Colombia Catch Up!

Hey guys! First off, I just want to come on here and apologize for how long it’s been since I wrote a blog. I know all of you trying to follow along have probably not had the easiest time not really knowing what’s going on and what to pray for me for. So I am really sorry that I’ve not been super diligent about doing this, and know that I’m actively trying to get better because truly your support means so much to me! I have so appreciated the prayers and thoughts and messages from all of you, and I can’t tell you enough what an encouragement that’s been.

Finishing Colombia…

Last blog I wrote, I left off at the very start of Colombia. And man, has a lot happened since then! But to try and take you back to wrap up that part of my journey, I’m just going to try and summarize how the end of Colombia was for me. So! Colombia was a whirlwind of relationships and spiritual struggles all throughout the squad, which made it hard to stay focused on ministry and really remember why we were there. Specifically with me, I was struggling with the adjustment of living with 40-something people, as much as I loved it, and being that close to every single person’s highs and lows throughout the day. I have definitely learned a lot throughout it, but it took me a while to figure out how to navigate all those relationships and remain rooted in Christ.

Ministry itself had its highs and lows as well. As I began to explain in the last blog, the ministry we were staying at was a secure church and foundation already, and so us being there was an opportunity to alleviate a lot of the extra behind the scenes things that they were doing. I don’t think the squad approached this with a very good attitude at first, which was somewhat understandable given it wasn’t exactly the ministry we expected to be doing, and it wasn’t very people-based. However, it wasn’t an excuse to be not servant-hearted, so there was definitely a heart check that needed to be done.

As far as my personal favorite parts of ministry, let me tell you! On a couple of the Fridays, we got to go to this old person’s home. This place was incredibly heartbreaking as a lot of the people there had truly been left by any sort of remaking family. We could not communicate well at all, but it was really amazing the way we got to love on these men and women through our actions. We held hands, danced with them, played music for them, and even got to cut their hair and shave their beards for them! It was a touching bond that we got to build with these people in their last breaths of life. We also got to do kids ministry this one morning! That was one of my favorite mornings! We picked the kids up from their homes and walked them back to the foundation where we got to hang out with them, make lunch for them, and teach them about the Bible! In the last couple weeks, my team worked in the kitchen and helped prepare food for the entire building, which was quite a lot of work, but we had so much fun talking, peeling potatoes, preparing food, taking dance breaks, and everything in between.

Another ministry we did was called Augapanela, where we went into this super impoverished part of the city and got to talk to the homeless people living on the streets there. There was so much pain, brokenness, and sadness there, which was incredibly heartbreaking. Most of the people there were turning to drugs and drinking, and had a lot of emptiness in their lives. It was really cool to be able to have conversations with them (through a translator) and share about Jesus’ love, but we definitely had to be careful as well. I got to go twice and found so much joy in just getting to pray over people admist the brokenness surrounding us. It was a really special opportunity.

As far as squad stuff, it was really cool to get to grow together and build deeper relationships with one another as time passed, and there was so much joy and life found in fellowship with one another! We got to have a really sweet time at debrief at the end of Colombia, where we were poured into by teachings, spent intentional time reflecting, and just got to swim and soak up the sun together. There was some level of sadness moving into a time where we would all be separated in Vietnam, but I was also super excited for that next season with just my team!! (Carley, Mo, Kyah, Mieko, Heidi, Kenzie, Kaylee, and I)

Debrief lessons!

I just wanted to come on here and share a few of the teachings that really impacted me at debrief.

• Discipline: You have a choice to choose God, and it won’t always be easy, but you’re either choosing God’s faithfulness, or you’re choosing the ways of the world. Discipline is to choose “manna,” even if it’s bland or boring, because it will sustain you. When we stay stagnant and ask Jesus to pursue us, we are asking the man who died on the cross to do more!! It is costly to choose Him, but it is so fulfilling. So ask yourself: Is He worth it?
• Perseverance: God didn’t promise us a battle-free life, but He did promise to be with us in the battles. Think of a man swinging an axe at a log. He has no idea how many swings it’s going to take, and he won’t get to see any progress as it gets closer to splitting — no indication that his labor will produce any fruit. But through God’s strength, he needs to keep swinging with all his might until it breaks. What are the things we’ve given up on? What are the things we’ve stopped fighting for or praying for?

These were just two of the teachings that really impacted me that I wanted to share with you all to some extent! And if you have more questions, I’d love to go deeper!

Another thing I wanted to throw out there were some impactful books in this season in case you’re interested in checking them out!

• A Take of Three Kings
• To His Bride
• The Prisoner in the Third Cell

75 hour travel day!

So! To end off Colombia and transition into Vietnam, we had a 75 hour travel day! Now what did this look like? It meant sleeping at the airport in Colombia, flying from there to Houston where we had a layover, then taking a plane to LAX, where we stayed the night again! After that, we took the long plane — 16 hours to Hong Kong, where we refueled, and then another plane to Ho Chi Minh, where we stayed the night, and then, in the morning, we finally landed in our destination: Hue, Vietnam.

As long and tiring as this was, we also had a lot of fun hanging out and sleeping in the oddest places, and got a lot of good time for conversation and catching up with reading, writing, or anything else! It was sad saying goodbye to the whole squad as we all split off, but I was also ecstatic to be with my team apart from everybody.

Gratitude!

To end this blog off, I just wanted to say thank you again to all of you guys. I so appreciate every single one of you for even wanting to follow along and be a part of this, and I’m so grateful for your patience as I navigate living presently but also keeping you all updated! I’m off to write a blog about Vietnam now, so stay tuned!

Also! Fundraising update! I’m now at 88%! Praise God! And thank you again! I would not be here without all of you.

I love you dearly!

Much love,
Kezia ❤️