You could not imagine the growth that has occurred at training camp in the past 4 days! When I came to training camp, I was expecting to get the basics on what Nicaragua is like, a run-down of what’s going to be going on, and lots of team bonding activities. WHOA!! I had no idea that God was going to rock my world before we even got to Nica! A few nights ago, we had a talk about being set free of the prisons we allow Satan to keep us in; the prisons of comparison, regret, bitterness, excuse, and withdrawal. One of the biggest reasons I came on this mission trip was that I wanted to grow, and to come back in August a different woman. THIS is what I came for. Admitting that I was holding myself in these prisons of comparison and bitterness, and literally stepping out of them in worship was the first step. My team has a phrase now that we love. It’s “Libertad Nicaragua!!” The phrase means Freedom Nicaragua. After we had all stepped out of our own prisons, we shouted them to the mountains. It’s like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I already feel as if I’m a different woman!
In addition to receiving freedom to something I had been walking in for a while, last night we practiced prophecy. Yea, I know that sounds a little different, but I loved the way our leader described it. “Prophecy is listening to God and speaking it out.” Don’t we all listen to God or at least shouldn’t we be listening to God? John 10:3 says, “The sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.” My mind exploded! God speaking directly to me, and even more shocking, Him speaking to other people about ME! Talk about confirming that I am His beloved! He cares enough about me that He talked to someone else about me! I had heard God before, but I had never intentionally asked Him to speak to me for someone else. Speaking what God was telling me about these people that I met a few days ago, but having them confirm that it was exactly what they needed, was exhilarating! I was told that I was clean and as strange as it sounds, that one girl could see a light above my head, like the sun behind me. This is while her eyes were closed, not even knowing who she was talking to, and those words could not have brought me more joy. One of the pictures of God I have is a sunrise. To me every sunrise is filled with His presence, and for this girl to tell me that I had it above me, was like telling me that God was right there with me, watching over me. YES!!
My team is team Nueva Vida. They’re amazing people that all seem to be on the same page about what God has put on our hearts for Nicaragua. We prayed over Nicaragua yesterday as we painted a canvas of what God’s vision was for our mission trip was. He’s going to bring love and hope to these people through the amazing hearts of my teammates!
