I know I haven’t done a great job at keeping everyone updated with life on the field. I’m sure it looks like I have a ton of free time to blog when I’m posting pictures of surfing or exploring a new town. The reality is that 1. I haven’t made the time to blog and 2. I haven’t really had internet for the last few months. This is just the reality of the race. There are also other times that I have so many things the Lord is teaching me at once, that I have no idea what to blog about. I promise I will do my best to keep all of you updated!
This month my squad is in Guatemala. Yay for being home again! This country stole my heart when I was just a little middle schooler. You can read my blog about saying goodbye to the place I love last July (The Art of Letting Go). Here we are in my favorite country, I have a fresh team, and we are doing one of the coolest ministries the Race has to offer.
My team has been assigned to ATL (Ask The Lord) ministry this month. Basically, we took a bus from Honduras to Antigua, Guatemala where we were dropped off at a hostel. From that point on, we ask Jesus each day what ministry is supposed to look like and where he wants us to go. It has been an awesome experience so far. The Lord has used us in ways we never expected. I wanted to write this blog to share a story with you that happened to us a few days ago.
Sometimes (okay, most of the time) it blows my mind the way the Lord uses random things for the Kingdom. Our team decided to go to the food market a few days ago to experience the culture, get food that is actually within our $5 a day budget, and talk with the locals. It was a chaotic, but beautiful experience. We all stopped to take a picture of the market with the breathtaking volcano in the background. Like all good racers do, we posted it to social media.
Later that afternoon my teammate, Becca, received a message on Instagram from a girl named Pam. She said she wanted to meet with us and talk about Jesus so she could learn more about him. Our team prayed and felt the Lord telling us to meet with her on that sunday at the little coffee shop on the corner. We were prepared to share with her what we knew about our Jesus, but little did we know she was going to speak incredible truths over us and be Jesus to us in central park.
Because Jesus loves divine appointments he also had plans for Pam to meet one of our friends at Adventures. AIM has a base in Guatemala that has a focus in discipleship. Pam told us about how she wanted good Christian community and of course the Lord already knew that. So as we are sitting at one of the 50 coffee shops in Antigua, one of the girls from the base walked out from the back of the coffee shop. She is at the base for the next few months and we were able to connect her and Pam.
I would lie if I said that ATL month doesn’t have challenging moments. There are scary moments when you have no idea where you are going to sleep at night. When you can’t afford a hostel anymore. When you have no idea where Jesus is going to take you. But then you have incredible, divine moments with people like Pam and you feel ridiculous for not trusting God.
So I say this to say trust God with the ordinary. You have no idea what he will use to impact the Kingdom. Be open to what and who the Lord gives you on any given day. I think this month is a good example of what life after the race will be like, and how God intends for us to live. My days won’t always look like set ministry where I dig holes, play with orphans, or teach english. Real life is waking up and asking God to show you what Kingdom looks like in the ordinary. Who are we supposed to talk to? How are we supposed to show the love of Christ to those around us? You don’t have to come on an 11 month missions trip to bring the Kingdom to earth. Do it where you are right now.
HUGE thank you to everyone back home that has been supporting me over this last year or so. It’s hard to believe that I’m $200 away from being FULLY FUNDED. What?! This time last year I thought $16,250 was almost impossible. My God is the God of things that seem impossible. With that said, I still have $200 left to raise by the end of June. Please pray about partnering with me in this Kingdom work.
I love you guys! Thanks for your love and support!
T
