My
teammates are going to laugh at this post if and when they read it.
All year
I told each person how much I don't like community. It isn't
really that I don't like it, but I just didn't like the extreme
we were taking community to. But, lets won't talk about that. What
I want to talk about is REAL COMMUNITY and
the community that I miss from the World Race.
I
miss having life spoken over me.
I
miss be charismatic and crazy.
I
miss people praying over everything (Even if it was a grocery list)
I
miss having the faith to pray over a generator with missing parts and
it starts to work.
I
miss people speaking scripture God has laid on their hearts.
I
miss worship that is from the heart and not a script.
I
miss knowing that people are praying for me each day, especially when
I am having a sucky day.
I
miss not being called a slob when I just want to wear stretchy pants
and no makeup for my job.
I
miss late night stories from random cheesy Christian romance novels
from the free table.
I
miss worshiping by a fire (sometimes while cooking dinner)
I
miss praying for a particular country for hours.
I
miss devotional times with my team.
I
miss being crazy with others who are just as crazy as me.
I
miss my community from my H squad.
I
miss my coaches who dealt with me when I wanted to go away from this
community.
I
miss the community that stayed behind at the AIM base that prayed for
me before and during the Race.
I
miss (basically) having a revival at the end of every month with 50
people whom I love!
There is
so much I miss from the community I was a part of in 2009... Each day
I find something else I miss from the World Race. Each day I realize
that I need community. I search for it, but come up empty handed.
Maybe my idea of community is a bit different from the World Race,
but I still miss it.
Please
be praying for me as I am going through this next phase of transition
in my life. Pray that I would find the community that God wants me to
be a part of.
I spoke at a young adult group in Cedar Rapids called "Watershed" this past Thursday and I
wanted to share with you what I wrote.
Of course, a few things
changed in the 'live' version of this, but the spirit knew what he was
doing.
Enjoy!!
PRAYER:
God I pray that you would touch the lives in this room today. I
pray that you would open their hearts to the message you have prepared
for me to teach tonight. My prayer is that each person would leave
tonight with a better understanding of love and what that really means.
Speak through me tonight as I try to convey your message
This past year I went on an 11 month Mission trip around the
world called "The World Race". It is really hard to touch on each
country in just 20 minutes, so, I am going to kind of sum it together
with one MAIN thing that God used throughout the entire trip.
Each country brought new challenges, new disappointments, and
new loves. God taught me a lot of things, but everything that I learned
all had to do with love. Because ultimately, that is what this life is
about.
There were many language barriers, some places we had to have 2
or 3 translators just to talk to one group of people. Because there
were 52 people that did this trip, not everyone could have to luxury of
getting 2 or 3 translators at their disposal. One month, my team did
prostitution ministry, working in the bars, loving on the women, trying
to get them out of this line of work and into something else. Language
barrier was still there, but the language of love is what we used to
share with those around us. It doesn't matter if it was an orphan, a
handicapped individual, a prostitute, a leper, a gypsy, or just another
missionary. Love translates in every single language and it is SO easy.
This was the biggest thing I learned on this trip. I know it seems like
such an easy thing, but it is really complicated. So, lets talk a little about
love. We hear songs all of the
time talking about love. "All we need is love, what the world needs now
is love, I hate myself for loving you, I was made for loving you baby"
and so many more. But, what doesLOVE mean?
Can someone here give me a definition of Love?
Here is what Noah Webster says Love means:
1. Strong Affection for a relative, a warm attachment,
attraction based on sexual desire...
Now, here is what the bible says about love.:
There are 3 types of love, which I am sure that most of you
have heard these names before.
Eros- Romantic Love
Phileo- Brotherly Love
Agape- Deepest Love
A scripture that God has placed on my heart and in my life is
one that many of you have heard at weddings many times.
1 Corinthians 13 turn with me. (My team can attest to me being
in this sciprture for a majority of the Word Race)
Can someone read verses 4-13?
Out of this list, let me see a show of hands of those who have
loved like this today?
Were you patient with co-workers?
Kind to that person who cut you off while you were driving
here? (Or irritable because of that)
Rude to someone you can't really stand?
Envious or jealous of someone or something?
Yikes, that is a tough list to live up to. I really struggled
with this list this year.
Who am I kidding? I still struggle with this daily.
We have high expectations on what love is and how to live it
out daily. I am reminded every single day that I need to love those who
don't like me, love those who test my patience, love those who tick me
off, and love God during all of those times as well.
It is hard to love that driver that just flipped you the bird
on the interstate, or that co-worker who is doing the best they can to
get you fired.
But, we are called as Christians to LOVE ONE ANOTHER.
This is a silly exercise, but I want you to turn to someone who
you may not know sitting behind you or in front of you and tell them
that you love them. You may have just met that person tonight or have
known them for years, but they now know that you are going to practice 1
Cor 13 with them.
This year, I really struggled with loving the team I was placed
with. I didn't think that I was supposed to be on my team because all
of our personalities were strong and we wanted to choke one another. We
were supposed to act like a family, but we acted like strangers. When
we were in South Africa, God shut some doors. Our transportation was
falling through every time we would try to make new plans, the door
would shut. After a couple days, a missionary heard that we were in town
and came to talk with us. She told us that God wanted us to stay and
become a family as a squad (all 52 of us). She said that God would open
the doors when we became a family. We took her message seriously and as a
squad we fasted from food and from speaking for 24 hours. During that
time, God really pressed on my heart that I needed to reconcile with
team and really show them love.
It was at that time that God pressed 1 Corinthians 13 in my
head. He had me comb through that scripture word by word. I was stuck'
in that passage for 7 months. But each time I read it, I found something
new in it. Each day, the love for my team and others around me grew.
God then asked me to give up sarcasm. Whoa. Sarcasm was my undefined
love language. But, I knew that in order to love more fully, I had to
give up something that was going to be difficult. It was hard at first,
but words of love started to replace the words of sarcasm. Love became
an everyday thing. I wasn't just giving words of love, but I was acting
out that love in any way that I could.
So,
my challenge to you is to ask God what he wants to show you through the
1 Corinthians passage. How does he want you to love? How can you love
everyone more deeply?
God
I want to thank you for sending your son as the ultimate sacrifice of
Love. Thank you for speaking through Paul in 1st Corinthians in a way
that we can still understand today. Let us love more like you. Let us
see people in the way you see them. Let the words that come out of our
mouth me words of love and not of rudeness or selfishness. Teach
us to love YOU more intimately. As our love for you grows, Lord, we
know that loving others will get easier. Thank you for loving us when we
are rude, and self serving, we don't deserve that love, but we accept
it and hold it close. Amen
My dear friend Stephanie Tyrna, who was on the World Race with me, just came back from Haiti on Thursday. Here is a story that she posted in her blog. Please keep the people of Haiti in your prayers!
6:30am. Time to wake up. The ten of us
quietly shuffle around the orphanage getting ready to head into Haiti
for
another day of helping out. The smell of apple cinnamon and maple brown
sugar
oatmeal hit your nose as you step outside the church. These few minutes
in the
morning are really the only quiet times we ever have to ourselves. I
look
around as my teammates are quietly eating oatmeal, reading their bibles,
doing
devotionals, and preparing for the day.
We head out around 7am. As we cross the
DR and Haitian borders, we normally rent two security guards for the
day.
However, today the DR president is heading into Haiti and there is only
one
security guard that we can buy. His name is Alexia. He hops into the
back of
the truck with us as we continue on our way to Fond Parisien, the
hospital/church we have been helping out at.
As we are making our way to the
hospital, we notice that Alexia doesn't look too happy. Mind you, our
rides
crammed in the back of the truck together seem to bring out the fun and
laughter in our team. I believe this is when the nicknames started
coming as
well: Jacob the Social Cracker, Sara Choe the Asian Tiger and Me the
Dolphin
Whisperer. Oh fun times! So as we are joking around having a grand ol
time,
Alexia sits there very serious and looks kind of annoyed. None of us
really
thought too much of it at the time.
As we arrive to Fond Parisien, we are
all assigned different tasks. Sara Choe and I are placed in the hospital
helping the doctors with patients. There are over 100 patients that have
arrived today. Meanwhile, Ashley and Aaron have their own mission to
spend
around $5,000 to buy food and supplies that can be given away. So, off
they go
with Alexia in the truck to make some border runs to get rice, beans,
and
whatever else they can find.
When Ashley and Aaron return from their
mission around 4pm we come to find out the story of Alexia...
Aaron said that Alexia spoke English (which
none of us knew) and told Aaron that he looked sad. Aaron told Alexia
that he wasn't
sad, he was just tired. And then Aaron asked Alexia why he
seemed to
look upset. Alexia then replied and told Aaron that he had lost his
entire
family in the earthquake. He was the only one who survived and the only
thing
he has is the uniform on his back. He told Aaron that he did not know
what he
was going to do and what his future held. He said that he now feels
obligated
to go to school to become a doctor so he can help people.
When I heard of this on our truck ride
home that evening, I was torn up. I slowly started to crumble inside. No
wonder
he wasn't laughing with us earlier. No wonder he was upset! Ugh.
I cannot even imagine. The thought of
losing my entire family, not knowing what my future holds and somehow
managing
to work all at the same time is just beyond me. What do you say to
someone like
this? There are simply just no words...
This is the story of Alexia.
He is not the only one with a story
like this. There are thousands upon thousands of Haitians without homes,
families, jobs, stability, a sense of security or a known future at
this
very moment.
Please keep these refugees in your
prayers. And when you pray, pray specifically for Alexia who is one of
the many
amidst the devastated and brokenhearted.
Lord, I lift up Alexia to you. I pray
for His mind and for his heart. I pray that You will protect his mind
and his
heart during this time. I pray that You will take captive every thought
of his.
I pray against all fear and against the things that he has seen in the
name of
Jesus Christ. I pray that Alexia finds YOU amidst his loss and
brokenness. I
pray that He realizes that You are the one true God and what may seem
like
complete devastation and brokenness, you can turn into greatness. I pray
that he
holds on to You. May he find security, hope, love, peace and joy in You
and
only You. Please pour Your favor onto Him. Bless him as he makes
decisions that
point to his future and what that may become. I thank You so much that
we were
able to meet Alexia and hear his story. And that we are now able to pray
specific prayers and intercede on his behalf. I thank You that we now
have
warriors warring on his behalf for his salvation and the rest of his
time here
on earth. Thank You Lord. We love You so much. In Your holy and
magnificent
name we pray. *Amen.*
I wanted to share this song
with you.
God woke me up this past weekend so that I could pray for Haiti. These are His words and not mine. I am not a
song writer, just obedient to what He tells me. I don't have a tune to this song yet, I will just wait for God to give me the song and I know He will.
That is something we learned in Haiti just under a year ago. HE is the Hope of all mankind. Right now HAITI needs your help. They are suffering from a huge 7.0 earthquake and you can help.
Here are a few ways you can do that.
Give to the Haiti Earthquake Relief fund
AIM is mobilizing teams in the aftermath of this devastating earthquake.
AIM Dominican Republic base director Miguel and Kristen Shaul live about four hours from Port-au-Prince and are coordinating immediate relief efforts. There are also alumni from the AIM World Race program traveling to Haiti soon to help prepare for short-term teams. Our mission teams have been to Haiti, have fallen in love with the people there, and are very anxious to help. See Ashley Musick's blog for an example of one broken heart for Haiti.
Donations go to earthquake relief efforts.
Our primary goal is to bring first-response relief to those in need with supplies such as food, blankets, shelters, basic health care, and more. Our secondary goal is to identify communities in which we can get involved in long-term rebuilding. We ask for prayers for God's favor in leading our efforts and for partnership in funding this response.
Adventures In Missions is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with the Internal Revenue Service.
Gifts may be 100% tax-deductible; please consult a tax advisor
Here are a list of telephone numbers that can direct you to many other ways to give as well.
You may want to make a donation, send supplies and/or partner with another non-profit working in Haiti. Here is our list of organizations from the GNI Data Base. Obviously our list is incomplete. I am sure there are many other organizations besides those listed that are working in Haiti. We may be sending out another similar email to this one. If you work in Haiti and would like to be added to this list just send us your name and email.
Agape Flights 941/488-0990
Children's Medical Missions of Haiti 201/506-5649
Colorado Haiti Project 303/938-0163
Community Coalition for Haiti 703/880-4160
Crossworlds - (610)667-7660
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Haiti 615/478-6773
For Haiti with Love Inc. 727/938-3245
Foundation for Children of Haiti 011/509-510-4720
Good Shepherd Ministries 321/752-0072
HAFF (Haitian Friendship Foundation) 239/565-1196
Haiti Charity Hope Foundation 401/723-3404
Haiti Medical Mission 701/241-5317
Haiti Medical Missions of Memphis 901/761-9097
Haiti Medical Teams International 509/966-5422
Haiti Outreach Ministries 800/231-9462
Haiti Vision & Services 405/478-5743
Haitian Christian Outreach 217/778-6023
Haitian Health Foundation 860/886-4357
Harvest Foundations - (602)258-1083
Healing Hands for Haiti 866/482-0763
Hopital Albert Schweitzer - (412)361-5200
Love a Child Ministries 813/621-7263
New Life Advance International 011/509/246-3009
Northwest Haiti Christian Mission 214/554-3218
Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos, Haiti 312/386-7499
St. Boniface Haiti Foundation 781/963-7243
Vision of Hope Ministries 954/928-3704
God Bless and THANK you for helping out this BEAUTIFUL Country.
To check out my pictures from Haiti, please go HERE
That is something we learned in Haiti just under a year ago. HE is the Hope of all mankind. Right now HAITI needs your help. They are suffering from a huge 7.0 earthquake and you can help.
Here are a few ways you can do that.
Give to the Haiti Earthquake Relief fund
AIM is mobilizing teams in the aftermath of this devastating earthquake.
AIM Dominican Republic base director Miguel and Kristen Shaul live about four hours from Port-au-Prince and are coordinating immediate relief efforts. There are also alumni from the AIM World Race program traveling to Haiti soon to help prepare for short-term teams. Our mission teams have been to Haiti, have fallen in love with the people there, and are very anxious to help. See Ashley Musick's blog for an example of one broken heart for Haiti.
Donations go to earthquake relief efforts.
Our primary goal is to bring first-response relief to those in need with supplies such as food, blankets, shelters, basic health care, and more. Our secondary goal is to identify communities in which we can get involved in long-term rebuilding. We ask for prayers for God's favor in leading our efforts and for partnership in funding this response.
Adventures In Missions is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with the Internal Revenue Service.
Gifts may be 100% tax-deductible; please consult a tax advisor
Here are a list of telephone numbers that can direct you to many other ways to give as well.
You may want to make a donation, send supplies and/or partner with another non-profit working in Haiti. Here is our list of organizations from the GNI Data Base. Obviously our list is incomplete. I am sure there are many other organizations besides those listed that are working in Haiti. We may be sending out another similar email to this one. If you work in Haiti and would like to be added to this list just send us your name and email.
Agape Flights 941/488-0990
Children's Medical Missions of Haiti 201/506-5649
Colorado Haiti Project 303/938-0163
Community Coalition for Haiti 703/880-4160
Crossworlds - (610)667-7660
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Haiti 615/478-6773
For Haiti with Love Inc. 727/938-3245
Foundation for Children of Haiti 011/509-510-4720
Good Shepherd Ministries 321/752-0072
HAFF (Haitian Friendship Foundation) 239/565-1196
Haiti Charity Hope Foundation 401/723-3404
Haiti Medical Mission 701/241-5317
Haiti Medical Missions of Memphis 901/761-9097
Haiti Medical Teams International 509/966-5422
Haiti Outreach Ministries 800/231-9462
Haiti Vision & Services 405/478-5743
Haitian Christian Outreach 217/778-6023
Haitian Health Foundation 860/886-4357
Harvest Foundations - (602)258-1083
Healing Hands for Haiti 866/482-0763
Hopital Albert Schweitzer - (412)361-5200
Love a Child Ministries 813/621-7263
New Life Advance International 011/509/246-3009
Northwest Haiti Christian Mission 214/554-3218
Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos, Haiti 312/386-7499
St. Boniface Haiti Foundation 781/963-7243
Vision of Hope Ministries 954/928-3704
God Bless and THANK you for helping out this BEAUTIFUL Country.
To check out my pictures from Haiti, please go HERE
Thank you for all of
your prayers and support this year. I really appreciate all of you so much. You
have been such a blessing to me and to those around the world.
Love,
Bekah
P.s.- I do have a new
cell phone number. If you would like it, please let me know.
Hey, I wanted to post a list of a compilation of funny
ways you would know you are a H-Squad World Racer. It was great going back
through these and typing them up. Oh the memories!
Enjoy!!
You know you are an H
squad World Racer When...
(though
Bekah's eyes)
You want to shower
or bathe in the local river instead of the provided shower
You prefer to
sleep in your tent than provided beds (for safety from the mosquitoes)
You can reach into
your teammates pocket and they don't flinch
Showering once a
week is normal
You'd rather squat
in the bush than provided hole in an outhouse
6.)You use garlic as a
beg repellent and replaces your malaria pills
7.)You notice new
clothes on teammates and squadmates right away
8.)You stop asking
questions about where the drinking water came from and if it is safe to drink
9.)Luxury is defined
when you eat something other than rice
Normal transportation is hanging on for dear life on the
back of a truck
Filtering water and burning trash becomes a daily chore
Normal travel takes at least 2 days, only 50 Km, and
insufficient funds
Females stop shaving so mosquitoes stop biting
Washing hands become foreign but handwashing your clothes
is normal
Easter is celebrated at KFC because it is from one of the
United States
Changing in
public doesn't faze you
You can sleep
just about anywhere, no matter how bumpy the ride
Your hygiene
makes the local Africans cringe
You don't care
whose underwear you are wearing, as long as they are clean
You run out of
jokes and quotes because you have been together 24/7 all year
You think of
ways to overthrow your leader
Someone on the
squad on each team gets a new piercing
You see
livestock pass on your walk to ministry and wonder how many ways it can be
prepared (i.e.- Baby chicks= Chicken Nuggets)
You ATL (Ask
the Lord) about everything... even groceries
One item has 3
or more purposes
Rice and Peanut
Butter become top staples in your diet
A racer
bypasses AIM to get an engagement ring to the bush of Africa
Your tan'
washes off after three really good washes (dirt)
You use your
laundry line as a leash for dinner (It is more eco-friendly than a fridge)
You get your
hand slapped for peeking under your teammates kilt
You can tell
the difference between a mosquito and other bugs by sound, not sight
Your squad
leaders make sure you have many luxuries after being in the bush for 3 months
(Inflatable Castle in South Africa)
Every debrief
becomes a hair salon
You thank God
for the makers of Wet Wipes
Pens are a HIGH
commodity
36.)Gas station
bathrooms are a huge step up from what you have been using
37.)You get leg cramps
from squatting over a hole... Especially if you have a worm
38.)A squad you've
never met challenges you to a Dance off via YouTube
39.)Your coaches dance
at the dance off
40.)At the end of
debrief you still don't know which country you are going to
You calculate
distances by walking time not driving time
You entertain
yourself by coming up with events for the Mannalypics
You actually
score and judge the events you created for the Mannalypics
75% of
computers and cameras have died throughout the year, some more than once
You have to
have your sermon/Bible Study translated 2 or 3 times in different tribal
languages in order for ALL of the congregation to understand
The Pastor
comes up to receive Jesus in his heart
You have told
what the World Race is, 300-400 times this year
You plot one
last shock before the end of the race
You borrow
random things to pull together an outfit for Final Banquet
Your
pack is lighter going home than it was coming on the race, even with all of
