We made it through training - again! :) - and are so much more unified than before. We have truly learned what it means to be the Body of Christ with one another, and God taught each of us so much through this additional time of training. I hope that we are ready to "go and make disciples" of the Quechua women, "teaching them to obey everything" He has taught us (Matt. 28:19-20).
Prayer Necessities for the Skimmers:
1. Pray for favor with the Bolivian government as we are in the process of applying for our resident visas.
2. Pray for wisdom for Misty as she faces a major life decision and for the rest of the team as we offer her counsel during this time.
Inquiring Minds Wanna Know (Bonus for the Readers):
On May 16, the women on my team and I returned to the jungle for more training and, let me tell you, it was a shock. After spending a month in the Andes Mountains, stepping off the plane in Iquitos, Peru, to 91°F temperatures was kind of a shock to the system. :)
After spending two days in Iquitos, we hiked into our camp with our fully-loaded backpacks... over a distance of 16 km (about 10 miles). Since I had hiked twelve miles in a day on the Appalachian Trail in the past, I figured it wouldn't be that bad. But I didn't count on the jungle rain.
Iquitos is on the Amazon River (pictured to the right), and there's a reason they call this area the Amazon rain forest. The water comes down in sheets, and a wet backpack is miserable in so many ways. Water is HEAVY!
But, from the very beginning of the day, the LORD brought this verse to mind:
"Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thess. 5:18)
I was struck by the fact that this rain, this hike, and even this being in the jungle again, were all "God's will for [me] in Christ Jesus." Though I couldn't fathom why He'd brought me back here, I knew it was His will.
The other part of our hike that was... um, shall we say, unexpected :)... was that we were given two sheep to herd out to the camp to the camp with us. Yeah, I said sheep. Those stupid animals from which we get wool. And how much did I know about shepherding? You got that right: Not a thing!
The sheep (pictured below) were frustrating at best, as we spent the entire beginning of the hike trying to get them to follow us. But they didn't know us, didn't trust us, and wouldn't obey us in anything.
And, wow, the spiritual lessons I learned from those animals. They really are as dumb as I've always heard. They're rebellious and have a mind of their own, and it seems as if they're constantly trying to do exactly the opposite of what we want. Even though we're trying to take them to a place with more food and more shade, they are continually fighting us.
Sound familiar? Yeah, to me, too. I know I'm exactly the same. Although my Good Shepherd always leads me toward the best, I spend so much time and energy fighting Him.
Why do I do that? For the same reason our sheep fought us: Because I don't trust my Shepherd completely. But as they came to know us and our voices, their fear diminished, and they began to obey. In the same way, as I come to know Him more and see the true and continual goodness of His character, I learn to trust Him and to obey.
There's a reason Scripture so frequently calls us sheep. We are. But His sheep know His voice and follow Him. Lead on, Lord. This sheep wants to follow.
Evidently, my boss also wants me to remember this lesson. My hard-earned Xtreme Team jersey bears the nickname he gave me: "I'm a Sheep" (our whole team is pictured here, along with all of our jerseys). Thanks, Jeremy. I'll never forget it! :)
1 comment:
Kelli--I signed up to be a prayer partner for you when you left and I want you to know that you have taught me so much through your blogs! I, too, am a sheep and need to listen to my Shepherd more often! God Bless You! Gail White
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