We leave in just over 24 hours and there is still so much to do, yet God has done so much already. Honestly, my head is a bit foggy so this post will be a bit shorter than usual...but I have to share how God has been preparing me for this adventure.
Over the past few weeks, I've faced a lot of spiritual, emotional and physical weariness, mostly through busyness and a lot of the usual "lies" coming back into my mind. Lies that I'm not a qualified leader, that I'm not enough, that I can't trust God, and lies that others don't believe in me. I also realized that I was focusing so much on what I don't have going into this trip that my passion and enthusiasm was drained from me.
This past Sunday, my church was holding our monthly prayer gathering and they were going to be praying for our trip specifically. I went with my co-leader Derek and was completely overwhelmed, humbled, encouraged and loved. I want to share a bit about what happened that night...
In Exodus 17, the Israelites are fighting the Amalekites, and Moses goes up to the top of a hill to watch. He holds up his hands and the Israelites win; he lowers them and they lose. But he's not alone: Aaron and Hur are with him. When Moses' arms grow weary and tired, Aaron and Hur stand on either side of him and hold up his hands for as long as needed.
As a reminder of what Moses experienced in the passage above, Derek and I were asked to sit while some of our dear friends knelt next to us and held up our arms. Before the prayers even started, I was crying and I couldn't even wipe my nose! One of the pastors from our sister church in Malawi was visiting, and he prayed an incredible prayer over us. As he prayed, he spoke against every lie I had believed that week, even to the point of using exact words that are part of some of my most familiar lies. I hadn't shared any of this with him, yet he spoke God's specific truth that I needed to hear. And then he prayed this...
"Lord, because Alair has you, and you have her, than she has everything. God, you are writing a story and we are the ink. Thank you that when the ink is the darkest, that is when the story is the clearest."
God is writing The Uganda Story, and each one of you who has prayed, supported and encouraged me- you are the ink. There is a beautiful, sacred and powerful story that is about to unfold and I cannot wait to share it with you.
much love,
alair
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