New team. New outlook. New Spirit. New passion. New freakin country….
Everything is new. I feel like its a whole new race. It is crazy. This past week we have been at debrief in Bucherest, Romania. It has been weird being back in a place we had already spent a month in… but it was such a different experience than the last time we were here. We all peaced out of Moldova and took an overnight train and arrived to Bucherest absolutely exhausted. Physically is a given but our spirits had been drained as well.. not to mention the exhaustion from all the emotions we embarked upon this past month.
I had been anxiously anticipating debrief for a couple weeks before it actually happened. Team changes were quicky approaching which naturally excited me but made me nervous as well. I figured they would announce team changes on the last day of debrief but as soon as we arrived they announced we would be finding out first thing in the morning!
Woke up the next morning freakin out and waddled downstairs and they handed us all a folded notecard and told us to go spend time alone and pray and open the card and not speak to anyone so we can process. I went and did exactly what they said… opened my card… i expected to be super duper upset that my limbs were being ripped off.. but i had an imense peace about it. I got instant butterflies when I saw the names of my new team! It is still hard to believe that Ripple Effect no longer exists, though. It hasn’t sunk in at all… but I am so pumped. Anxious.
I got a new team!! Team “Go there.” What does that mean? whatever you want it to mean. We are going there. Left to right is Kristen Huey, me, Katherine Newcomer, Juddson Vance, Sheila Yoder and to oh so famous Raimie Bateman (our leader). Love them already.
I am currently in an airport in Romania getting ready to peace out to Swazi. I have this awkward feeling about it. As if I am about to dive into the rest of my life. I feel a pull on my heart for them already. Our squad dad (Seth Barnes) got up last night and was talking about it… how messed up it is and how much WE are the Lords chosen for Swazi. GETS ME PUMPEDDD. There are around 900,000 people who live there. Absolutely ridiculous for a country. The AIDS epidemic is out of control. People just don’t know. The majority of the population are children. The parents just die off. The average age is 21 years old. It is said that it will be extinct by 2050. Are you kidding me? Something MUST happen. These people are the Lords. Death is everyday life. Swaziland is known to be one big orphanage. There are some older ladies “gogos” that go around the country that take in the orphans… They do everything in their power to feed and care for them. It is seriously about to rock our worlds… and I hope yours too. I know the Lord is using me as a vessel / advocate for those back home who are yearning to do something bigger. I feel all this in my spirit… and thats a new feeling for me. All in all, we are about to be wrecked. I thought it aready came. Nope. It’s still coming. Mom- I might come home with 50 babies in my backpack. Get ready.
Prayer is absolutely needed this next month. There has already been some intense “Spiritual warfare.” Excuse the big spritual talk. What I mean by that is that satan is freaking the hell out that there is about to be an intense explosion of hope. After t-squad has been up in there it will never be the same again. God has stripped us as a whole of everything we have identified ourselves in and He’s dumping himself on us… and through us. Satan is not a fan, so he is doing all he can. There have been some injuries and doubts and intense temptation for the squad and we are not letting it stop us. Sorry Lucifer, the one who spoke YOU into being is on our side.
