Tonight was such a sweet time with the Lord and also with the team. The First Year Missionary (FYM) team to South Africa is quite large. We have overrun training camp in Georgia with 41 students and a leadership team of 14! The Lord has blessed us with an amazing group of people! This week we have all been trying to find our place on the team, learning to live in community and many team builders. The week is coming to an end as the team is preparing to leave for Africa early Monday morning.
What amazes me about this team is what happened during our team time tonight. We stayed together as a large group and opened it up for any one to share what it was they might be having troubles leaving behind. We shared those hard things that have been weighing down on us, making it difficult to enter into ministry anew. After each shared someone else on the team prayed for them. In times of brokenness and vulnerability they were surrounded by a group that were strangers earlier this week and lifted up, spoken life into and encouraged. Even through all the brokenness from our past relationships we are still able to come together and live together in community, being open and honest, taking the chance at another relationship and knowing that it too could possibly fail.
We ended our time tonight by standing in a [large] circle shoulder to shoulder with our arms around each other listening to a song called “Restoration” and praying for the Lord to continue breaking our hearts for each member on the team. There was a point during this time that I looked up and many people had tears in their eyes and were singing along, allowing the words to minister to those broken places that were and are in need of restoration and we all knew that we’re in this thing together.
What a beautiful night. What beautiful pictures. Can you even imagine how it made God feel to hear his children singing to him with such abandon and brokenness? How lovely!
Such beauty, Isabel! Isn’t it wonderful how when we admit our brokenness, God re-creates us in such miraculous ways? And when we are weak, his strength shines through? “He puts the lonely in families” and now he has made your team family, with Christ at the head. How glorious.
May God bless you all as you travel, as you Beat the Drum, as you minister in his name!
Love and blessings to you,
Debi