Our squad is three days in to our 11 (10 and a half) month abandonment of comfort. I just left home, which was and is such a weird feeling. I have left home before, so I thought that this would be business as usual, but that was not really the case. It was hard. Even now, I catch my mind wandering, I think that I will be home in a few days. It is just now starting to feel real that we are gone for a while.

The World Race is all about Intimacy, Community and Mission. Starting with the intimacy, we want to grow in our relationship with God. To love Him and feel loved by Him. What we have talked about is that we cannot get intimacy without total abandonment. This includes a lot of things, from things to attachments and to lies we believe. We need to detach to be able to attach to God. We also need to be broken down and fail to begin getting to a place of complete dependence on the LORD.

The community aspect is fully underway as well. Being with these people make leaving comfort a lot easier. People that are full of love and full of Jesus create such a powerful community. You are easily able to be open and be real about where you have been and what you are feeling now. Being able to go through good times and battle through tough times with this group will make this process far more enjoyable.

What we have talked about a few times is to be where you are at. Meaning God knew we would be in the position that we are in with our relationship with Him right now. We should have a goal and plan to grow and get to a place where we are closer to God and closer to the person you were created to be, but you should not be discouraged by where you are now. It is a process. Even Peter the best disciple walked with Jesus for a while and still denied him at the cross. It took a little while after that before Peter was showing the person he was created to be. Our walk with Jesus is a constant process and we should not be expecting ourselves to take giant leaps in our faith but focus on taking little steps.

Our launch here in Georgia has been interesting as we are trying to remain safe from COVID before taking off. This means all our teams are separated into our own little taped off rectangles 6 feet away from other teams. Currently one of my team members Tymon is isolated because he had a few symptoms and Mack who will be our team’s leader for the first month is also isolated because she was in contact with somebody who tested positive. We are confident that they are both healthy and we will be fine to take off tomorrow towards Costa Rica. If you could keep them in your prayers and our team that we are able to take off on time that would be greatly appreciated. We also are always wearing masks outside of sleeping and eating. We are waking up at 7 and are constantly going until lights shut off at 10. There have been a lot of sessions with worship, safety, COVID, storytelling, teachings, and some fun games.

We have also found out where we will be headed after probably a month and a half in Jaco, Costa Rica…… GUATEMALA!! Let’s goooo! So Central America appears to be the plan likely at least into April.

I ask that you pray for our team as we take off tomorrow. That we will be confident in our relationships with God and choose to love each other daily. Prayers for God to show up, and for Him to remind us of His love for us. Safety and health are always needed as well. Love you all and appreciate you!

During these tough times I want to encourage you to surround yourself with a community of people that will push you towards God and to the person you were created to be.

Jesus loves you dearly..

Much love.