Dear Friends and Family, 

As I sit down to write an update on what God has been doing through our domestic ministry the past week and a half, I cannot help but reflect on what he’s been revealing the past 24 hours.  

Within the past day, while we’ve been back at the Adventures in Missions base to prepare for our international ministry, my squad has experienced significant spiritual warfare and resistance from the enemy in the form of sickness. As teammates of mine were facing visits to the ER late last night, the rest of our squad gathered to pray. Sitting in the presence of God crying out to him, the Lord brought me to Romans 8:19, “For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.” Often spiritual warfare breeds fear, but the truth is that God’s children are about to reveal the gospel to all of creation that has been eagerly waiting for the hope of Jesus Christ and if the enemy isn’t attacking us, we probably aren’t being effective for the gospel and the advancement of the Kingdom of Heaven. The enemy hates nothing more than for God’s name to be exalted in the nations, and yet that is our greatest desire. So, we arm ourselves with the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit, and feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace (Eph. 6). If God is for us, nothing can be against us, and the enemy truly has no power. The head of the serpent was crushed when Jesus bled and died on the cross. Therefore, we have no fear of the enemy because he has no power and we pray the cleansing and healing blood of Jesus over our team and we lift up our praise to our worthy God.  

Through all of the attacks of the enemy, Jesus is teaching me to be low and humble before him, to be grounded in Scripture, to cry out in desperation for the hand of God to move and like in Ephesians 6 to “pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” If you would take a moment even right now to pray that same prayer over our team as we finish the last few days in the States before we leave for Jamaica on Thursday, the 17th. Pray for healing, to be equipped with the armor of God, and for the Lord to move in power. 

Looking back even further to last week, my squad and I spent the week serving at a camp in Adrian, GA. Ministry looked different throughout my squad, but my smaller team focused primarily on yardwork. This looked like trimming bushes, cutting the grass, clearing out overgrown areas, and even stopping to have conversations with homeowners on the campgrounds and with each other. The intent behind our manual labor was to clean up a camp that hundreds of kids, students, and families come to and encounter Jesus, some for the first time. The week wasn’t spent outwardly sharing the gospel but stewarding and caring for a space where lives will be changed and where future generations will be changed by a decision to follow Jesus made at a camp. We got to work with Adventures in Missions relief team, some of whom we’ll be working closely with in Jamaica. There were moments that were hard. Times when I was sweating, covered in dirt and grass, and tired, but God used every moment to develop in me a determination and a heart for the ministry. God blesses the work done behind the scenes as a steppingstone to what he will do at that camp. Even in our work to bless the camp, we were blessed by the workers there. They took care of us, loved us, and encouraged us. The Lord’s hand was over that week and blessed our labor. 

Moving forward to this week we have begun the process of physically, mentally, and spiritually preparing to leave for Jamaica. This includes things like doing our laundry, having necessary conversations and debriefs with our teams, resting, and last-minute Walmart runs! Even in this time when things are moving slower, I am learning even more about the gospel. There is so much the Lord keeps revealing and changing in my mind. He is undoing thought patterns and the boxes I’ve placed him in, changing how I view the Holy Spirit, prayer, and spiritual warfare. In just the two and a half weeks away from home God has undone and rewired so much of my thinking to see him more clearly. Praise the Lord for what he is doing even in the midst of the enemy’s schemes. God is far more powerful, and he’s allowed me to see that this week. How great is our God!  

Thank you so much for your continued support, love, and prayers! I ask that you keep my team and I in your prayers in some specific ways: 

1. Pray against the attacks of the enemy and the spiritual warfare we are facing.  We know Jesus already has the victory but it's still important for us to lift it up to him. 

1. Pray for health and safety for our team and against sickness.  

1. Pray for our travel to Jamaica on Thursday and the ministry that we will begin within the next week.  

This morning, before I sat down to write I reflected on Psalm 46 and I’d love to end with that right now: “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth gives way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its water roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her; she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts. The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Come and see what the Lord has done, the desolations he has brought on the earth. He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire. He says, ‘Be still and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.’ The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.” 

Worthy - Elevation Worship