Come fill me, Holy Spirit

         After our first month in Cotê D’Ivoire, we had Debrief in Accra, Ghana. Debrief is a time where the whole squad gets together and we do training sessions and one on one times with our leaders so they can pour into us. We get to rest and have a break from ministry and spend time with our entire squad for a few days. It was great to get to see people we hadn’t seen since launching in January and to explore the capital city Accra together. Debrief was filled with sweet times with squad mates, listening to a Ghanian man sing and rap a song for us, late night dip in the ocean, squad “Winter Olympics”, skit competition and a raw breakthrough session with the women.

         One of my favorite moments was something I didn’t know was going to take place. I saw the boys filling up a large water basin and assumed they were doing laundry but then I inferred that they were going to wash our feet since they were acting a little sneaky. Well, I was wrong on both accounts. They were filling up water so that we could have a group baptism session. Originally it started with one girl who had wanted to get baptized all month and then both our coaches (coaches = leaders who are equivalent to our squad parents and come out every few months to see us- shoutout to Chuck and Angie!!) and their son ended up getting baptized and none of them knew the other one would step up and do it so it was a precious moment to behold.

         So, the entire time my heart was beating in my chest and I knew it was the Holy Spirit nudging me to get baptized. But naturally, I resisted at first. I’m pretty stubborn- just ask my Dad 😉 I actually had felt the Lord tugging at my heart back in October at training camp when there was a baptism session but I ignored His pleading. I honestly did not want to get wet since it was cold outside and I did not want to be freezing cold at night and sadly, that was my excuse. I was baptized at the age of 7 in my Lutheran Church but I felt that I needed to be baptized again to have a public profession of my faith and to have the Holy Spirit poured out on me. So I finally gave in and went up to get baptized. After I was baptized by my squad leader, my team leader went up to get baptized. It was a beautiful moment as she let our entire team hold the water bucket and we all poured it on her together as she was baptized. I actually was able to pronounce the baptism words and it was amazing to not only be baptized but then to baptize someone else, which was a first for me.

           I feel that since training camp in October, the Holy Spirit has really been doing a work in me and I can already discern His voice better. I have so much more to learn and I’m so grateful that the Lord is pursuing me deeply throughout this World Race journey. It’s overwhelming how much He cares for me and loves me. I mean, He chose me to go on this amazing 11 month journey that they say is a “pressure cooker” to mature you in your faith. I often wonder, Why me? I know it has nothing to do with me being worthy of this experience and everything to do with His abounding grace and love for me.

            He equips those He calls and He sends out those who respond yes to His call. And really, that’s all I did. To be available, dependable and flexible (shoutout to Sonny) to His will and calling on my life. Because He doesn’t need us to accomplish His kingdom work but He chooses to use us, if we submit to Him and obey His commands.

           What is He asking of you? We all have a part to play in his grand scheme to save the lost and your role can only be performed by you. If you wait until you feel equipped for the task, then you will never do it. He wants us to get outside of our comfort zone because only there do we have to depend on Him to be our strength and have our faith tested and refined. So press on my friends and do the hard thing and see what He will do!

Love,
Raina

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
??James? ?1:2-4

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
??2 Corinthians? ?12:9-10? ?