It has been two of the most life changing and world-upending weeks of my life. Getting to the hotel and to Atlanta I felt a lot of last minute worry and anxiousness. I was worried for who would be in my squad since I knew literally one person and them I didn’t even know that well. I was worried about if I would even get along with everybody or if they’d be too “pure” for me which is a thought I’m sure many have dealt with in the church before.

But instead I found a community of people that I didn’t know I would love as much as I do now. It’s almost strange to me in retrospect that isn’t a single person I dislike, and it’s been such a great blessing to find a great group of guys to stand with amazing sisters in Christ who continually edify us. It’s such a strong adoration for those around me that the two unfortunate departures are heart breaking because these are 11 months that I sincerely want with everybody. It’s really become apparent to me that a big theme of this training for me is love. Love for God and finding intimacy with the Holy Spirit, love for those around me who also continually remind me how loved I am, and love for myself as I continually learn about my identity as His son and heir to the kingdom. 

We’ve been poured into, day after day, by so many speakers, some of whom we agreed with and some of whom there was a more intense disagreement with. I’ve been taught on the truth of the Lord and His word, intimacy with His Holy Sprit, Forgiveness, and so many other things to the point where it really feels like my cup is overflowing. Most days we’re blessed with two sermons and it’s very much a but to grapple with and comprehend. 

On top of that we have also been blessed to know what teams we are going out into the field with and I’m excited to see the growth we’ll experience as a byproduct of the ministry, particularly as we’re a diverse team where the Lord is using so many different stories to redeem parts of others lives. I’ve also been blessed to know that I’m the teams leader and while I am of course feeling nervous, I’m really excited knowing that He equips the unequipped for His ministry. It was an answer to many prayers about trying to grow in the gift of shepherding and tenderness and the focus is very much on doing it for God and not for myself. Altruism is the name of the game.

Earlier this week we also signed our contracts with Adventures committing to the World Race completely, and sacrificing many parts of our lives for the betterment of our focus on those who need it. It was kind of an emotional trip to consider the last year from me applying to the world race to now and how vastly different my life is. I never, at any point in my past thought I would be where I am and that I would love every second of it, being gluttonous for more time with the Lord and my favorite people. On paper, I should be miserable: I’m living in a tent, we very much dealt with flooding and heavy rain, bucket showers are very regular now, I’m not getting the best sleep. of my life, my day is packed from the time i get up to when I can finally rest in my tent at night, and we’re limited to port-a-potties. Yet, in spite of all of that, I couldn’t be happier, and it is all thanks to the Lord and the only thing I really want to do is share this and the good word with others.

We have also learned more about where we are going within Guatemala, as our first ministry location. My team is excited to be going to the north-most province of Petén, where we will be situated along the Belizean border. We will be partnering with OneWay which is a ministry focusing on areas of poverty and extreme poverty. Our focus will be ranging from nutrition to health and education to even housing and lifestyle improvement. Now, today is our last full day in the U.S. and tomorrow we finally leave for the airport and head out to Guatemala at 2am Monday morning. It’s going to be a long 8 weeks in Guatemala but I know that it’s going to be incredibly fulfilling and that the Lord is going to heal and change so many lives.