Hello everyone! My squad recently landed in Nepal after spending 3 months in Africa. I wrote a few blogs while I was in Africa, but was never able to post them, mostly due to the lack of decent wifi.
So I’m posting them now 🙂
This blog was written in Rwanda, during our first month in Africa. Enjoy!
Hannah McTier and Amanda Buckner, this blog is dedicated to you.
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I didn’t know what to think. This was something I felt unprepared for. The world race says to expect the unexpected, but sometimes you just don’t consider the fact that maybe two complete strangers could show up and join your team for a month.
We first heard about it a couple weeks before we made it to Africa. Ten girls were coming to spend the month with us in Rwanda. They were on a one month Passport Immersion Trip. It is a trip through Adventures in Missions (same organization that runs the World Race), and it’s geared towards introducing younger people to the World Race.
We would have two of these girls staying with us during our time in Rwanda. They would live with us, do ministry with us, be a part of team time and feedback. For one month, they would be our teammates.
When you build trust within your team, it becomes like a family. Any change, no matter how small, can make a huge difference. Part of me was excited. Maybe they’d bring a fresh perspective and some energy to this team. The thought of the change being positive was inviting, but part of me felt like this was an added burden to carry. It presented more work, more ministry, more responsibility, and with those things more fear that maybe this wouldn’t be a good fit after all. I worried things would be different with the team, that we would hit pause, not growing as we navigated this odd month. In hindsight, I was right. Things were definitely different.
They were better.
Rwanda became one of my favorite months on the race. The people, the joy, the dancing, the culture, the challenges. I love it all. But I especially love them, the two girls who gave up a month of their lives to come be a part of ours. They experienced the craziness of the world race with us. They loved us. They served the people of Rwanda with true gladness in their hearts. And they taught us quite a bit about true intimacy with the Lord.
I remember when I first saw Amanda. A few of us were waiting to meet the girls at the Entebbe Airport in Uganda. She was wearing a ball cap, looking sporty. She seemed confident and assertive. She was ready to answer questions, have conversations, all the while taking in her surroundings and appreciating every moment. She appeared steady, and seemed prepared for a month in Africa.
As I got to know Amanda, I quickly recognized her tough exterior, ready to do anything for anyone, and often having a hard time asking for or receiving help from someone else. But beyond the tough exterior is a heart that aches for those she loves. She’s a fixer, wanting to carry anyone’s burdens, often pushing her own aside so she can focus on helping others. She is selfless to the core.
Through my month in Rwanda, she taught me that it’s not about who you appear to be on the outside. It’s not about the strength, the appearance of confidence, the selfless attitude. It’s about love. But beyond simply loving others, it’s sometimes more important to let others love you. As I watched Amanda wrestle to learn this lesson, I remembered my time at Malone, and the season of my life where I had to learn a lesson on letting others love me better than I knew how to love myself.
God was also taking Amanda on a journey of trust. Being someone who so quickly takes on others’ burdens, it’s often more difficult to trust that God will take care of our loved ones than it is to believe that he will take care of us. As Amanda returned home and began trusting God to take care of the people she loves, it has challenged me to continue depending on Him to do the same for my friends and family back home, rather than allowing fear and worry to creep in.
Then there’s Hannah, one of the sweetest people you’ll meet. Our first conversation consisted of her thanking me 27 times for helping her carry her bag from the airport to the bus…her smaller bag. I remember wondering if anyone could really be so appreciative, but as the weeks passed, I discovered that her sweet spirit was indeed authentic.
Hannah is so eager to grow and learn. Though kind and soft on the outside, this girl has fierce determination. Though trembling at times, she chooses obedience to the Lord at all costs. Whether it’s standing in front of a church to share her testimony, speaking with an AIDs infected genocide victim about God’s love, or opening up to the team about the very real and vary raw journey God has her on, she does what God tells her because she knows it will bring about the growth she needs.
This girl taught me that intimacy with our Creator is possible each day. She regularly spent 2-3 hours each day listening to God, journaling the things He spoke to her. I found myself wanting more of the Father just because I could see how in love with him she was and how she grew so much each day that she spent with him.
God used both these girls to impact the lives of many Rwandans, but what I won’t forget is the way they impacted my own. Through their presence in my life, God highlighted a passion of mine. As the month wore on, I recognized that my heart swells for college age women and the journey they are on. I was so blessed to walk with Hannah and Amanda as they experienced hyper growth this month.
There’s something about traveling – whether it’s removing distractions from home, immersing yourself in a new culture, stepping into something uncomfortable and unfamiliar – that creates a new dependence on the Lord, an atmosphere for Him to speak and space for revelations and growth.
It’s months like Rwanda, where I see how quickly people can grow and change, that I find myself overwhelmed with gratitude for the Lord’s goodness and the plans he has for each of us.
Are you having a hard time believing that God has something special for your life? Do you feel like you’re currently in a rut, struggling to find growth? I would challenge you to get away, to create space for the Lord to work, and take a trip. Is there an opportunity to take a trip with your church, your friends or family? Is there somewhere God’s been nudging you to go?
There have been many seasons in my life where I’ve felt like growth was so far from me. Even here on the race, there have been times where I felt stagnant no matter how hard I tried. But for me, the moments of the most growth didn’t happen at home, or anywhere surrounded by my usually comforts. They happened when I removed the things I depended on and got away to where I had no other choice but to depend on him.
Don’t be discouraged if you can’t bring yourself to adopt the “traveler” lifestyle. It doesn’t have to be a trip overseas. It just takes a step. A step towards His voice. A step away from distractions. A step into intimacy and dependency on him.
It just takes one willing step towards the one who gives the growth.
