The sQuad has another Manistry month! This means that eight of the men on our squad are on one team, the married couple is off to Cambodia, and the 40 women are split up into different teams. Two women teams are going to Laos, while five teams will be in Malaysia! This means we all have new teams this month, and my wonderful new team of women will be doing Unsung Hero in Malaysia!
Unsung Hero is a month where we have no contact or set ministry and spend the month looking for new ministry partners for more World Race contacts. My duties this month will be keeping everyone up to date on what our team is doing through blogs.
“Who are these new team members and what’s the deal with Malaysia?” Oh I’m so glad you asked! Let me catch you up.
Our original route was to go to Burma (Myanmar); however, Adventures in Missions changed our route to Laos for month eight. Then last month in Estonia, they informed us that some of our teams would be going to Malaysia while only two teams would stay in Laos. So after a few planes, trains and a ferry, we find ourselves in Penang, Malaysia at a YWAM base asking God where he wants us to go this month.
Malaysia is mostly an Islamic country where it’s actually illegal to evangelize. Our goal this month is to find the Christian organizations already active in this country, and ask if they would like to become future partners with The World Race.
Ready to meet the team?
We are the P31s and we have an amazing group of women who love to seek Jesus in the world and in each other.
Meet Katie Kurschner, our team’s hippie, lover of peace and team leader:
“Katie” means “pure,” and God has remade Katie into something that is truly PURE.
Katie and I first became friends in Nepal in February when we went on an outreach together. On that day, we were instructed to listen to God on where to go and with whom. God told me to ask Katie, and we then ventured out into the streets of Nepal. It turned out God just wanted us to minister to each other and share our lives with one another. In Swaziland, our fourth month of the race, we worked in the garden together on top of a mountain, and learned more about each other there as well. Katie is from Colorado, and I refer to her as a “woodland fairy,” because that’s exactly what she is. She loves everything nature, loves to boulder, is stronger than you’d ever expect, is a wiz in the kitchen, and is extremely goofy. We both come from a past struggle with perfectionism, and I’m excited to see how God teaches her in this season of team leading. She’s sweet, caring and loves to laugh—God’s favorite little woodland fairy.
Meet Brandi Brock, our team’s night owl, Unsung Hero leader and my old teammate:
Brandi exudes a spirit of peace into any room she enters, and loves fiercely.
Brandi and I were together on team Rabah Current in India, Nepal and South Africa and on team Jcrew in Swaziland. She’s from South Carolina, and is one of the funniest people you’ll ever meet. She loves coke, chocolate and movies almost as much as she loves late nights. We both enjoy poetry and express ourselves best through written word. I’ve learned a lot about humble serving, treasured wisdom and intense loyalty from being around her, and I’m excited to be on a team where I get to see her step into leadership. God’s grown her a lot in the area of vulnerability, and I’m excited to see how leadership stretches her even more in that area.
Meet Destiny Trotter, our team’s adventurous go-girl and Unsung Hero logistic point person:
Destiny knows a thing or two about persevering with the Lord at her helm throughout all of life’s curveballs.
Destiny hails from good ol’ Georgia, and seems to have lived all over the globe doing any job imaginable. God made this one joyful, wise, adventurous, faithful, loving, and trustworthy. In Swaziland we worked in the garden together almost every day, and I spent an entire off day with her and Chenea listening to their wisdom. If there was any one person I would have to attribute beginning the process of freeing me from legalism and religiosity into a true relationship with God, without any hesitation I would say Destiny. She pointed out strongholds in my life I didn’t even know existed, and showed me the true freedom of an honest relationship with Jesus by more than just her words because this woman LOVES Jesus with every inch of her being.
Meet Becca Schibler, our team’s actress, Unsung Hero administrator and my old teammate:
Becca’s playful side manifests in her consistent laughing, goofing-off and storytelling.
You don’t know true energy and excitement until you’ve met this woman from California. She’s got a powerful voice that can break down barriers, and I mean that in more than just volume. Her heart is so big that you’re automatically a part of it if you’re in the same vicinity. She has a strong passion for theater, and loves to share that part of her life with me! We spent time on team Jcrew in Swaziland together, and learned a lot about discipline from one another. We both come from a past of similar struggles with people pleasing, but God has made her a new creation on the race. She is bold, kind, confident, passionate and loyal.
Meet Krystle Garwood, our team’s source of joy, finance person and my old teammate:
Krystle carries a unique power that stems from her discipline and close relationship with Jesus—her words pack a punch.
I’m not sure if Krystle loves her hometown in Montana or York, England more; she studied at Bible College in York and has a big heart for England. Her hair alone proves her ability to stay devoted and loyal to something for long periods of time. Her devotion to reading her Bible and praying push me daily into new depths in my own relationship with Jesus. She was on team Dunamis with me in Mozambique, Latvia and Estonia the last three months. During that time, we took leaps and bounds in our friendship with one another through grace, forgiveness and laughter. She’s an amazing woman of God, and I’m excited to continue learning from her and growing in our faith together.
Meet Chenea’ Schacher, our team’s mascot, workout guru, weather woman and my last team leader:
Chenea shows a strong passion for Jesus, life and others in her daily words and actions.
Chenea lives out grace and the gospel more genuinely than anyone I’ve ever met. In Swaziland she shared with me her passion for discipleship, and the Lord told me that she would disciple me one day. I didn’t believe Him until a few weeks later our leadership announced her as my team leader. There have been days it’s hard to hear what she has to say to me because she’s walked me through hard truths and told me what I needed to hear, but Jesus has strengthened our friendship in spiritual sisterhood. She’s shown me grace more times than I can remember, and loves to encourage people when they succeed. We like to talk in funny voices to each other, dance together and just be goofy. I’ve learned a lot by witnessing her healthy, God-centered relationship with her boyfriend, and she’s helped me to realize that Jesus is enough.
Meet Sarah Bohlman, our team’s seamstress, dancer and Unsung Hero blogger:
Sarah’s puns come from her poetic mindset and focus on wordplay.
(Written by Chenea’ Schacher)
How to describe Sarah? Dynamic and vibrant. She’s got some of the quickest witty remarks that come from her at prime moments. Sarah loves with everything she has, spreads an infectious joy, has the greatest stank face and a soft, yet enduring spirit and soul. Sarah moves the world around her not only with her joy and compassion, but also through her worship of Jesus through dance. This girl loved to dance before she gave her life to Christ, and the Lord has purified that passion now through walking with Him and uses it to break down religious barriers between those around her and the Lord. Her willingness and dedication to grow and claim victory in hard areas is incredibly beautiful. I’ve seen Sarah overcome sin and brokenness, and I’ve seen her follow the Holy Spirit and love with the love of Christ. Sarah is a safe place to experience the grace of God, but also a place that I have found rest, laughter, joy and flat out fun.
Meet the P31s:
When we first became a team, we sat down and discussed our dreams and prayers for the team as a unit. We each longed for vulnerability, unity, boldness and love. Becca shared what the Lord revealed to her about our team, and it was that He longed for us to be internally beautiful. He desired that each of us would have pure hearts, gentle spirits and perseverance. We came to the conclusion that just as the church is the bride of Christ, and we are the church, we should together, as a unit, aim to be a good “bride of Christ.” Well what does the Bible have to say about a good wife? Proverbs 31. Therefore our name is not boasting that we would all make the perfect wives, but rather, we speak over our team that as a unit, we are the bride of Christ. We came up with 31 p-words that describe our team:
powerful, patient, prayerful, placed, punctual, patient, peaceful, purple, praiseful, persistent, practiced, proficient, problem-solving, proclaimed, prodigal-returned, productive, pleasant, profound, progeny of Christ, princesses, promise-keepers, Promised Land key-holders, prophets, proverbial, providers, pacesetters, pumped-up, passionate, patriots of Heaven, practical, and prudent
Please Pray for P31 as we have begun our month of Unsung Hero and search to Partner with Christian ministries in Malaysia!
