I have every intention to blog regularly to keep my family, friends, supporters, and strangers up to date on my nomadic journey around the world. However, it has been challenging with unstable (or non-existent) internet connections and busy schedules. It really isn’t a glamorous, adventure filled, beach-going trek with some good deeds sprinkled in. It’s actually a lot like life at home with a job, keeping the house tidy, extracurricular commitments, failing at laundry, and enjoying/supporting friends. Just toss in foreign languages, lots of strangers staring, and constant talking about Jesus (my favorite part). The extra challenge to it is the poverty, brokenness, and the emotional toll of taking it all in and not becoming numb to the need for God’s love everywhere.
A real struggle is balancing home and here. I mentioned the aspect of the personal journey of this trip before. Most of this growth flourishes from the way our traveling community is set up and the importance of also ministering to each other daily. Like, we have a required “team time” almost every single day where we are lovingly “forced” to spend time together. And we love it! It is through this intentional pouring into each other’s lives that we become better models of ourselves through Christ’s example.
Each team operates with a leader who manages some necessary administrative tasks and sets up the environment for growth. Leaders are called to offer inspiration, stimulate healthy relationships, and ultimately serve in a way that allows others to shine. I’m excited to announce that I have been asked to take on the role with my new team!
This is a new, new team- haha. Yes, we are Team Jericho and I invite you to learn more about each of them through their blog links. Already, (we’ve only been a team for like 5 days) our team times feel like a group of friends gathered up in a living room just hanging out- minus the couches and substitute some bunk beds.
This month we are serving with four other teams at Life Force Christian Camp where about 2,400 youth come every summer. Like a power house of hope in my imagination! We are helping them update their facilities (read: lots of manual labor) for the new season. It smells like a farm every day because of the sheep freely roaming around and the pig farm that sustains some of their operational costs. It has been very rainy BUT we did see a double rainbow!! We are only an hour walk from the Adriatic Sea, and we also surrounded by beautiful mountains. There is an ancient castle that some of us explored on our first day off and we are getting our bearings on city life- which takes about 40 minutes to walk to. But… we get desperate for internet and decide it is worth walking in the rain, haha.
So please forgive the gaps in communication or the overload of multiple blogs posted at once because life here is weird and different and challenging, but so beautiful and full of people to pour my heart into while I have the short opportunity to enjoy their company.
This year will seem like a flash-bolt of lightening when our plane lands back on American soil in December. So I plan to squeeze every ounce of nectar out of it that I can. And I encourage you to do the same with the people, places, tasks, Jesus time, and beautiful weather exactly where you are every day.
Grace and peace, my loves!
*Pictures next time. #internetprobz #lowbattery
