I’m stealing tonight’s story from another current racer that has been a constant support to me.  Even while she has been on the Race, she has been reading my blogs and sending me encouragements and prayers.  Earlier today, I was flipping through some of the Racers that I’ve been following and read this blog by her.  Michelle is nearing the end of her Race and God is doing some great things with them.  Praise God.





Nove Zamky, Slovakia.

Through the month of October, we worked with Kompass Church. Drew was
able to get in contact with Milan through their church from home, Life
Church. Our main ministry consisted of going to high schools to teach
English on Thursdays and Fridays.  Those nights consisted of youth
meetings. Sundays we went to church services and helped with children’s
ministry in the afternoons. The rest of the days were spent hanging out
with high-schoolers—building relationships and pouring into them.

After we found out that we would be going to Slovakia, I asked God
to give me divine appointments and to have the opportunity to be able
to pour myself out to those he desired. He gave me a vision of a blonde
and a dance school.
 
Enter Daniela and Denisa.

ACET club meetings take place on Thursday nights and it is a time and a
place where other high school students can meet each other and talk
about issues that they might be  struggling with- drugs, alcohol, sex,
etc.

After
the first ACET club meeting, Denisa, Daniela and Adriana asked if Ricki
and I wanted to go get tea with them and they could practice their
English.

The girls immediately became my favorite. They were so sweet and so
willing to be open and honest with their lives. Daniela (16 years old
and blonde) spoke of her passion to make cakes, learn English and play
guitar and piano. Not to mention, she has a 25 year old boyfriend that
she loves very much. Denisa spoke of her passion for ballroom dance and
how her best friend is Daniela. Adriana is very sweet, funny and
somewhat of ‘the odd man out’ at times because she smokes, drinks and
likes to go clubbing (they call it dancing at the disco) and the other
girls do not. I was not able to spend as much time with her this month
due to a dancing injury where she fell, hit her head and had to be in
the hospital for a week…. But she is doing much better now.

God
kept on placing Denisa and Daniela along my path. God was in crazy,
intense, insane pursuit after these beautiful girls. They had both
grown up in the Catholic church but never had a desire for the Lord.
Coming from a similar background, I knew that I could really relate.

One of the ACET club meetings, we split girls and guys. Technically, we
are not supposed to be talking about God at these meetings or it’s not
supposed to be as spiritual as it is on Fridays. The women on my team
talked about various issues that were once a struggle in our lives. At
the end, the girls were eager to talk about what they heard. They all
said that we were brave women and wanted to know how God could help us
through such things.

The following day was the Friday church youth group meeting. Daniela,
Denisa and I were to meet after the meeting but they ended calling
earlier and staying for the meeting.  The girls were not upset that
they came early and actually enjoyed hearing the sermon. They even
introduced themselves to some of the youth leaders before leaving.

The
following week I was able to go to one of Denisa’s dance classes and
watch her dance. She has won many awards and has hopes to be a
professional ballroom dancer.  It gave Daniela and I time to have a
great chat. We talked about how God changes people and how he desires a
personal relationship with every single of one us.  We talked about how
he has changed me. We talked about sex and the importance of waiting
until marriage. The entire conversation  was completely unexpected but
of course the Holy Spirit interceded and spoke the words that needed to
be said.

The following day was the ACET Club meeting and the topic was “Why God?”
-meaning why choose God when there are other gods to choose from.  At
the end of the meeting, they asked everyone to close their eyes and if
people wanted to accept Christ as their Savior, they could raise their
hands and pray a salvation prayer.

During this time, I kept my eyes closed. It wasn’t for me to see
but to be in prayer for these young children and pray that they walk
into what the Lord has for them.  In that time, the Lord said to me,
“Well done my dear, they are mine.” I just knew that he was talking
about Daniela and Denisa.
 

 

When I opened my eyes, Kendall said that she saw Daniela and
Denisa raise their hands. They were with the group of youth who decided
to accept Christ and I could see it in their eyes-their hunger for the
Lord.
 
In no way am I am Denisa and Daniela’s salvation. They have found that in
Christ. I am humbled that he used me to bring them closer to him. I am
blessed that he chose such amazing and passionate women to put along my
path to remind me of his great love. I can only pray that they keep on
growing toward the Lord and chasing after him as much as he has been
chasing after them.
 
God is so beautiful- so mighty and such a pursuer.   I am reminded of
how much our God is chasing after us and that he is relentless in his
pursuit.  We should be chasing after him because he deemed us worthy and
chased after us first. 
 
The Lord appeared to us in the past saying, “I have loved you
with an everlasting love. I have drawn you with unfailing kindness..” -Jeremiah 31:3