Asian Exploration
Is it really April?! As the weather slowly warms up here in Georgia I find myself moving through the 5th month of my job. The weeks are beginning to fly by!
In January I spent the majority of my month in Thailand helping train the WR Fusion squad I mentor this year. After working from back in Georgia for a few months it was time to head to the field again and spend time with the squad in person.
After a nice long travel day I found myself landing in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. *Side note, there is no quick way to get to Asia!*
This was the squad’s first ‘debrief’, a chance for them to step away from assigned ministry and refresh, rest and get poured into. I helped facilitate and lead the individual team debriefs, as well as spending time with leadership teaching and guiding our evening sessions.
It was such an encouragement for me to see the teams in person and hear first hand the incredible testimonies of what God is doing in and through their lives right now! They are an incredible group of young people who are on fire for God’s Kingdom.
After our debrief, the squad transitioned to a new country for month 4…Indonesia! This is the first year the World Race is sending teams to this country and my squad got the privilege and challenge of doing some of the ground work to prepare the way for future teams.
I spent my 8 days with the ‘manistry’ all-men’s team. The 4 men were joined by an Indonesian named Landy, who applied to join us in serving the Kingdom for the one month we are in his home country.
We were serving on the island of Bali….yes, sometimes serving The Lord has some incredible earthly perks as well as heavenly. 🙂
We spent the time seeking out new ministries that the World Race can partner with in the future, but I also loved getting to encourage and see the men on my squad in action. There is no denying this truth….there is a void of Godly men in our world and generation. It’s so refreshing to spend time with these men as they are growing into who God has created them to be.
There was sunset worship at the beach, prayer evenings at pastor’s houses, meetings and conversation with different kinds of local ministries. On an island that claims to be over 90% Hindu we sure did meet a lot of Christians who are on fire for God and ready to see His kingdom brought to Bali.
It was refreshing and encouraging to be back on the field. Yes, I found myself once again living on $4 a day for food and sleeping in a hot room with 5 other guys…but all of that is worth it to bring the love of Christ to the nations. It’s the side of mission work that isn’t so glorious, but it’s reality…and it’s worth every hard moment!
Now I’ve settled back in Georgia and adjusted to the time change, my exhaustion from a 50 hour travel day and am enjoying being back in my own bed. These next few weeks I’ll be helping guide leadership decisions for the coming months, supporting my squad out on the field and be a part of training some squads that will be leaving later this year! It’s an exciting time but a busy one!
Please be praying for my squad as they transition from Indonesia to Latvia in a few days! It will be pretty big cultural adjustment for them, but I am excited to see how God is going to use them in Eastern Europe and I look forward to joining them later this summer!
A huge THANK YOU to all my supporters and friends for the past few years of encouragement. I am still in need of financial partners, if you feel led there is a link on the side to donate to what God is doing in my life. Love you guys!
