The Beauty of being Interruptible

Jambo from Kenya! The place with the sweetest hospitality, best chai, and beautiful scenery. At this point our squad has been in Kenya for three weeks, and have been broken up into teams for two weeks now! Our team of five people, is currently in the Mombasa area, and has various ministries that we are partnering with in our time here. However, our very first week here as a team we had what is called an “ATL” week. This stands for “ask the Lord” and it is a time where there is no plans, and there is complete space and dependence on the Lord to lead how/where He wants to. Now, if I am honest, this is not how I had expected to begin the race, but the Lord knew this was exactly how I needed to, in order to begin to learn true dependence on Him.

When it comes to my day to day life, I love lists and organization. I love to know what I need to get done every day, what the expectations are, I love to have things planned out. So you can imagine what my flesh reaction was when I heard that I would not be getting any of that when we broke into our teams. I was confused, and in all honesty did not know how to step into that idea of letting the Lord lead with the only expectation being that He will. So with confusion in my mind, but wanting to step into what the Lord has, our team headed to our hostel, where we would be staying for the next week. Little did I know this would be the place where I would start to understand looking to God first, and what in means to be interruptible.

Being interruptible is an idea the Lord presented to me at training camp. However, the practice didn’t come until arriving at this hostel. Now the first night we arrived it was great! We had the room to the five of us, we were able to pray over the room and be intentional in amazing ways. However, every day after that the room was full of people. On top of this, the hostel itself did not have many, or really any, private areas. So, there was always people around. There were various times our team would be trying to have team time and someone would come up to us and “interrupt” what we were doing. When this would happen, it would lead to some of the most fruitful conversations I have had. I believe within the span of three nights, our team shared the gospel to three different people, from three different countries! On top of this, we just got to meet amazing people from all over the world. People full of stories, laughter, and curiosity. All because we were “interrupted” in our agenda.

What I am learning is that although I may have my plans for the day, God is the one who truly leads. So often we hear the verse from Isaiah (55) where he talks about God’s thoughts and ways being higher than ours, that I think we become numb to that truth. However, the Lord is showing me that His thoughts and ways TRULY are greater than mine. Because if I am honest in those moments I may have not chosen to have those conversations, or even have been aware that they were an option to have. BUT GOD knew exactly who was coming, who needed to hear His word, and who even just needed community in the middle of Mombasa Kenya. And because He knew it, it led to not only fruitful conversation but it led to friendship! It led to days of conversations full of truth and laughter, as well as nights of walking the streets of Mombasa for the best street food. All because the Lord interrupted our plans.

This is something I want and need to keep growing within me. I want to desire for the Lord to interrupt my plans for His glory, so He can be further known.  Now, this is not me saying plans and agendas are a bad thing, because we need them, otherwise nothing would get done. But, it’s the idea of “Lord this is my plan and what I want to get done, but would it be YOUR WILL not mine, done today.” Surrendering our days, our hours, to Him everyday, because who knows what could be waiting on the other side! There is so much joy and freedom in learning to surrender our plans/agendas to Him, and I pray this is something I continue to grow in!

The Lord is so faithful, and He has already done so much in my heart and in those around me in our first weeks on the race and in Kenya!

Prayer requests:
-Prayers against sickness! This is something that has been hitting my team in various ways from coughing, to colds, to nausea. Prayers that the Lord would bring healing.
-Prayers for continually surrendering to the Lord, as our team has planned ministries we are partnering with but also has freedom to choose when to go to each. Prayers that we would be led by the Spirit and partner with what He is doing.
-Prayers for myself to continue to grow in intimacy with the Lord. To know Him more, and to desire to know Him more. He is so worthy to be known.
-Continued prayers for my friends and family safety and health back at home, as they are often on my mind.

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog and for each of your support in what God is doing in Kenya!

With joy,

Emma