We’re in France!

Hello Everyone!

It has been an absolutely crazy couple of weeks since I left Texas! I am currently sitting in a small cafe in a suburb outside of Paris, and I wanted to give y’all an update on what has been happening and what we have been doing.

I arrived in Gainesville, Georgia on July 31st with the rest of my squad. We began the first 3 days camping out in our tents at the Adventures in Missions office. We came together as a squad and were finally separated into teams (I will write a blog introducing them soon, but for now, check out the people on my team on the left side of my blog!) and we had a lot of training to prepare for our trip. I highly encourage you to read my squad mate, Shea’s blog (HERE), she explains in detail a lot of what that information looks like and it is incredibly interesting. We had training on finances, logistics, ministry, and people groups in Gainesville before we made our way to a hotel in Atlanta.

In Atlanta, we met up with all of the other squads that were leaving (but going to different places around the world) and we had more training and preparation as a squad before leaving. I also got to see my parents one more time during our stay in Atlanta. Adventures invited parents to come to Atlanta and meet with leadership, parents of alumni, and other parents on our squad. They got to ask questions and see for themselves what the World Race is actually about. We all got to worship together as a squad with our parents and pray over them and they prayed over us before we finally said our last “see you later”. I was so thankful for this time. My parents have been my greatest sources of encouragement throughout this trip, but doubt and fear has most definitely been on their mind throughout this process. However, during our time together, they told me that they finally understand why I am doing this, that they were finally comfortable to truly put me in the Lord’s hands during this trip, and they encouraged me to not give up no matter what and that they would be supporting me at home and become involved even as I am overseas. If you have walked with me through this journey at all, you know that this was a very big deal and I am so grateful to God for helping us to leave on such a great note.

We finished out our week together before leadership finally set us out into the nations. After about 40 hours of travel, we have made it to Paris and I am so incredibly excited about what these three weeks here will bring. My team and I are staying with another team and our three squad leaders in a cozy little home in a suburb outside of Paris. This month, we are going to be ministering to the refugees in another area of Paris. While they tend to be categorized by the world as “refugees”, we seek to build relationships with them as individuals, as people with their own identities and as individuals created in the image of God. The Lord has put on our heart this month that while this may be the City of Love, it is a city full of people who have never experienced what real love is. So we are going to be going out and spreading the Lord’s love and joy to those we encounter. Although our main focus is the refugees, my team and I have already seen a need for the gospel in the area that we’re staying in as well.

We are so excited for the opportunity to be in Paris, however, please be in prayer over the following:
Transportation: because it costs so much to stay in Paris, our budget only allows for so much. We love the home we’re staying in, but it is quite a distance from the refugee community and the trains are a bit pricey. Please be in prayer that we can find a reliable form of transportation this month that won’t hurt our budget. (We have transportation currently, but we are looking for a more budget-friendly option)
Focus: Pray that we would remain focused on the mission God brought us here to do. Everywhere (including places at home) is a ministry opportunity and we want to be sure to spread the love of God to those we encounter outside the refugee community as well.
Spiritual Warfare: Pray over our squad, that the Holy Spirit may protect and defend us from any spiritual attacks.
Boldness: Pray that we may have the boldness and confidence to share the gospel and pray over the people we meet.
Language: we are in a part of Paris that not many people visit, so there are not that many people that speak English fluently, though we can manage through the broken English/broken French. Pray that God may break down language barriers with those we encounter.
Servant-Mindedness: Pray that we may have servant hearts and pray that we would find ways to best serve each other and serve those the Lord calls us to.
Building Relationships: Pray that the Lord may provide us with connections and that we may have opportunities to build relationships with people here and be obedient to the Lord in everything we do.

It may sound weird to be in Paris. After all, isn’t our route about reaching the most unreached places in the world? However, the Lord has already presented us the great need for his love and gospel in this area in just over 24 hours. Our goal is not to come in, volunteer for 20 days, and leave. Our goal is to seek out what the Lord is already doing and partner with Him to make a long lasting impact on these communities. Today, we are going out to connect with a few churches in the area and we head over to the refugee community tomorrow. Thank you everyone so much for bringing me here. I am so excited to see what God has in store, and will keep y’all updated as much as I can!