The morning I left home (Friday), I wrote this in my journal: “I feel blind. I have no expectations of camp or Nicaragua. ‘For we walk by Faith and not by sight’. Thank you!” God was making me live this way when all along we are called to live this way. And oh my goodness has He shown me His faithfulness in so many ways just within the past 48 hours.
My team and I are growing so close even though we’ve known each other for such a short amount of time. I have no doubt that each one of us are supposed to be here and be together in this journey. We will be each others’ family for the next four months. We will live together, work together, laugh and cry together, do life together. We are each others’ support. I can’t wait for all of this. I love them all… Ryan, Shawndell, Josh, Marcus, Tiani, Haille, Kacie, Naomi, Amy, Allegra, Allison, and Kristy. Please lift them all up by name!
After we met at the airport, we were handed brown paper lunch bags with our dinner in them, each with a verse or quote written on them. Mine said “Do what you can with what you have where you are” Jeremiah 1:5,7-8. This blew me away because my one word is Focus (myoneword.org) and I’ve really been enjoying Jim Elliot’s quote, “Wherever you are, be all there.” I want to focus all of my heart and soul and energy into Nicaragua and love as much as I can while I am there. But even before that, I knew I needed to focus on training camp and growing with my team while we were here in Georgia. Did I mention that I LOVE my team?
It has been so cold in Georgia… so cold. The showers are freezing, which is just preparation for the months of cold showers that are coming. We had to lug our luggage up a long, rocky path through the woods at around 11 the night we got here. There have definitely been times when I’ve missed home and my family and friends. We’ve learned and processed through a lot of information. Some of it has been overwhelming but I know that God is preparing us for Nicaragua. I’ve been striving to do what I can with what I have while I am here. To be specific, that means trying to keep warm with the few winter clothes that I packed since we are heading to 90 degree weather tomorrow! He is teaching us so so much. We are living in dependence on Him, being blessed by those He has placed us in community with, and we are being filled up so that we may overflow!
The organization we are going to partner with in Nicaragua is called Vision Nicaragua (again, so cool because my one word is Focus and I am trying to keep my eyes on Jesus, to keep my vision on His vision). God has a vision for the country of Nicaragua, for each of the people who live there, for each of my teammates, and for me. I am so excited to meet the missionaries and people we are going to live with and work with and to see that vision unfold. “Look around at the nations; look and be amazed! For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn’t believe even if someone told you about it.” Habakkuk 1:5
