The last time you heard from me was in January from South Africa…. And now it’s May 3rd and I am in Gainesville, Georgia back at the AIM base! The past three months have been full of travel, meeting people, ministry, learning, memories, adventure and just so much life, and life to the fullest!
I want to update you on where I’ve been and what I’ve been doing! February 13th, my team and another team drove to Lesotho. We arrived at the Jesus4Africa base around 11pm that night in the pitch black, and woke up the next morning to see we were in the middle of mountains in a valley called Malealea. It was beautiful and so so glorious. I had never seen mountains or life like that. My team was here for a week until we left to go to another town called Mokhotlong. In Mokhotlong, we were partnered with a church called Harvesters. We lived at their mission house with a wonderful young family for three weeks. With this ministry we did devotions every morning. Half of us at the primary school and half at the hospital. This was a blessing because we literally got to fill people up with the word and truth everyday and we could see them latching on and listening closely. While we were here we also ran Scripture Union, youth group and game hours as well as helped in classrooms and got the opportunity to preach in their churches.
While we were in Lesotho we also got the honor of meeting a family of two boys and their dad. We had the opportunity to eat dinner with them, hear their story, laugh with them, walk with them, cry with them, speak life over them and then the next day take a small road trip and eat lunch with them. They didn’t know Jesus as Lord, yet I saw so much of God’s love.This encounter and these relationships showed me the Lord’s pursuit of his people the most out of anything on the race. I can’t tell you how much God loves and cares for these people and how much he let me love them even in the 12 hours we spent with them.
Our schedule was very relaxed in Lesotho and because it was just our team in a little house in the middle of the mountains, with all of us fasting our phones, we had a lot of down and rest time. At first, we were concerned and weren’t sure what we were going to do with this time. But, as time went on and we got acclimated to that pace of life we started seeing all the fruit that was coming from it. My team was reading for at least two hours a day, we were pouring into and opening up to each other and we got to be a big blessing to the family we were living with. We got to fully process where we were the past four months and be fully present where we were. Life was so simple, we had each other, we walked everywhere, saw shepherds and sheep everywhere we went, made our own food, read everyday, shared the word and love of God and spent good time together, and we did all of this everyday. And yet it never felt rushed, forced or squeezed in. We saw that as distractions left, we became more aware and thankful for where we were. In Lesotho, I learned the simplicity of discipleship and how much of a distraction busyness is. When I think about my month in Lesotho, it doesn’t feel real. We were so disconnected that it sometimes is hard for me to think that that was our reality. It was a blessing from the Lord and I hope to hold everything I learned near and valued.
After Lesotho, on March 13th, we left for the Johannesburg Airport. After another eventful travel day road trip, we got to the airport and spent the night until the rest of the teams showed up. Our flights ended up getting canceled and so we got to stay in a hotel in Johannesburg (thanks Delta.) Then, after a 14 hour flight we landed in Georgia. Here, our squad split up into three groups, all on different flights, getting to Guatemala on three different days. So, after a week of travel, our whole squad finally ended up in Guatemala at the AIM base there.
And then a few days after that, our parents showed up in Guatemala! Woooo PVT (Parent Vision Trip!) We spent about four days with our parents, doing ministry and showing them our life for the past seven months. This was a really sweet time of reunion, redemption and good times as families and I am so glad that they got to come see and be a part of our life for a week!
After our parents left, we all started serving with our respective ministries. My team was with a ministry called Reindom! Reindom was a ministry full of young believers on fire for the Lord and committed to loving his people well. We got to serve in a village four times a week by teaching soccer, helping with the feeding programs and youth services and cleaning the house. We also got to help with their “A La Mesa Del Reino” program that invites people on the streets to come have a meal with them and to hear scripture and testimonies. On our last day with this program we saw a man decide to go to rehab!! Praise God!!!
This ministry meant so much to our team because they were all our age and full time missionaries in one of their local communities. They showed us how to live life on mission in hometowns and in your own culture. I have so much love for all of the Reindom staff and volunteers and if you want to help them monthly, they are currently looking for monthly donors to help them with all their feeding programs and with rent for the house in the village. If you would like more information, please reach out to me and I would love to talk to you more about it!
Also in Guatemala, at the Adventures Guatemala base, every Thursday, the base staff had “Activation Days” which was worship, a teaching and then going out into communities and practicing what we just learned. During these days every week, I saw our squad grow, learn and be so stretched. We were empowered to be the hands and feet of Jesus and it was done with so much love, excitement and grace. We saw salvations, words from the Lord, healings, miraculous works, and so much love being poured out. Guatemala in every aspect was a great launching pad back into life in the States and a place where we got to learn about our gifts and use them with our confidence in Jesus. Healings and miraculous works and stories became so normal to us that we got to see what living with the spiritual authority that God gives us can do and be. I got to see God move in big ways and I got to learn more about him and it was so eye opening, encouraging and empowering.
That was just a short glimpse into my life for the past three months! I know I am so bad at consistently posting blogs, and I know I apologize every time, but I am sorry. I love getting to update and share stories with y’all and I would love to do it more. So, like always, if you have any questions or comets or just want to talk, please feel free to reach out to me.
