Thailand was an amazing whirlwind of adventure- making new friends, talking about Jesus’ love and allowing God to close one chapter of my life and open a new one!
We finished Thailand with another great debrief. We focused on growing the squad’s mindset of community and intentionally loving each other well. Sometimes it is easier to love a stranger than to love a neighbor or difficult family member. But we are called to love ALL people. We focused on activating an eagerness to seek out all of the ministry opportunities God puts in front of us not just the ones we desire to do! Obedience is the key to walking out our faith. We must do what God tells us to do on a daily basis in order to see Him move and work through us in all areas of our lives. We also left the squad with a challenge for their next month in Cambodia. We asked them to not go to any of the big cities in Cambodia but to seek out the small village life and see what God has for them there. I think this challenge with be really good for the squad and God will do big things!
(Fusion Squad at our ‘All Squad Fun Pool Day’ during debrief.)
The best surprise of debrief was to see a young man who had been traveling on and off with some of the teams come to know Jesus! During one of our worship sessions, William, a young Malaysian man in his 20s, put his faith in Jesus and took communion with us all for the first time! It was such an exciting night since many of the squad members had invested in sharing their testimonies with William throughout our time with him. Later on during debrief, William was baptized in the Thai ocean in Pattaya. It was a beautiful sight to see and an awesome testimony to how God is using his children in Fusion 3!!
(The Fusion Mentor, Daniel, baptizing William!)
Debrief also entailed saying goodbye to Jackie (my co-leader) and me since we have finished our five months on the field and will be returning home to the USA. I have been beyond blessed to be a part of this all! Even though I will no longer be living day to day with the squad I will be supporting them from home and going out to visit them for their final debrief.
God has also opened up my next door of opportunity. I have been asked to be a Mentor for an Expedition squad! The Mentor position is based out of the Adventures in Missions office near Atlanta, Georgia and is the main person responsible for all of the functions within a squad logistically, mentally, and spiritually. The Mentor position is not on the field full time like my previous Squad Leader position. I will be going out to visit and build up the squad 4-5 times a year for about 2-4 weeks at a time. I am really excited to be a little bit more settled in one area and then still have the opportunity to travel! God is so good!!
The Expedition squad, like the Fusion squad, is different than the traditional World Race squads. The Expedition squad goes to countries that fall in the 10-40 window and are a little bit harder to reach. Expedition also focuses their ministry more on evangelism and church/community development. It will be an incredible opportunity for me to learn, grow, and continue to invest in my peers who are seeking to grow the Kingdom of God!
Please continue to keep me in your prayers as God prepares me for my transition into USA in a few short weeks and for what is to come with this new opportunity! Love you all!
Love, Steph
