided to plant a church and school in his own neighborhood. This was also a month of preparing for my family to come. A month where I got to bring my parents into the world I had been living in. To serve, to worship and to grow in our faith together. The Lord opened my heart to seeing how to soften our hearts to the people closest to us. I felt like God opened my eyes to truly valuing my earthy family and spiritual family around the world.
South America
Bolivia: THE ONE
God pursued me in such a romantic way this month. I finally felt like I understand what it meant to be his bride for the first time. I allowed him to be a gentleman and “woo” me. I felt so special, like I was the only one. I learned how God asks us to go after the one. I saw this in ministry through working with a special needs orphanage and girls rehabilitation center. I met missionaries who had gone to Bolivia to pursue “the one”, to adopt or take care of one child and soon that became dozens. I met missionaries who felt called to one purpose and the Lord had blessed them in a great harvest, bringing more and more home to him. I saw the heart for Jesus to know that even if it was one child, it would be worth it because the Lord would do the same for us. Our obedience blesses others and creates a domino effect.
Peru: GRATITUDE
This month was a month of prayer and deep intimacy as we lived in a small village in the mountains of Peru. I was coming out of a funk and low point in my race and wanted to find ways to praise God for even the smallest things He was doing. This was month of really practicing my “faith muscle” which means asking God for small prayers and building on them as he answered them throughout the month. Some of those prayers included being in a village, eating vegetables for lunch, getting a car…. It was a month of rejoicing in the little things. It was a month of enjoying the presence of my team. It was our last month together so we had such beautiful intentional time together and really made the effort to start debriefing our year together. I felt incredibly grateful for this month and all that the Lord had done up to this point on my race.
Ecuador: DISCIPLESHIP
Ecuador was a trial run month for me. I started ministry with my new team, 3 boys and 3 girls. This was the first team that naturally felt like a group of friends I would have in America. We also lived with another (gap year) squad of 18-21 year olds. Our team was placed with 6 Americans as our host, 3 guys and 3 girls our age as well. It was one American infused month but absolutely amazing. I have been learning so much about what true discipleship is and how our everyday actions and encounters matter just as much as our intentional sit down conversations and teachings. The way we treat our friends, our host, strangers on the street… it all makes a difference. The way we spend our free time shows our priorities. The way we speak to each other. The way we boldly live out our faith can show our character and relationship with the Lord. This was a month of discipleship and learning from each other through our everyday lifestyle. This was a month of beautiful discipleship. I loved this month to better understand how Jesus lived with his disciples and taught them while on the go. He didn’t schedule coffee dates or pencil them in to teach them a lesson, he just did life with them. We can make such an impact by spending time with each other, even in the mundane.
Colombia: KINGDOM COME
This month ministry was all over the place. We were working at a drug/rehab center and did different tasks each day to help the women and to disciple them. This month for me was seeing the different ways to bring light to dark places. I loved seeing how worlds collided and that is what the Lord does, he invades. He transforms and flips our worlds upside down. I got to see this with different cultures, classes, and life circumstances all mesh into one to worship God in church and every week. I got to see this as we prayed and visited men who’s lives have been transformed in prison. I got to see this bringing food and prayer to the darkest most brutal place in Medellin.. a street of drugs, prostitutes, extreme poverty and disfiguration. I got to see this as we did hostel ministry in Cartagena reaching travelers who are lost in a world of drugs and partying.. trying to find their identity in their journey around the world. I was thrown in from meaningful ministry to being surrounded by wealthy intentional yuppies at the end of this month and it was hard to remind myself to choose and seek opportunities to bring Kingdom. I saw this as my squad got back together for our final debrief and we got to reflect on the kingdom family we have become and all the work we did this year. I am so grateful for each and every day on this journey and my month in Colombia was the perfect way to end it.
The Lord has taught me SO many things this year. He has spoken through people and places and situations I could never have imagined. I am grateful for all I have experienced and wouldn’t trade this year for anything. Every month brought new adventure, new challenges and new teachings. God speaks! He is here in every moment, we just need to open our eyes to see all that he is doing!!
