God moves in mysterious ways!! My sqaud went to St Lucia in South Africa for our visa run. St. Lucia is a beach town by the Indian Ocean, absolutely gorgeous. And apparently wild hippos roam the streets at night, we stayed up to watch for em but didnt get to see any sadly.
Friday morning around 9:30 is when we headed out. It was around a 4 hr drive. The place we stayed at was so fancy compared to what im used to at this point. I had my own big bed and bathroom to myself, it was awesome( besides the bat we found in my sink, lol)!!! Some of us headed to the beach after getting settled a little bit, and wow ive never been to an ocean where it was so rough and the waves so big!! So yes I got thrown around quite a lot but it was totally worth it!! When we came back Zoey was cooking up some good chicken and rice!!! After dinner we hung out in the pool. And wow i slept so good that night, like it felt like such a long time that ive slept so comfortably and didnt wake up one time, it was awesome!!!
On Saturday I went with Naomi and Lia shopping and we had to get water for our house since the tap water isnt the best. Around 12 we made us some lunch and headed straight to the beach which is like a 30 minute walk and I thought I remembered the way but kinda got us almost lost, lol. On the way we met at group of younger kids who were going as well so we walked with them and saw some monkeys along the way. When I say I love the beach, I literally love it so much, I was on the beach from 1 to 6:30 it was amazing!!! The waves were really big and me and Jaydin got out a little farther then normal and we couldn’t touch anymore and the waves were big, so it was a little scary so we caught a few big waves back in and at one point I was at like the top of a wave and looked down and there was a decent drop to the water below, so umm yea let’s say it was a little freaky but after I was like wait that was sooo much fun, lol!!! We had worship around 5 and got to do that under the trees by the beach, which was super cool. Earlier they also opened up that space for baptism if we feel lead to do that. It had started to storm so we had to move the baptisms to the hotel pool. I had prayed that day about getting baptized but I didnt feel like I had an answer so I told God if he wants me to get baptized he needs to send someone to me. Honestly I had kinda given up on getting an answer from the Lord at that point. After we got back Zoey made dinner again which was pasta and we invited some of the other guys to come have dinner with us, so it felt like a big happy family sitting around the dinner table sharing a meal, it was awesome. They were getting ready to start baptisms and I was like im juat gonna stay inside cuz God didnt answer anyway, whether I should get baptized or not. I was inside talking to Parker as he was finishing eating and Naomi came and was like Karen come here, so I was like okay. I walk over to the door and the first thing out of her mouth is “Do you want to get baptized”?
So rewinding a bit, at the beginning of training camp, I felt like God was asking me if I would be willing to get rebaptized again? I was like, yes Lord, i would love to get rebaptized again. I had an opportunity at training camp to get baptized and as I was praying that day I didnt feel like I was getting an answer, as my other sqaudmates were getting baptized i was wrestling with, wether I should get in or not and i was super scared i was gonna make a wrong decision. Yes I was so excited for my squadmates and Heidi but at the same time I was having a hard time. At the end yes, I never got in. Later I felt like maybe God wanted to teach me something first or lay something down before I get baptized. Towards the end of training camp and especially these first 4 wks in Swazi God has truly been teaching me his love and also trying to show me the identity he has given me. So now we are in St. Lucia and I have another opportunity to get baptized and again as im praying I feel like God is silent and im scared im gonna make the wrong decision again. So I told God he has to send someone to me if he really wants me to get baptized.
So yes Naomi comes and asks me if I wanna get baptized. I was honest with her and told her I want to but I dont wanna make the wrong decision and I dont feel like God has given me an answer. As we were talking I remembered that earlier in the day what I had told God, as I shared with Naomi that I feel like God sent her to me, but yet I still have this tight grip of fear that im gonna make the wrong decision, she started encouraging me and Abby (my leader) also came up and asked how im feeling so basically just repeated everything to her and this time I just really broke down and started crying, cuz I really wanted to do what God wants me to do. The rest of my team came up out of nowhere ( we tend to do that, lol) and as they were praying over me i felt like I had to quit letting the fear keep me back, and walk in the full confidence of God and know that even if I make the wrong decision im still not gonna lose God’s love!!
I had my leader Abby and Naomi (one of the girls on my team) baptize me. God is always Faithful!!!!
Sunday we headed back to Swaziland and are here in Swaziland for 2 weeks yet, and then we have debrief in South Africa, and then from there we fly to Malaysia!! Im so excited for Malaysia but God is teaching me to live in the present!!
Please continue to pray for my sqaud as we prepare to finish ministry in Swazi and prepare for debrief!!
What an adventure you are!