Nepal:
Our first of 11 countries I would have to say I was not prepared. I was ready for tough conditions, but had no idea of how big of a part community played in the Race. Crazy I know because they clearly tell us but I guess I didn’t believe them or expect to have to decide to go all in. Sure I was aware I would be traveling on a squad of around 40 people and that I would be living and doing ministry with 5-6 other people as my team, but “doing life” with them? That was another thing entirely. Honestly I didn’t do the best job of being super intentional with my team this month. I focused more on the ministry and my own growth, or that’s what I told myself. In reality I was just using those things as an excuse to not be vulnerable with my team (fret not, God would have a little something to say about that in a coming month).
The Lord blessed me with an amazing friendship in our ministry host that God used to reveal in me my desire for language and to get to know a culture. Also teaching me that it is ok to miss people; sucks when it hurts but that hurt is ok and He is there to get me through.
India:
This was a tough month for me; I was
horribly sick for a stint of it, the social injustice I saw was difficult to swallow, living with 42 other people was overwhelming, and the entire atmosphere was an assault on my senses. I admit I was in a bit of a funk this month, but I think God was showing me that no matter what conditions I was in, He was faithful when I sought after Him. With Jodi, even though it broke my heart when it came to leave Sarah’s Covenant Home, He was there before I got there and would be there long after I left to love and provide for her. He is faithful to his children.
Thailand:
This month was a doozy for me. Vulnerability was a reoccurring theme for this month. I continually found myself in opportunities to decide whether or not to open up and actually let my team see my true self with all the messy heart emotions attached or just be content only being a closed off member that watched the growth of my team happen around me. (Drum roll please) I choose to go all in. I won’t lie to you, sometimes that was pretty difficult, messy and just not real fun. But on the flip side, it opened the door for trust, grace, true relationship and personal growth.
Cambodia:
Coming into this month I thought that my main objective would be to “go deeper” with my team. But in the second week I discovered I was missing a crucial part….love. The Lord hit me with how pointless it was to try to get to know these people more if I did not love them in the way Christ calls too. I was drawn to 1 Corinthians where we have all heard the classic marriage verses about love.
“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
I had always just pushed this chapter aside thinking that I’ll get around to it once marriage comes on the horizon. But reading through it I realized how wrong I had been. It spells out what love is to look like, not just between spouses, but in all relationship with people. Man, that was a sucker punch; I had completely failed to strive for majority of the qualities listed in this chapter. This chapter gives us so much information about what love is, what it looks like, it gives a clearer look at what God is like (1 John 4: God is love), and what we should practice and model in the world since we are to be imitators of God (Ephesians 5). Striving to truly love people like Christ is work and takes intentionality, with a healthy dose of “die to self”. Which, yeah…so this one I am definitely still working on and will continue to work on.
So that was Asia in a nutshell. So strange to think that my Race is over a third of the way complete. Even crazier to think about how much I have changed and grown just from those four months. Yet I am excited and ready for this next season in the Race with team Intrepidus.
