Hey everyone!
It has been a while since I have written a blog… actually, it has been a while since I have posted a blog. I have had a blog written for the past month, but did not post it. Until now.
One of the biggest events since my last blog (Cusco) has been team changes. We were informed while we were in Pacasmayo, Peru (all squad month #2) that our squad leaders had been praying about it for a while, and finally decided to make it official.
This news immediately made my throat close up. I had lived with the same 7 people for the first 6 months, and had walked with them through some of the most difficult parts of my life so far. They became more than just my friends… they’re my brothers and sisters who have pushed me closer and closer to the Lord, and who have let me into their lives to do the same. I have spent some of the best days with them, always filled with laughter and goofy moments, and love them so much it hurts to think about life without team Phileo. I am afraid of pushing into my new team so much that I lose relationships with Phileo, and am afraid of trying so hard to keep those relationships that I never buy-in with my new team.
But despite my fears, I do know that my leaders listen to the Lord so well, and that He has good things for all of us in these final months. So keeping that in mind, I am as much excited to do life with my new team as I am sad about leaving Phileo behind. I overheard one of my squadmates, Jacob, describe how he feels about change… He said that it signifies the end of something good, so therefor the creation of a beautiful story. It signifies the begining of something new and unexplored. With that thought, I am ready for what my Father has for me.
I have already experienced the Lords goodness in the time I have spent with my new team, team Luna. I would love to introduce them to you!
Team Luna
(like lunar (the moon) and how it reflects the suns light)
Left to right
back row: Christiana Cole, me!
front row: Abby Elgard, Abby Moore, Emma Coln, Gabby Moran
(Not pictured, my new squad leader Amie Beth)
I am with an all women’s team!
To update you all (since I have been doing poorly in this area), we left Cusco to join the rest of our squad in Pacasmayo early February. We were in the small beach town for a month, doing ministry like evangelism, prayer walks, and even mural painting in the compound we stayed at. It was a difficult month, but it really was good to do ministry as a squad again.
We made our way up to Ecuador for the Awakening, which is a weekend where squads in close regions come together to learn from each other, set up with activities like worship, sessions, evangelism, and intercession. We were with gap P and Fusion (an 11n11 trip that involves a lot of making your own ministry wherever you go). It was a refreshing weekend where I had plenty of time to journal and refill before making our way to India.
But first! We had a 26 hour layover in …
CHICAGO!! This was a wild time that involved a lot of target shopping and chipotle eating. But surprisingly enough, this layover didn’t fuel my hunger for North American culture… it just made me realize the life I had been daydreaming about since leaving it wasn’t all the glam I had created in my mind. I was ready to get back on the field.
We finally made it to India (for all squad month #3), and WOW is it beautiful here. We are located in Imphal, which is in the North East of India and is very close to the rest of South East Asia. This results in the people resembling those of their neighboring countries more than the lower portions of India. I feel like I am back home after being away from Asia for almost 4 years!
They are beautiful people… and in the first week, we were able to spend so much time with them. We helped run a medical camp (doctors from the US came to help as well) which saw over 3,000 patients in just four days. The jobs gap L handled included running the patients from registration to wherever they needed to be (dental, medical, gynecologist, eyes, etc…), praying for them in the prayer room, and participating in a few tooth removals and eye examinations.
One of my favorite moments was spent in the prayer room. I was reaching two hours of non stop prayer, repeating some of the same words over and over again because a lot of the patients would come for similar reasons. I had been praying over a woman who was suffering from difficulty seeing and back pain, and her grip on my hands was like her life depended on holding them. She didn’t speak any English, but while I prayed, she repeatedly nodded and affirmed the words I spoke over her. When I finished, I called over a translator and asked him to see if she could understand me while I was praying. She immediately started nodding and smiling, and I knew the Holy Spirit had translated my prayer for her! It was such a sweet moment… when I had just begun doubting Him, He showed up to remind me He was still there.
We are now transitioning into PVT… Parent Vision Trip… which means, YES YOU GUESSED IT my parents are coming to India!!! They get to do life with us for a whole week! SO excited to see them after 7 months of surviving on blurry FaceTimes and emergency text messages asking life questions that normal adults would already know the answers to.
Until next time… future blog could feature my lovely parents, so stay tuned!
