Ya know in the Old Testament where it says people worshipped big, golden statues....well that's here and now in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
I had known there were people who worshipped these golden statues in other parts of the world but for some reason it didn't feel real to me before. I understood it better as something that happened hundreds of years ago. Back home people may worship other gods, but there aren't big golden statues all over the place. But here in Cambodia, about all you see riding down the road are huge temples and big golden statues. It does something totally different in my spirit being here and seeing it for myself. I am living in the Old Testament!
I got these pictures off the internet but they are from Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and they look exactly like what I see everywhere here!
The question is, have I been believing in the God of the Old Testament?
For the first week in Thailand I thought we weren't allowed to tell people about Jesus. I quickly learned that we could tell them about Christ, but that was not the focus of the ministry we were working with. The ministry wanted us to share Jesus by our LOVE and not necessarily by preaching the gospel.
But here in Cambodia, I found myself thinking "I miss Central America where I could go up to random people on the street, tell them about Jesus, and pray for them."
Why did that stop in Central America?
This month we are teaching English classes at a church, and I absolutely LOVE those kids! Some are believers, while others are not, but we have the freedom to share Christ with them. Many of their parents are Buddhist, and some do not like the idea of their kids learning English in a church. One of the boys' parents even made him stop coming to church because they don't want him to be a Christian. I love having the opportunity to speak truth and life into their lives!
But what about the beggar on the street?
There was a missionary who spoke at church last Sunday, and he was sharing stories in the Bible where God did crazy awesome things because people had faith that He would show up. He asked the congregration, "what do you do when you see a crippled beggar on the street? Do you believe your God can heal him?"
I felt the Lord asking me that same question....because for some reason I had not been praying for these crippled beggars on the street. Maybe I have silently to myself, but not out loud in front of them. The question is why? Don't I believe the God that heals people in Central America is the same God that can heal people in Asia? Of course I do, but why haven't I been operating in that faith?
As silly as it sounds, I was thinking in my head that these people don't believe in Jesus so they will not want me to pray for them.
But the better question is why wouldn't I go up to these beggars on the street and pray for them to be healed? These are the people that are deceived and lost and need to see the power of the one true God! They need to see His love and feel His presence. The best part is that I don't even care if they cannot understand one word that I pray over them. God's presence is not limited by a language barrier!
I am continuing to learn more about what it means to share Jesus with people. The first three months in Central America were about preaching the gospel with words. In Thailand we shared the gospel with actions and love.
But I am learning that it takes BOTH. I can talk to someone about Jesus all day long, but if the person doesn't know that I love them then there is a good chance they won't receive anything I say.
If I smiled and gave $10 to every beggar I passed on the street but never mentioned the name of Jesus then that person would still be lost.
When you see someone on the street no matter where you live, don't hesitiate to show Jesus to them. Don't let the fear of "well, i don't know if they will want me to pray for them...they may get offended...they may not believe in Jesus" stop you! That never stopped Jesus or His disciples! We can't be afraid to be Jesus to everyone we meet, and the Holy Spirit will show you how that looks for each person!
I have been on the Race for 4 months now, and my constant prayer has been for Father God to show me how to live a holy and righteous life without being all legalistic. I want to pursue a life of holiness, but not in a way of following a rulebook. I want greater intimacy with Jesus. I want to live my life in a way that pleases Him because I love Him.
Last month in Thailand, the Lord gave me a little more understanding about all this jazz. While in Thailand, our ministry was in the bars with the prostitutes. I was excited to have the opportunity to love these women, but I didn’t really anticipate how I would feel in the bar atmosphere. Before last month, I had never been inside a bar. Ok, maybe once for this crazy concert, but ask my friends… I was uncomfortable the entire time (Remember Netty?)!
Walking into the bars in the red light district the first night was an experience. I kinda freaked out.
Papa, I know you are in this place but I cannot feel you right now. It’s so dark here. It makes me uncomfortable. My heart is breaking for everyone around me. I don’t think I can do this. I need you. I didn’t realize it at the time but I was afraid.
After our first week, I walked down bar street with a different attitude. I was just going to visit my friends at work. I was more comfortable with the atmosphere because the people were familiar to me.
One Sunday afternoon, we were hanging at the lake with one of our friends we had met at the bars. Everyone was drinking and some of the conversation was inappropriate. And I started to feel uncomfortable again.
Papa, get me out of here. This is not a place that I need to be. I cannot be here. I know you are here but i don't feel your presence. Afterwards, I told my friends I had been uncomfortable but I couldn’t figure out why. I was confident the Lord had divinely orchestrated our friendship with this person. And going to the lake with him and his friends is what he wanted to do. Why was I so uncomfortable hanging around them? Then I was reading this book called, Culture of Honor by Danny Silk and everything totally made sense.
“So we have to decide, what partnerships are we going to make when we are in the presence of sin? This was the thing that made Jesus look like a genius. He’d walk into a bar with the harlots and the thieves and go, “Hey guys, how you doin? Hey, there was this rabbi, this priest, and this Baptist preacher.” And those people loved Him!
But the Pharisees were more like, “Here, leper. Ring this bell whenever you come around because you scare me. Uh-oh, a woman on her period. Uh-oh, dead people. Where can we hide? Let’s go in the temple.” Jesus had this love thing down, but the Pharisees didn’t have a clue. So, in the presence of sin, the Pharisees were afraid, but when Jesus was in the presence of sin, He was the solution, the remedy. He was powerful.”
That’s when I realized, “OMG I have been a Pharisee.”
I had been uncomfortable because I was afraid. I was afraid of the sin around me. I was afraid it would negatively affect me, or that someone would see me, or that it would mess up my pursuit for holiness.
Once I had this realization I repented. Ugh, I don’t want to be like a Pharisee. It changed my whole perspective. God doesn’t want me to always avoid those atmospheres. The experience at the lake felt different in my head I guess because it wasn’t our scheduled bar ministry. It was just friends hanging out at the lake. But our “ministry” is our life. It’s not just a scheduled time of our day. It’s all the time! Jesus doesn’t want me to avoid those situations and hide in my “holy corner.” He wants me to walk out there boldly, confidently, knowing that living inside me is the answer!
As I look back on my life, I think that deep down I kind of had that Pharisee-like mindset. “Oh, I can’t be caught downtown at the bars.” But sometimes maybe that’s exactly what Jesus wants. Maybe there have been times when God has wanted to divinely place me in those situations, but I have been totally closed off. I cannot be afraid of those places where sin is blatantly obvious. God isn’t afraid of sin. I need to go boldly believing that “perfect love casts out all fear.” God is love. Fear isn’t from God. If I go into those atmospheres and feel fear, it’s not God. I need to remember my Savior. He is love. He is powerful.
Danny Silk wrote in Culture of Honor, “We can choose either to protect the rules and create a religious culture or we can protect our relationships and create a culture of love. And only one of these options is the covenant that Christ died to make with us.”
I don’t want to be closed off to a relationship with a person because maybe the way he or she does life is different from me, especially if the Lord is divinely setting it up. I don’t want to live by a rulebook when Jesus came to set me free from the law. I don’t want to be legalistic.
But I also never want to abuse the freedom that has been graciously given to me.
Papa, continue to show me the balance. Show me how Jesus would do life now. Show me if I am being a Pharisee in any other areas of my life.
Papa, July is so beautiful. She cannot even fathom how beautiful you think she is. She has no idea how much you love her. She has never had a love that compares to yours Jesus. Let you be the one who satisfies her. Let you be the one who fulfills her. Let you be her everything.
The first thing I noticed about July was her smile. Father God’s joy was not behind that beautiful smile. The smile was a disguise. The smile masked a broken woman. Behind that smile was a woman who had no idea who she was created to be. She had no idea how much she is loved. She had no idea that she is worth so much more.
July is 28 years old and has been working in the bar for about a month. The first night I met her she told me that she wants an American husband. She was married to a Thai man, but he was really mean to her. The first night we played pool with July and bought her a drink. We laughed a lot and acted goofy together. She is just like any other girl who likes to go shopping and watch movies. She is a daughter of God who needs to find her way home.
The second time we went to see her she had a big smile on her face and gave us a big hug, but she couldn’t chat because she was with a customer. It made me sad. I know she wanted to hang with the girls. It broke my heart to leave her with an old man who touched her in any way he pleased as she gulped down a glass of alcohol. I would probably have to do that too to get through the night if I were July.
The next night we stopped by to visit her and she was with a customer once again. She took a few moments to give us a big hug and smile, and I asked her, “July, did everything go ok last night? Were you safe?”
“Yes. I hope I am safe every night.”
The words that came out of her mouth next broke my heart.
“Trena, I know what you must think of me.”
“July, you are beautiful. I don't think anything bad about you. You are worthy. You deserve so much better in life. I love you.”
I don’t remember what else I said that night, but she began to tear up as I was speaking. I knew Jesus was touching her. I knew she felt the pure love of Christ.
Then she said, “Thank you for saying those things about me.”
A few nights later we went to visit her again and I had a dress to give her. It was just a dress I had bought that didn’t fit right. It was no big deal. I hugged her like every other night and told her that I brought her a dress. She was so surprised and tears began to stream down her face.
“July, you haven’t even looked at the dress. You may not even like it.”
“I don’t have to look at it. I know I will love it. Trena, tomorrow you can ask me anything about my life. I will tell you why I work here. I will tell you everything.”
That’s when I realized that she saw something different in us. She experienced the love of Jesus through us. She felt loved for who she was. She didn’t feel judged for the way she was living. She trusted me. She just didn’t realize that she trusted me because of Jesus.
The next night she told me her story. Her father was killed when she was young, and she quit school to help her mom provide for her family. She later married a Thai man and had two children. Her husband treated her badly and cheated on her so they split up. Being the only girl in her family, she knew that working as a prostitute could bring home plenty of money to support her family and children. She wants her brothers to be able to study at the university. She wants her children to have everything they need. She told me her kids don’t know what kind of work she does, but she misses them a lot. They live 5 hours away, and she doesn’t get to see them much. She doesn’t like working at the bars and hopes to be there only for one year. But she feels trapped. She feels this is the only option to make ends meet.
Papa, set her free. Show her that you are her Provider. Show her that you are real!
I never thought i would be friends with a prostitute, but July is my friend. She is more than my friend. She is my sister. I pray that I will see her in Heaven.
July at the bar with one of her customers.
These are the girls I did ministry with this month (Anjali and Suzanne). July is wearing the dress i gave her :)
Back in May when I was applying for the race, I was actually looking for the route with the least number of countries in Asia. When I found out my route included Thailand, Cambodia, and Malaysia, I thought, “Ok, I think I can do three months. Praise the Lord it’s only three months.”
But now that I am in Thailand, I absolutely LOVE it!
Here’s why…
*Chicken Pad Thai
*Cheap super cute clothes
*Songkran Festival-a huge water fight that lasts 4-5 days. People line up on the streets with water guns and buckets of water just waiting to soak you. Down by the bars it was like one big spring break party.
*Fruit smoothies for less than $1
*Riding elephants
*Being able to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner for less than $4 a day
But what I LOVE the most is our ministry this month, Lighthouse in Action. Lighthouse in Action ministers to children living in the slums, college students, people in local villages, and prostitutes in the bars. Our team is working with the bar ministry called Love Acts.
Their vision is to eradicate the commercial sex trade in Chiang Mai, and see Thai people choose abundant life through Jesus by seeing His truth and love through our actions. What do we do?
We walk around the red light district praying and asking the Holy Spirit to lead us into specific bars and to have conversations with specific women or ladyboys.
Since the women and ladyboys always have their eyes out for customers, we have to buy them a drink to be able to spend time with them. We learned from our contact that it really means more to the girls to buy them a coke rather than alcohol. They are used to men buying them alcohol, so buying them a coke shows them we are different. A 30 baht ($1) coke costs us 80 baht ($2.67) when buying it for one of the girls. We spend more money during a night at the bar than our entire days food budget, which is $4. But when you go out there you just don’t care. You want to talk to the women so badly that you don’t think about how you may have to skimp on food the next day.
We love on the girls with our actions. We don’t preach the gospel at them. We invite them to the movies, shopping, or to have lunch. We love them without judgment and fight for them in prayer against the spiritual darkness. We form real relationships. Love Acts offers a way out of the bar scene when girls are ready and willing to take that step.
Working with Love Acts entails so much more than going to the bars to talk with women. We spend much more time in prayer and intercession, which I love, love, love. It’s very much a spiritual battle here.
Here is what our schedule looks like for this week:
Monday and Wednesday
2:30-5:30 PM – day ministry in the bars
7:00-8:00PM- prayer and worship as a group
8:30-10:30PM- prayer and intercession for the group out in the bars
11:00-Midnight- debrief as a group
Tuesday and Thursday
2:30-5:30PM- pray and intercede for the group out in the bars
7:00-8:00PM- prayer and worship as a group
8:30-10:30PM- night ministry in the bars
11:00-Midnight- debrief as a group
Saturday from 6:30-9:00PM we pray and intercede as a group
Friday and Sundays are our days off!
If you are up on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 8:30-10:30AM please pray for us because we will be in the bars at that time asking the Holy Spirit to lead us!
Papa, break my heart for the people here in Thailand. Break my heart for the prostitutes and the lady boys. Break my heart for the children whose parents sold them into a life of prostitution. Break my heart for the men who buy these women. Give me spiritual eyes tonight.
This was my prayer before heading out on our first prayer walk around the red light district in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Papa, these women are so deceived, but the men buying them are even more deceived. Our contact told us the spirit of deception was big here. The women were dancing around with huge smiles on their faces, but I wonder if it is just a cover up. Inside they must be broken and empty. Inside they must have a skewed view of what LOVE means. They have never known the true love of Father God.
We saw 30-40 different bars all surrounding one street. There were 5-6 women outside each bar waiting to lure in anyone that walked past. Watching an old white man flirting with a teenage Thai girl made me want to vomit.
My heart broke as I looked behind me to see an older white man with a face full of shame. Behind him was a young Thai girl who looked like she had been crying as she kept her eyes glued to the ground with a sad, shameful expression on her beautiful face. Papa, the enemy is telling them so many lies, and they have no idea they can have the power to fight back.
As we walked past a bar full of lady boys, I felt so much sadness in my spirit. Their identity hidden behind who knows how many walls. All I could do was intercede. We saw one Thai girl who couldn’t have been more than fourteen. Anyone could see she was uncomfortable in her skimpy dress. She was uncomfortable with the entire atmosphere. I wonder if that moment had been something she had been waiting for or dreading . Was she waiting to be old enough to go into the bars and sell herself to earn big money for her family as a way to honor them? Or had she been sent to the "big city" by her parents with no choice?
Papa, do these girls enjoy this? Is this the life they want to live?
As I walked around observing hundreds of women willing to do anything for money, I cannot help but wonder what do I have to offer them? Why would they sit down and talk to me? Can they sense the presence of Jesus inside of me? Will they feel His love as we have a simple conversation?
That's when I realized my heart had completely broken for these people.
Holy Spirit you tell me what you want me to do in this dark place. You tell me what bar to go into. You tell me which girl, lady boy, or child to start a conversation with. Papa, you tell me what you want from me this month in Thailand.
I need your help all you prayer warriors. Thailand needs your help. One thing the Lord is calling you and me to do is fight in prayer. These girls may not have the authority to overcome Satan for themselves, but we do and can intercede on their behalf! Our prayers are heard in the heavenly realms and Satan must loosen his grips. Pray for Chiang Mai. Pray for blinders to be removed. Pray for FREEDOM.
Halfway through our time in Nicaragua, I heard talk of team changes. I knew it was a possibility, but I didn’t think it would actually happen at least until after month four. However, sure enough new squad leaders needed to be raised up, which meant that teams would change. I just didn’t expect it to be so drastic.
But seriously, Happy Feet? No way would we change. After two months of forcing ourselves to hang around each other, we were finally to a place where we actually liked each other. We just now started to enjoy each other’s presence, laugh together, and act like family. It’s not time for us to split but for us to be used in a powerful way for the Kingdom.
Then I realized that it’s not so much that I dread the challenges of working with a new team, but that I really would be sad to leave my old team!
I really love these people. We worked so hard through so much crap that we came out so much closer. If you would have told me in month one that I would be balling at the possibility of our team getting split up, there is no way I would have believed you. But here I was, after three months and I was on the verge of tears at the thought of our team getting split.
A few days later our entire squad met together in Granada, Nicaragua. I had gotten to a point where I had surrendered our new teams and new team leader to the Lord. I wasn’t going to try to reason it out in my head anymore or worry about the possibility of losing old teammates.
That’s when I got pulled aside by one of the squad leaders.
Weird, I don’t know why they need to talk to me.
“Trena, we have prayed about it and would like for you to be a team leader.”
“Papa, you know I just told you that I was so relieved not to have the responsibility of team leader. I just told you I am so glad that I am not one.”
So I had a decision to make. First of all I had NO idea that this team leader stuff was coming. No idea whatsoever. It scared me. My desperation for the Lord to show up multiplied by at least 100. I knew if I said “no” that it would be out of fear. Fear that I am not strong enough to lead a team. I may not be strong enough, but i know Father God definitely is.
So I said OKAY.
Announcing the new teams was a really difficult day for everyone. There were so many emotions. I cried saying goodbye to my old teammates, but I know our friendships will continue to grow. We are still all one big family of believers.
So here I am with a brand new team (except for Tabbs and Suzanne) and a brand new responsibility of being a team leader. Papa, you HAVE to show up. I can't do this alone.
We call ourselves team FREEDOM FIGHTERS. Here we come Thailand! Please fight for us in prayer!
Finally made it to Nica. I have been waiting to get here. Nica is where I went on my first mission trip 4 years ago, and I left there a different person.
When we first got here we stayed in Granada for debrief. During debrief each of the teams met with two coaches who flew from the States to spend a few days with us. Team Happy Feet had a lot to work through. After 3 days of fighting in prayer, our team had experienced enormous amounts of freedom. Awkward tension had left, and we were ready to head to Jinotepe to begin working on becoming a family, a real family!
So here we are in Jinotepe, Nicaragua working with a ministry called, Glenn and Lynn, who have an amazing prophetic history that is yet to be completed.
This month we are staying in a house by ourselves, only Team Happy Feet. God knew exactly what would help us become a genuine family. Not to mention He hooked us up with beds, warm showers, FURNITURE, and yummy food. Even without those little blessings, the time alone would have been enough. This month we don’t have our other friends to run off too. We only have each other and the Lord of course.
So what have we been doing in our house all alone? Well, watching Amish movies, making movies out of weird looking boiled eggs, and playing NERTZ until all hours of the night. But so much more is going on around here. Lots of laughter. Lots of tears. Lots of LOVE. Lots of FREEDOM!
We worked with Pastor Manuel who pastors a church in one of the poorer areas in Jinotepe. We went to his neighborhood to help the preschoolers, hand out rice and beans, and love on the people. Pastor Manuel commits so much of his time and resources to the church, and the church is really too poor to support him and his family. He had been wanting to paint his house for years, but had been waiting for God’s timing. Our team bought paint and painted his house.
We also visited a couple of nursing homes and orphanages.
The nursing home visits were actually my favorite because of a man named Mario. He was feeling alone and like he had no purpose for his life anymore because he was stuck in the nursing home. We were able to speak a lot of life into him and pray for him. The next couple of visits he always had a smile on his face. He was like our Nica grandpa. We printed him off some pictures, and he wanted to bless us with some gifts too. He gave us some deodorant and baby oil! We even prayed with him to accept Christ. He told us that he would never forget us. I will never forget him.
It really was a good month for Team Happy Feet. With God's grace we actually became a family!
As I stepped off the bus in La Kennedy, I didn’t sense the darkness that awaited me.
Lilliana's house on the corner of La Kennedy
Lilliana, Carlos, Fernando, and Christopher
(Carlos & Fernando now live with Tony at Zion's Gate where we stayed all month)
Trash covered the ground, and the smell of paint thinner was giving me a headache. All the men had these dirty rags in their hands to get high on paint thinner
We met a man named Ricardo. He is 25 but looks 35. He’s had a rough life. His parents both died when he was in third grade so he dropped out of school. He has brothers and sisters but they want nothing to do with him. No job. No home. No family. No food. No hope. All day he gets high on paint thinner. He told us that he had gone to church for a 9-month period in the past but hasn’t gone in a while. We prayed for him and spoke truth into his life. It broke my heart to see him raise a dirty rag soaked in paint thinner to his nose as we walked away. The spirit of addiction overtook him. Me and Ricardo
That’s when we passed two teenage boys.
“Boy you better turn that cross upside down.” These are the words I heard coming out of Katie’s mouth as she told us that the boy was wearing a necklace with an upside down cross. Denise noticed he had the words “IN LEAGUE WITH SATAN” written on his bag along with an upside down star, which is a satanic symbol. Before I could comprehend what was going on, we turned around to walk towards him. Katie gave him a cookie, and that’s where the battle began.
His name is Arnie, and he is eighteen. Katie began sharing Jesus with him. His friend kept trying to get him to leave, but Arnie’s eyes remained fixed on Katie. Jesus had captured his attention.
Katie touched the upside down cross around his neck and asked, “Do you believe in God? Who is your God? Are you your own God? Do you worship Satan?” The boy just smirked as he looked down at his feet not willing to give a clear answer. Then she asked a bold question that the Lord had laid on her heart. “Do you have a brain? Are you really going to chose to do life alone?”
Arnie’s eyes remained locked on Katie’s as Denise and I interceded in prayer. Then we noticed his friend lurking around down the street, just waiting to crush what Jesus was doing. Just like the enemy. Denise said, “That’s how the enemy works.” Which led to a personal drama that God used to get his attention. Denise took one arm while Katie took the other. One spoke the lies of the enemy while the other spoke the truths of Jesus.
We had been talking to him for about 20 minutes, and then Katie said, “Today can be your day. Do you want today to be your day?” He took a few moments to ponder the question. “I cannot pray it for you. You have to do it yourself. But today can be your day.”
He nodded his head yes.
Katie led him in the salvation prayer in Spanish. My heart was exploding with joy. Inside I was dancing with the angels in Heaven.
Through those 30 minutes of conversation and prayer Arnie still had the cookie in his hand. So we did what anyone would do. After explaining the significance to Arnie, we took communion with the cookie and my red water bottle. It was a sweet moment.
Then Katie told him to turn his cross right side up to represent the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Arnie took off his necklace and put the cross in its rightful place. HALLELUJAH!
The Lord impressed on my heart to attempt again to find out if he was previously worshipping Satan. Agreements could have been made that needed to be broken.
Katie asked, “Did you make any agreements with Satan?” This time Arnie said yes. We assured him everything was ok. We shared Luke 10:18-19 with him and told him about the power and authority he now has because of Jesus. I wanted him to know that Satan no longer had power over him. We prayed to break any agreements with the enemy and spoke a lot of truths over him.
As we were hugging goodbye he had a huge smile on his face.
In 45 minutes Arnie went from death to life. The power of the enemy demolished with 45 minutes of the power of Jesus!
Please pray that God will place people in his life that love the Lord. Pray that he will get plugged into a church!
E Squad at a soccer field in Tegucigalpa! LOVE.
Before I left for the World Race, I received a revelation from the Lord on LOVE. I learned I was MADE TO LOVE Jesus.
Well, now I am getting a revelation about the second part of LOVE. Love everyone around you as you love yourself. Which is funny because I thought I already knew how to love, but God is revealing to me that I don’t even fully understand what LOVE means.
I can see myself standing before Father God, and He isn’t asking me “How many people did you share the gospel with? How many prophetic dreams or visions did you have? How many poor children did you help feed?” He is asking me, “Trena, did you learn to love? Did you learn to love everyone around you with the love that I have for you?”
If I cannot get a grip on that kingdom kind of LOVE, then nothing I do for the kingdom will matter.
“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not LOVE, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have faith that can move mountains, but have not LOVE, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to flames, but have not LOVE, I gain nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13: 1-3
It’s easy for me to love the people that I want to love. Back home, it’s easy for me to love my family and friends. It was easy for me to love my patients in the hospital or kids at the Dream Center. It’s easy for me to love the boys here in Honduras that are addicted to drugs and paint thinner. It was easy for me to love the drunken men in El Salvador.
You know what has been hard for me? To love the people on my team and my squad with a deep 1 Corinthians 13 love.
This month in Honduras, all 44 of us are living together in one building. I do love all the people on my squad, but I am learning that it’s not always with a kingdom, Father God love. Sometimes it’s a love from my weak flesh that doesn’t love with the fullness of 1 Corinthians 13.
Since we are all living together this month and are around each other 24/7, I have to learn how to love all different kinds of personalities. Back home, if I didn’t really mesh with someone then I just wouldn't spend a majority of my time with him or her; however, on the World Race you don’t really have that option. You don’t get the choice of picking your teammates. God picks them for you, and He says, “I want you to learn to truly LOVE my son or daughter the way that I do. You cannot run away because it’s hard. You cannot run away because it’s uncomfortable. I want to show you how to LOVE.”
Today, we had church as a squad and one of the squad leaders shared on 1 Corinthians 13. He talked about how we have to humble ourselves and really love our brothers and sisters on the squad to move as one body with the fullness of power that God has for us.
He talked about how we are all at different places spiritually, and we have let it create division. Let me give you the example God revealed to me.
Before the race, my friends and I were all learning and desiring to move in the supernatural power of God through the Holy Spirit. We were all hungry for God. We knew the power of prayer and the authority we carried. Coming into the Race, I was pumped for our team assuming that we would all be at that same place. I got here, and everyone wasn’t ready for all of that. Selfishly, I got frustrated. I thought, “Well, I know that I am going to pray for miracles and if no one else wants to do it then I will do it alone or with the few who will with me.” It’s frustrating to me that the enemy uses good things of God to bring division. Because I thought I was doing what God called me to do, but it did create division on our team. Some were open to the fullness of the Holy Spirit and others just got freaked out.
So last month I found myself thinking, “God, I just want to love and serve you and the people in El Salvador. I am tired of dealing with all of this team crap. Why did you call me on a mission trip where it seems like most of the ministry that needs to be done is with me and my team?” I was seriously ready on some days to leave the race and move to another country to serve and love the people there, but I knew God was working on me.
Now looking back to last month, I realize that God never would have wanted me to leave my team. Division is not the heart of Father God, but the strategy of the enemy. God has a heart of unity. He wants me to go back and fight for my team, not to leave them behind. And I am not saying that spiritually speaking I have more to offer than my team, because I don’t. I have learned so much from them already. But we cannot leave each other behind if we want to function as a body. We have to humble ourselves and help each other grow in their gifts to move as one body. “Love does not envy.” I cannot go around wishing I had everyone else’s spiritual gifts. I must realize that they have what I lack, and together we can bring the fullness of Heaven to earth.
If we aren’t moving as one unified body, how are we pleasing the LORD?
How can we bring the fullness of the kingdom on earth if we don’t LOVE the people we are doing ministry with, like truly LOVE them with 1 Cor. 13, Father God love?
It won’t happen.
On a larger scale, our entire generation needs to move together as one body of believers. Especially the closer we get to the end. Imagine if as a generation we all built each other up in our spiritual gifts instead of envied them. A body of believers that didn’t operate out of selfish motives or harbor bitter judgments. How much stronger would we be? How many more battles would we win? Walking in UNITY. Satan can do nothing to a body of unified believers that are pouring out the Father’s love.
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” 1 Cor. 13: 4-7
This kind of love is the love I desire for every person on my squad. This is the kind of love that I desire to have for every person I come in contact with. My new lifetime goal is to learn to love the way Father God has called me to love. Not the way that Trena thinks people should be loved.
After the race, I will be blown away by all the different types of people that I will know how to love. I won’t have to avoid the people that are hard for me to love anymore. Praise Jesus!
“And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
Faith, hope, miracles, healings, prophecies, and speaking in tongues won’t exist in Heaven.
Love is all that remains.
LOVE NEVER FAILS.
Fernando (one of the boys living with Tony and Nydia) and Mario (one of the boys around the neighborhood). God is transforming them!
