On An Expedition with God - Glenalyn Hunt

cause somedays I'd like to just go back to the jungle

Tue, 1 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

I wrote a blog about the jungle and wanting to go back... mostly exploring the why.

www.glenalynhunt.com/2012/05/01/cause-somedays-id-like-to-just-go-back-to-the-jungle/

While you're there, if you like what you read, subscribe by hitting the +Follow button at the bottom of your screen (hover there and it should pop up.)

Thank you! Meet you over there :)

A Lifetime* of Rejection...for An Eternity of...

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

I have always desired to be excellent at something. I also have always struggled with a fear of rejection and the heartache that comes with it. From the time in third grade when a boy walked by and said "Move it, fat girl^," this feeling of rejection and inadequacy has lingered over me.

It magnified throughout middle school and high school as I pursued theater and was constantly rejected or typecast as the motherly figure.* It didn't matter that I showed up early, that I put in the effort, that I went to special classes and theater camps and invested tons of time and money into honing this craft. At the end of the day, the roles went to the favorites, even if they never showed up to class and when they did, were generally not "all there."

After awhile, it just continued to sit on me-these feelings of rejection, of inadequacy, of never being good enough. I also have a flair for the dramatizing of every day life, so the day I failed my driving test, I spent four hours weeping in my parents' bed watching Gilmore Girls and eating copious amounts of Cookie Dough Ice cream.

When I was never asked to any formal dance in high school or even now have yet to go on a date, this feeling of rejection just magnified. By the time I got through with college, I struggled tremendously finding worth in myself. I also struggled with not feeling like I was really good at any one thing.

Because of my fear of rejection, I dabbled in nearly every extracurricular a child could do: theater, singing, softball, karate, dance, 4-H (which included raising rabbits, cooking projects, crafts, etc.), youth group, baking, sewing, quilting, interior design and many, many more. Any time something got too hard or I got rejected, I quit.

So by the time I graduated college and went on the World Race, I knew I was good at getting rejected (though still not good with the feelings that emerged), and good at quitting. I think part of me never thought I would actually make it all 11 months. I knew I was decent at loving people, and wanted to make a difference in the world, but didn't really know how or what that would look like.

Fast forward 11 hard, amazing, challenging, stretching months. Now I know who I am (a beloved daughter of the King, wholly loved and worth of said love, a princess, a co-heir, a co-laborer) and whose I am (the creator of the universe calls me His), and this spirit of rejection and unworthiness has been broken off and replaced by a spirit of love and acceptance.

Now fast forward a year-plus later, to today. I received news of a small failure on my part-what really shouldn't be a big deal but to me, the dramatic, passionate person who is still working through rejection and unworthiness to a place of self-acceptance and knowing I am accepted by Christ-and I fell apart. I got mad and then I cried and then I cried some more.

But I noticed a difference: in the back of my head, as I vocally protested and wanted validation of being good at something and desiring acceptance, I hear whispers of...

I have not rejected you. I accept you. I love you. I hear your pain but I want you to know that if you keep seeking your acceptance from the world and its standards, you will be constantly disappointed. I, however, will not disappoint you.

You are my beloved. You are my princess. I have given you your life, your experiences, your passions, your gifts, your very person and who you are for a purpose and a reason. I know right now you are having a hard time finding what that is, but know it's all inside you for a reason. Let me heal you, let me speak peace over you, let me restore what has been broken and find what has been lost.

Okay, God, fair enough...

A lifetime of rejection...for an eternity of acceptance.

You win. And thanks for winning. Thanks for living your life and enduring our rejection to purchase our acceptance. Thank you for speaking life and truth and challenging me to live as the woman you have transformed me into. Even when the tears fall, you are speaking acceptance and love over me. Thank you.

*I realize lifetime is probably over dramatic as I am only 23 and though have lived what many would consider a lifetime worth of adventures around the world and done a lot of amazing things, I still am, as it were, only 23.

^Granted, he said it in a way that was how Helga told (Hey) Arnold to "Move it, football head" and we all know she had a massive crush on him complete with a creepy shrine in her closet that included a football head made of chewing gum, so maybe this kid had repressed feelings but more likely he was just feeling bad about himself and took it out on me... par for the course in third-well life grades.

*At age ten, I played mother to a thirteen year old...

P.S. I'm now blogging at http://glenalynhunt.com. Click the follow+ sign on the bottom of the screen to subscribe. Blessings.

My Orphan

Mon, 5 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Dear Maria Clara,

In a few weeks you probably won't remember me anymore, but I'll never forget you. I still remember the first time I saw you. Pastor Rony said they had babies in a nursery and I snuck off quickly to find me one. From the first time I laid eyes on you, I knew you were "My One." The one person I wanted to love on each week, to pour into and pray for, to cuddle with and snuggle and let you know you are loved.

Granted, you were six months old when I met you, and now you're eight months. You still don't really walk or talk, but you snuggle really well and fit in my arms just perfectly.

My team even says we look alike...if I were 8 months old and Guatemalan, I guess.

I was told you came here to the orphanage when you were four days old, and your ears were already pierced. I wonder if you already had baby acne then too. You pick at your scabs, just like me, and your skin is prone to irritation, also like me.

We have a similar nose and a smile that changes our whole faces, well... when you feel like smiling. You like to be thrown up in the air, and you like riding my knee as a horse. You are one of the most observant babies I've ever seen, always eager to see what's going on and never wanting to rest or sleep, lest you miss something.

They call you La Gordita, but I just call you my baby. My sweet, precious Guatemalan girl, who I will never forget.

I don't know much more about you, except that the first time you fell asleep in my arms, I knew you trusted me. My team tells me last week when I was sick, you looked around for me, and were not content in anyone else's arms. This week, in our last hour together, you fell asleep again, and I sang sweet songs of the Lord over you.

Sweet baby Maria Clarita, I hope you know you are so so loved. I hope you know your Daddy in heaven loves you and will never leave you. I don't know why your parents gave you up, but I'm glad the orphanage you live in is nice and has lots of nuns who seem to love you especially.

I will miss you more than words can say. If the Guatemalan adoption process weren't so loopy and I were married, I would bring you home with me as soon as I could. At it is, I will never forget you. And neither will your Heavenly papa.

Love you, baby girl.

Glenalyn

Thoughts on Leadership: Crisis of Honor

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

We have a crisis in our country. (The US, not Guatemala, though I'm sure it's a problem here too). I am not referring to the budget crisis or the economic crisis or the crisis of Demi and Ashton no longer being together. It's not the war on drugs or the war on poverty or the war for better education. No, it's something deeper, arguably at the root of all of these.

It's a crisis of honor.

I recently read Culture of Honor by Danny Silk. It revolutionized the way I look at leadership, particularly in the Christian setting. Every person is made in the image of God, and every Christian has the Spirit of God living inside of them, so when we honor others we are ACTUALLY honoring God, and when we dishonor others, we are dishonoring God.

I know we've always said "Do unto others as you would have done unto you," but really, this implies "Do unto others as you would do to GOD."

So if we call each other names, if we defile our leaders, if we defile each other, we are actually doing it to God.

In our culture, though, defilement is second nature. Our media defiles our politicians at every turn. The left to the right, the right to the left, and the moderates just sit and watch both sides burn. We defile our celebrities-people we supposedly admire-every time we read the gossip in STAR or watch TZM. We tell one celebrity she's too skinny and another she's too fat. He's too old, he's too feminine, he's too whatever.

We constantly criticize ourselves and those around us. Our bosses, our parents, our kids, our leaders, even our pastors. In our country where everyone is entitled to an opinion, everyone has one and will share it loudly, even if it tears other people down.

There's a general lack of grace and honor with anyone put in a position of authority. Our country values equality so intensely that we just can't wait to get everyone back on the same playing field, even if they were put in a place of authority by God. Obviously when assuming a leadership role, one should be prepared to be held to a high standard, but we aren't perfect.

Failure is common; grace is not.

I've come to the conclusion we as Americans must be nearly impossible to lead. We probably look a lot like the Israelites in the desert with Moses, complaining about the manna and the water from a rock. God's supernatural provision isn't enough for the people who want everything.

There's a verse in Hebrews about having confidence in your leaders and submitting to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. This is so their work will be a joy, not a burden, because if it's a burden then it's no benefit to you.

I'd say we generally don't put a lot of confidence in our leadership. There's a lot of fear in America that leaders tend to play into.

I used to think leadership, to a certain level, was about control. That's how most of the world views it anyways. But it's not. If we honor those we are leading and those we are following, if we empower those ahead of us to lead and those below us to go higher than we ever could, then it's not about control, but about self-control.

It's about empowering your people, not about controlling them. That's the best kind of leadership. Unfortunately, it requires a heckuvalot of grace on both sides, which is a struggle. It requires people willing to be proactive and take responsibility for their own actions, something I'd say is a challenge for a lot of us-to readily accept our part in the mess and be willing to do something to make it better, instead of sitting in an ivory tower or a TV studio or a living room, railing on about all the problems but doing nothing for the solutions.

We can all see the problems, and we can all readily assess blame and responsibility to the "guilty" parties. We all know how to complain. I think the trick is do we know how to stop complaining?

I didn't. I didn't realize how much I struggled with complaining until leading. Even as a leader, it is tempting to place blame elsewhere, especially when it all seems to get thrown at you.

I just think about the examples of leadership I've had growing up. Not so much in my own family or anything, but in the government, in the media, in the church, and it doesn't surprise me why it's a struggle. Why leaders are plenty but good leaders are few. It is a nearly impossible task, and it is definitely impossible to do perfectly, though that's what we tend to expect from our leaders. If they're not perfect, replace them. We have elections every 2-6 years to do just that.

When people disappoint us, our instinct is to ditch them. Our friends, our family, our relationships, our politicians, our employees. When we are not happy, we keep seeking a new happy ending. Instead of having grace and trying to work things out, we just move on. So there are trails of broken hearts and broken lives running rampant in rabbit trails all around us, on this pursuit of "happiness."

The pursuit and cultivation of honor is really hard. It's much easier to keep going the way we've always gone, to pursue our own happy and criticize everything else that's in the way, to place blame everywhere else and play the victim.

But we aren't victims, my fellow Americans. We are people of love, and honor, and grace. We live in a country with an amazing legacy. Obviously we are not perfect and we've made way more mistakes than I'd care to recount, but there's something special about the original core of the American spirit. A country that started something totally new and somehow has kept it going for nearly 250 years. There were bumps and hiccups, but it's been worth it.

In this time, we can choose. We can choose to live in fear and criticism and blame and escapism, or we can choose to be a people of honor and grace, with our leaders, our family, our friends, and our government.

It'll be hard, but it'll be good.

Dear T, U, and V squads... (One Year Later)

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

11/20/11

Dear T, U and V squads,

A year ago, I woke up in Kiev, Ukraine for my last travel day on the World Race. One last day of travel with an absurd number of people...Kiev-Warsaw-NYC. The last hour of our flight from Warsaw to New York was filled with 80+ loud Americans who hadn't been home in 11 months. We sang every American song we could think of, and got yelled at the poor flight attendants many times. One guy wouldn't sit down because he was so excited, but finally as we started descending he buckled in. It was a crazy, memorable PARTY that I will never forget. The next few hours were bittersweet as we said good bye to our friends-now family-we had traveled with, not knowing when we would see each other again.

I've been thinking about that day a lot. I can't believe it's been a year already and yet it feels like a lifetime ago. Sometimes when I describe New Zealand or Africa, it seems like it was all a dream.

My friend Tiffany gets home today, from 11 months on the World Race. I want to tell her, Your Journey Is Just Beginning. All of T, U and V squads coming home today-it's just starting. The next few months will rival, if not supersede, your hardest months on the race. You'll want to share everything, or maybe nothing, and finding a few friends to process it all with you is key. After a month or so at home, you'll probably start itching to travel again. It's hard to stay in one place after a year of being a nomad.

There are a few things I wish I'd done differently. I had a lot of plans coming home, but there were parts of the consumer American me that a year in the world had not shaved off. By all means, enjoy the holiday season, but take some time to ask God what next. If something falls into your lap, seek the Lord on whether or not that is ACTUALLY what He has for you. Enjoy the holidays but don't let them become an excuse for not doing what the Lord has called you to.

It could be a season of waiting or a season of doing. But let it be a season of rest and refreshment. You just spent 11 months pouring out all you had, having your insides wrecked and your understanding of God and the world blown to smithereens and then rebuilt on a solid foundation of who God is and His LOVE (not judgment, anger or rules) for you. Whether you feel it or not, you do need rest.

So rest in the Lord. Take some time to seek Him and trust in His timing. It may look like a week at home or a year. It may look like gainful employment, volunteer work or joblessness.

For me, it was a job, then another job, then another job. Somewhere in the middle I got so fed up with myself and the life I was living compared to the life I lived on the world race and was no longer satisfied by the "goodness" of the American dream. When an e-mail came from the WR Alumni coordinators, I applied to lead an Ambassador trip. I was accepted to lead a trip to Peru, and since then my life has been much more fulfilling. I'm currently leading a Real Life trip in Guatemala, something I would not have said I would be doing this time last year.

I don't believe those months at home were wasted, though. God let me hit a real rock bottom to realize that I need Him, even in America where all my physical comforts are met. He let me walk away only to come running home. I'd never had a season of being the prodigal until I got home from the World Race. I needed to find God at home, in America. To know His presence even in the comfort. To see His provision when I seemed to be lacking nothing.

So thank you, Lord, for all the seasons. The seasons on the race, the seasons at home, this season now. You're sovereign and good, and it all happens for a reason.

After all, Jesus is the reason for the season.

So T, U, and V squads, welcome home! It will be another adventure, this life in America thing. Some of you probably won't be home for long, and that's okay. For those of you who have no idea what's next, God does. And whatever happens, He'll use it all.

Be honest with your experience-the good, the bad and the ugly. Ask God to reveal to you what He's done, what He's taught you, how you've changed. Let yourself be different-this will be the hardest. People expect you to have changed but they all have their own ideas of what that looks like. Some will expect you to be a "Better Christian"-to read your Bible more, pray more and be sin-free. Some will expect you to be more humble, others more bold.

Your change is your change. Your Race was Your Race. God changed you for your life, for your calling and your destiny. You may have traveled around the World with 40-50 other people, but what God did in your life was TOTALLY unique and for His divine purposes.

So be encouraged. Be loved. Be blessed. God's still got you, even in this foreign land of America.

Love you!

Ogres are like Onions...

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Constantly I find there are more layers. More layers of me to unravel, more parts of God to discover. Every time I think I have this God thing figured out, this walking with the Lord, I find that it's just another call to go deeper.

There are no plateaus in the Christian walk. If there are, it is us who put them there. When I can't comfortably put God in a box anymore, when I refuse the call to go deeper, I am creating a plateau that isn't even there. I build the wall, the flat place, the spot where I draw a line in the sand and say Here God, but no further. This goes beyond my understanding, my ability to comprehend, my humanity, and I say that this is quite far enough.

But it isn't.

He's an infinite God, with more layers to discover constantly. While we will never understand it all, we are still called to be intimate and get closer-to His heart, to His Spirit, to Him.

It's this intimacy-thing I struggle with. For the first 19 years of my life, I was perfectly content to love God and serve God, as a distant master father figure. I knew of Jesus' sacrifice and I gratefully accepted it. I kind of thought maybe I felt the Holy Spirit in worship, but the idea of listening to God's voice day in and day out was a totally foreign concept.

In all truth, God the Father freaked me out. I didn't want to be close to Him. Someone that would send His son to die for us, and now we are His children, called to the same radical obedience unto death. As a young believer, I knew in my head that God loves us, but I also saw the God of the Old Testament, and people dying for their sin, and whole nations perishing because of laws and rules I didn't understand.

Sometimes I still struggle with this, because if God is always the same, then how is all of it part of His character? How does a good God let His children die of curable diseases, of hunger and thirst, of things that could be easily prevented? And it's hard to let a God like that in, when I know He's good but then I go visit sweet babies in the orphanage that will grow up there, or five year olds routing around for things to sell from the garbage dump.

At this young age, I've seen a lot of this hurt, broken world. And I KNOW the only thing that will truly save is Jesus. I know we as Christians have roles to play in alleviating this suffering and in being God's hands and feet to this hurting world.

But I find myself swinging on the pendulum between God is good, all the time, I love Him and I want more of Him to how is God good? Where is He in this messy, broken world? And then somewhere in between where it's all on me to make this world better.

It's hard to find intimacy when I sometimes struggle with the character of God. It confuses me. He's a paradox wrapped in an enigma tied with string theory. He's loving and all-powerful, yet there's still suffering. He's merciful but also just. I am loved but also disciplined because I am loved.

I know ULTIMATELY I stand in His goodness, in His favor and in His love. I am washed in His grace and mercy, and the wrath I was meant to suffer was poured out on Jesus so I could be closer to God. So now I sit, desiring more intimacy and to go deeper, but I am not sure I know how.

I have been exploring the character of God through reading the Psalms. God told me to get to know Him, to see His character of unfailing love, of blessing and sweetness, and the Psalms are a comfort. The writers tend to be as rollercoaster-y as me in their walk with God and in their understanding of His faithfulness and character.

Deeper, deeper, deeper. There's always more depth, more to understand, more to realize, more epiphanies and revelations. But I feel like it's going to come from finding rest and peace in God, and letting Him show me. It's not going to be from reading my Bible 80 hours a day or being a super-hero servant 24/7. It's going to look like learning to be Mary and walking away from my Martha tendencies. It's going to look like no more excuses but an inner drive to go deeper from resting in God's presence.

I know the right answers...it's the living it out that is a struggle. It's choosing to believe it even when I don't see it, and choosing the hard stuff even when it's uncomfortable. It's about being a blessing when I don't feel blessed (even though I know I am) and about loving even when I don't feel loved. Because I stand in a place of love, I stand in a place of blessing, I stand in a place of freedom and truth.

And that is ENOUGH.

It's Time for Weekend Update!

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Here's a rundown of our weekend, as from my perspective.

Friday, we went to door-to-door to tell people about a revival service set in the local soccer field. As I traipsed up and down the hills of Guatemala, I had significant flashbacks of door-to-door ministry in Uganda. I wondered, as I often do, How the heck did I get here? What choices did I make over the last few years that led to this crazy life of doing something unique nearly every day, of meeting different people in different neighborhoods and telling them about Jesus, of prayers and praying for healing, and stepping out in faith constantly, trusting God would show up? These moments occur about once every month, sometimes more, and usually trigger much soul-searching.

Saturday night rolled around, the second of the revival service. It rained, a lot, again, all over the people. This time, however, we took refuge in the good ol' Panel Van. The kids this night were a little loopier-very affectionate, with a huge desire for attention. I reached a breaking point.

Why am I even doing this? Why haven't I been able to feel God lately? This looks nothing like I wanted it to, and how much of that is my unrealistic expectations and how much of that has been not fighting for it more or better?

For the first time in awhile, I uttered these fears and doubts and questions out loud to one of my girls. I knew she wouldn't judge me, but I figured she'd maybe pray and then we'd move on. Instead, she pointed some things out and affirmed my leadership.

Something I've struggled with is not being able to effectively minister to and disciple 15 girls. While the Lord released that burden off of me long ago, I still feel guilty sometimes about spending more time with a few of them than with all of them. Instead, she pointed out that even though I don't have time to have hours each day with each girl, when I do speak encouragement, it usually is short and to the point. She also pointed out that God has grown me in my ability to be confrontational-not in an aggressive way but in a way that does fight for the welfare of our team and not just let the waves crash all over us.

Needless to say, I was shocked because usually people just tell me when I'm not doing things well and let the little good things go unnoticed. Here were two of my girls, who had noticed the little things and were willing to tell me. It was encouraging and motivating and I was blessed by them.

However, the feeling of just wanting to be done wouldn't leave. I know we still have six weeks and I want to make the most of them, but I just needed a break.

And the Lord heard the cry of my heart. Yesterday, Sunday, we got a day off. A true day off, with no responsibilities, no expectations of ministry, just a time of renewal and fellowship.

And speaking of fellowship, where we went was a river straight out of a movie-think of a mix of Lord of the Rings, Jurassic Park and Avatar. There were vines hanging down over eroded sandstone cliffs, and monkeys in the trees. Though the current was strong, a group of us fought against it and went as far as we could up the river, clinging to rocks and swimming as strong and as fast as we could go. It was stunning-we were the only people around.

As I floated back down the river, I thought, wow God. Good work. This is so magnificent, your creation is so glorious, and you gave it to us today, just to revel in and explore-just like you give us you.

Then lunch was incredible-carne asada and pollo grilled on an actual grill, beans on bread, macaroni-potato-egg salad (yup, all three in one-that's how they do in Guatemala), and pineapple for dessert.

After lunch, I enjoyed some coffee and a book. It was so nice just to lay out on the grass (despite mosquitoes), listen to the river rolling by, and read. To be by myself (granted, everyone else was around, but I was in my own world) for a few hours to just BE. To read a fiction book, to enjoy a cup of coffee and God's creation, and to just BE. It was a sweet balm to my soul to just enjoy life without any worries, fears or frustrations. Granted, I know I should live that way all the time, but it is so hard. So to have a day where someone else was taking care of EVERYTHING was incredible.

And while today my body is sore from the upriver swimming, it is a reminder of how awesome yesterday was, and how blessed I am.

PS-The reason we were able to enjoy this day of rest and fun at the river was because of an amazing couple that our Pastor knows. Their heart is to bless and love on pastors and missionaries, and they wanted to bless us. We didn't do anything to deserve it, they just wanted to bless us out of their own blessing. It was so nice. As a missionary, I frequently feel like I have to do all the blessing//God does the blessing through me. So to simply be blessed was incredible.

Well there's the weekend update.(And these pictures, while nice, really do not do it justice. It was literally something right out of National Geographic or a movie...)

Milestones This October...

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The past week contained a few different milestones. The first was our halfway point here in Guatemala, which we celebrated in Antigua, a lovely colonial city in the Guatemalan highlands an hour away from the capitol.

The second was the 11 month anniversary of being done with the World Race. October 20, 2011 marked eleven months since I stepped foot into JFK airport, said good-bye to my squadmates, and ended a huge season of my life. While the nearly-year since has not been 11 countries in 11 months, it has been four countries and three states in 11 months, and my nomadic lifestyle hasn't slowed down much.

The third was the two-year anniversary of World Race Training Camp. Last year at this time, I was remarking at how much I'd changed in the year since training camp. This year, I can't even believe where the Lord has taken me.

How faithful He is when we are faithful. I had a dream to travel around the world, to change lives, to meet people where they were at and love the earth to heaven. After this dream came true, I had a dream to invest in the lives of young people and see them grow in their identities in Christ and be awakened into a Kingdom bringing lifestyle. Here I am in Guatemala, stumbling through making this a reality and seeing God's faithfulness in spite of my failings.

I look at the past two years of my life, and my mind is blown. I look at the last 11 months, when I wasn't on the World Race, and yet the Lord gave me the opportunities to travel to Hong Kong & Beijing (AND HIKE THE GREAT WALL), the Amazon-freakin-Jungle, and now to live in Guatemala.

I found a list on this website called 43 Things I made awhile back. I started it back in 2008, and updated it last September. My number one thing was to learn to speak Spanish fluently. While I am far from fluent, my comprehension has increased significantly. My grammar probably resembles that of a three year old, and it usually takes more than one try to get the right conjugation, but the point is I'm trying. And that God is making my dreams come true.

I actually prayed while I was in Peru this summer that the Lord would make me supernaturally fluent in Spanish. Instead, He sent me to Guatemala to work for it the hard way. Why I'm learning Spanish in this season, other than it's always been my heart to, is beyond me. But I know God has a plan in it all.

The point is, I am overwhelmed by what God has done in my life since I really surrendered to Him. January 26, 2008. Since then, He has made many dreams come true::to work as a camp counselor, to study abroad and travel around in Europe, to graduate from a Top 25 University virtually debt-free, to literally circumnavigate the globe, to serve and travel and meet people from all over the world, to grow in my relationship with Him and to just be so utterly blessed by it all.

Sometimes I forget how many of my dreams God has given me. I get focused on what I don't see happening in my life yet:: my dreams of a husband and a family, my dream to start an NGO to provide scholarships, mentorship and discipleship to teenage girls in East Africa, my dream to visit Antartica and evangelize the penguins (okay maybe not that last one, at least the penguins part).

But ultimately in reflection I see God's hand, guiding me and pulling me and leading me to greatness. I know the call on my life is great, and I know His hand is in each step, in each experience, in the good, bad and ugly of the past three-four years and even more. I know as He prepares me for the next season, there is much to be gleaned in this one.

But seriously. Wow. What is this life? I am so blessed...

If there's tears, it must be debrief...

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT

I have no idea what it is about debriefs that turn me into a pile of snot, tears and exposed fears, but this last one was no exception.

On the Race, I cried in pretty much every debrief. I am sure my coaches and squad leaders thought I cried every day (close but not quite). For month 2 debrief, I cried because I felt so unloved and unheard by my team (was I loving and listening to them? Nope... but alas, selfishness is an ugly beast and a constant battle). For month 5 debrief, I cried because of how God has taken something I didn't want to do, and turned it into a month of redemption, love, acceptance and freedom. In our month 8 debrief (post-Africa), I literally sobbed through the whole thing. My squad leader, Kyla, saw it as a release and an acceptance of fresh air and life. My team struggled with the whole speaking life thing, and when we rolled into Ireland, exhausted and worn out with my only celebration that none of us bailed whilst in Africa, our coaches, and all of our squad leaders poured into us, spoke life into us, and gave me hope. At final debrief, I think I had a few tears in my eyes because I was so proud of my team, how far we'd come, how we knew who we are and choose to live in truth, and just how in awe I was of God and what beautiful things he'd made out of us.

This past week in Antigua, the trend continued. I had felt discouraged, disappointed and frustrated with how things were going on the field, but mainly in myself. I felt like a bad leader, like I wasn't fit or worthwhile to hold this position anymore, and they should just send me home and find someone else.

I sat in dinner our last night with the AIM staff who had come to debrief us, and the tears just started rolling. I tried to stop but I couldn't. The dam had broken and the puddles were forming. All my thoughts and fears of failure, of inadequacy, of illegitimacy, of going back to P.B, of everything, really, just starting verbal vomiting over the table.

They (the AIM staff and Julian) stopped me, spoke some life and then it was time to go back to worship. During worship, the puddles started forming again. A World Race team was staying at the same hostel, and we were worshipping with them. The girl sitting next to me hugged me and rubbed my back.

I just felt so broken, like I could never put the pieces back together. I felt like I had really gone too far this time, that there was no way God's grace could actually cover the last 6 weeks, all the hiccups and troubles and anger and frustration, and there was certainly no way my team could ever truly forgive me and show me grace.

Please note, I have NEVER felt that way before. I have always known and believed God's grace really does extend throughout all my sin, all my brokenness, all my messy bits, but this time, I didn't know.

But thankfully, God sent some angels whose names were Jaimie, Ashley and Vivian to minister to my broken spirit, to pray for me and speak life into me, and to ask me what God was telling me.

And here's what He said: You can't do this. But I can do this through you. You are worthy, because I called you. You are worthy of this calling and of this life I have blessed you with. You are my beloved and I do love you. My grace is enough, and you are enough with me.

Which of course made me cry more. But alas, such is life at debrief. Exposure sets you free! Exposure set me free, time and again, and now I can walk in freedom.

PS-My team has forgiven me and we are in such a good place at the moment.

Love and grace and JOY abounding as we bring light and life into Puerto Barrios.

Church-Hopping

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT

I wasn't even planning to blog this week. I felt on the verge of verbal vomiting all over the page, and since the only person that would help is me, I thought I'd hold it in. Last night, however, I had a long, revelatory conversation with my dad and from that comes this blog post.

When I was on the World Race, we frequently worked with pastors or churches, and consequently went nearly exclusively to their churches. So depending on the month and our contact, we would attend a different denomination's churches throughout the region, or just one church the whole month. As a inter-denominationally friendly ministry, Racers get to experience the gamut of denominations in the Christian faith.

Here in Guatemala, we are serving a ministry, not a church. One of our ministries is visiting local churches. What I used to think of as a luxury reserved for suburban Americans, church hopping has been the norm here. Though less than 10% of the population of Puerto Barrios practices Evangelical Christianity, they have enough churches for 100%. We have been to big, Holy Spirit filled, dancing before the Lord with all your might churches and small, conservative village churches. We have been to Methodist churches and Pentecostal churches, churches that met under an overhang and churches that meet in an air-conditioned hotel. We have worshipped with the wealthiest people in Puerto Barrios and the poorest, and everywhere in between. We have worshipped where women had their heads covered with scarves and where women were allowed to wear pants. Basically, we have run the gamut in denominations here in Puerto Barrios (and we still haven't even been to the church down the street from our house...).

I say all this to show the widespread denominationalism in Puerto Barrios, and to use it as a microcosm for the global church.

As Christians, we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. It's not what we do that saves us, but what Jesus already accomplished on the cross. We all have different roles to play in the Body of Christ as the church, and God reveals himself to each of us in his timing and in his appointed portion for each of us.

While some practices and thoughts still strike me as religious in nature, and stemming from the Old Covenant instead of the New Covenant, God has challenged me to see each church, each member of His body, as who they really are: God's beloved, worth dying for. And even though I may not agree with all of what I see, it is ultimately my responsibility to focus on what we have in common and agree upon, rather than the minute differences that tear us apart.

It's those differences that give the enemy a foothold in our churches. He is the master deceiver and is the king of pride. It's that pride, that insistence on needing to be right, that divides us so readily from our brothers and sisters.

Because that's what we are in Christ: brothers and sisters. Co-heirs to the Kingdom. Ministers of reconciliation. And how can we be ministers of reconciliation if we constantly insist we have to be right about the littlest things?

I'll be honest-there's still a lot I don't understand about God, about His word and about His church. But what I do know is focusing on our similarities and celebrating who God has made us to be is more important than whether it's necessary to cover heads in worship or whether it's okay to dance in worship.

Under the New Covenant, I walk in the Spirit and it's based upon the relationship Jesus purchased for me on the cross. It's not about how well I can follow the rules. It's about love-the flow of love from God to me to the people He puts in my life.

A strong desire for unity in the church pulses through my generation. There are multiple movements (Jesus Culture, Bethel, YWAM, AIM/World Race, IHOP, Passion, and so many more) and one thing they all have in common is the overarching desire to be One In Christ.

They are all streams flowing into one river (As my friend Kerry describes here: http://kerrybates.theworldrace.org/?filename=we-are-united-people-with-a-united-cause).

I don't think it's any coincidence that where I was in Peru this summer, and where I am now in Guatemala, and what I've seen in America and around the world, have all been places that struggle with unity in the overall body of Christ.

Lord, break this pride and this need to be right about the little things. Let us see our brothers and sisters for who they really are and what you are shaping us all to be. Jesus, you are coming back and you're coming back for a bride, not a harem, so unify us, God, in the truth and love of who you are and who you are making us to be. Let our generation be one that stands in unity and that reconciles one to another as we all get closer to you. Amen.

Losing My Religion

Wed, 5 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT

This morning, I woke up with a headache. Last night, I had resolved to fast, at least from breakfast and snacks, today, in an attempt to depend more on God. So when I woke up, I was already hungry and tired. Instead of getting up and going to read my Bible, I turned over and went back to sleep, and told myself later, later, later...

Yesterday, I realized I was spending way too much money on snack-y foods that really weren't healthy. So in an attempt to reign myself in, I imposed new policies on myself:: only drink water, no tienda visits, only buy food on your day off, etc.

This morning, the same thing happened. My prayer the last few days has just been to be more intimate with God. I'm having trouble hearing His voice among all the noise (and there is a lot of noise in a house with 25 people, in a country that celebrates and mourns with firecrackers and gunshots, and enjoys their music EXTRA loud), I'm feeling distant from God while on a missions trip, and I just want to be with Him.

So when I didn't get up and spend time with Him, I decided I needed to fast to make myself be more dependent. My head was pounding, but I didn't want to take medicine because I wanted to depend on God. I was punishing myself, in essence, trying to find some impositions because I needed a way to get closer to Him.

What? Because I was having trouble tuning into the Holy Spirit, I was SEEKING RELIGION. I say all the time, it's the relationship, not the religion. It's all about freedom, not the law. It's the new covenant, not the old covenant.

And yet I found myself actually wanting the rules, seeking the law, because at least then I'd know what to do. Instead of finding the time and quiet to listen to God, I was looking to find religion, to put myself back under the old covenant and nullify what Jesus died for, because it seemed easier in this moment this morning to follow rules like I've been taught my whole life, instead of follow the Spirit like I am learning to do.

I want that intimacy with my Abba. I want to follow the Holy Spirit's guiding. I want to be under the new covenant and live out the relationship, freedom, friendship and intimacy Jesus purchased for me on the cross.

But I also want a step by step guide on how to get there. I want to know what to do first, second, third, to cultivate a closer relationship with my Dad. But that's not how it works. It's about being pulled into his intimacy and love and grace and mercy every day, choosing each day to be still and ask God to speak, and then doing what He says.

Here's an accurate acronym for following God: KISS

Keep It Simple, Stupid.

Un dia especial con un nino especial.

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Wednesday, September 28, 2011 started out just like any other day. I woke up and listened to some worship music, prayed a little, read my devotional and got ready for the day. We were headed off to the Special Kids' School. Our students had visited Monday and really enjoyed it. I myself was a little nervous. God is really challenging me in this season to lay aside my preconceptions and personal challenges to minister to His children. First at the elderly home and now at the school.

I have always struggled with knowing how to interact with special kids. At the core, I knew in my head they are just like any other nino and just need love. But my flesh always gets in the way. Part of me feels guilty for having used the unfortunately popular 90s saying "That's retarded" for FAR too long. Part of me just feels uncomfortable because I have such little experience in this area. And part of me starts to question God's goodness: where does being created in His image come into this picture? I know that each of these precious children is created by God and His heart is for them, but how does a good God let His children go through life already struggling from birth because of physical or mental challenges?

(Once again, no answers to this last question...more wrestling...)

As we walked in to the school, one little girl gave each of us a hug and a kiss. She was so excited we were there, it got me more excited to be there. Our students quickly dispersed, finding their amigos from Monday's visit. I just stood around awkwardly until a little boy grabbed my hand and brought me to another little boy who was sitting down, crying. I said Hello, what's your name? The first boy answered for him-it sounded something like Hi-knee... maybe Jaime? No se... I'll call him Jaime. But I went ahead and sat down.

Jaime put his hand on my knee. From a conversation with the other girls after Monday, I understood this is frequently a symbol that they want to sit closer. So I scooted a little closer. He laid his head on my knee and continued to cry a little bit.

In this moment, my heart shattered. Here I was, confused and uncomfortable, and this little boy, who had just met me, is trusting me immediately to comfort him. My eyes filled with tears at this simple gesture and I sat there for a minute.

Was it really that simple? I say it all the time, but was it that simple just to literally be God's hands in this moment and comfort this boy? Not to say ANYTHING, but just be someone for him to feel loved by?

I guess so.

Jaime then got distracted by the scabs on my legs, and to distract him, I let him play with my camera. Here are a few of the choice pictures! Enjoy.

Sometimes I Forget...

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Sometimes I forget...

Sometimes I forget God has blessed me with the opportunities to spend over 19 months of my life not in America, so as to be able to understand people whose first language isn't English well and communicate effectively in any country with a combination of simple language, hand motions and tossing in random phrases in the local dialect, like thank you (I can say thank you in 18 languages...).

Sometimes I forget that God blessed me with the opportunity to travel around the world, gaining street smarts and insight into how to effectively act and integrate into local cultures. (As an American, this means keeping my voice down in public, as we have a tendency to be VERY Loud, and dressing appropriately. It also burdens me to learn as much of the local language as possible so as to appease the populace and win favor with new friends).

Sometimes I forget that absolutely everything I have or ever have had is a blessing-all material objects, all family, friends and experiences, all of it are blessings, not rights or guaranteed.

Sometimes I forget that I didn't always pray believing God is faithful and will answer.

Sometimes I forget I didn't always know who I was in Christ and that it was the process of many months/years to learn to walk in this identity.

Sometimes I forget the wisdom God has both taught me and released in me didn't come overnight, but through time and space and being still with Him.

Sometimes I forget I don't have all the answers and I don't need to.

Sometimes I forget my life before Christ got a hold of me.

Sometimes I forget it's a process and to have patience with myself and those I am in leadership over.

Sometimes I forget to just be still and rest in God's presence.

Sometimes I forget...

But God is faithful to remind me and draw me close again.

Life as Ministry

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Lately I've been trying been trying to pinpoint the moment on the World Race (life) when I stopped doing and started being. I think I found it. I think it was about the moment I decided just to be me. You can read about that moment here.

The reason I've been pondering it is because I know what a difference it made. When I decided life was ministry (thank you Kathryn Gironimi), it freed me to just be. To stop striving and start abiding. It was such a radical difference that I'd forgotten until recently it took me nine months on the race for this shift to occur. I remember being so frustrated in Australia (month 2 of the race) because we didn't have any assigned ministries. I had this fierce desire to meet needs, to be the hands and feet of Jesus, but I wanted to know what was expected of me-what time I needed to be at ministry, what ministry exactly was, how I could best prepare and best serve.

Because I didn't want to fail. I was afraid to fail. I carried this tremendous weight of needing to be the perfect missionary, using every minute of every day so epically wisely that it would be worth my supporters' money for sending me to the nations. When I couldn't do that, I didn't want to do anything. I didn't understand that ministry starts with my relationship with the Lord, and then within the community He has blessed me with, and then with going on and making a difference. I didn't realize the nations or the least of these was sitting right next to me, needing a touch from God.

For the next six months, ministry picked up again, and it was not a question of what was expected. I didn't usually have the schedule for more than a few days if that, but I had relinquished that need of control and fear of failure. I began to trust God was speaking through me even when I didn't know what to say, and that He was moving even if I didn't see it. I also was walking through a LONG season of brokenness and learning to depend more on the Lord than on myself.

To say a paradigm shift occurred in Romania probably doesn't give that day enough credit. The day I decided to just be and live as God is calling me to. When Kathryn coined this phrase, "Life as Ministry," it struck a chord in me. WHY do we make such a big deal about going out to do ministry? It's never been about what we do. It's about who we are and who we listen to. Jesus walked intimately with His papa and did what He told him to do. That's all we are called to as well.

Ministry starts here. It starts now. It's this paradigm shift of who is the nations, who is the least of these. This idea of just being so caught up in God's love and grace and mercy that we can't help but share it with all we meet.

Does it matter if our schedule looks like we only "do" ministry for four hours a day? Answer: No. If I choose to live my life as ministry, then ministry is a 24/7 job (though I'm finding as a leader this is definitely true anyways!).

Life as ministry...it's a beautiful thing.

Answers?

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Sometimes I feel like I need to have all the answers. When we see heart-wrenching things, I feel like I should know the right answer. I'm a leader. I did, after all, travel the world and have my heart break over and over again for the least of these-the poor, the dying, the orphaned and widowed. And yet I still don't have an answer. I still have no solution.

I know what I studied in school. The academic answers of women empowerment, top down or bottom up economic development, microfinance, the importance of education, etc.

But how do you tell a five year old digging through trash to make a living for her family that she should stay in school? How do you tell a woman selling herself on the street that she needs to find a microfinance organization to fund starting a small business? How do you provide for a man starving in a garbage dump? How do you say "I care for the least of these" and let your heart break and then go home to a safe room and a warm meal?

Here's the thing. I know you can. I know it is entirely possible because I've done it for the last 2 years. Somehow I compartmentalize enough to keep living my life, to process or push aside the images of hungry eyes, begging hands, deformed legs, scaly skin, swollen feet, and go on living.

Somehow I push past to sleep at night, because I know worrying won't do any good. I know dwelling on the problems won't actually create solutions. I know we live in a broken, fallen world and a better day is coming.

But until then, I wonder what the balance is. How many pairs of TOMS Shoes do I have to buy to not feel guilty about having so many pairs of flats? How many fair trade chocolate bars will make up for the kids who get their arms cut off when they don't pick enough cocoa plants? How many organic products will make up for the fact that I drink bottled water on a regular basis?

And then I know that's not really it either. It's not about being a humanitarian or being altruistic. It's not about figuring out some magical cosmic balance sheet of consumption and production, of costs and benefits, of money spent and money earned, and how it is spent and how it is earned.

It's about people. It's about the one. It's about finding the least of these and befriending them, showing them the love of Christ. Once again I must wrestle with what it means to have been blessed to be a blessing. Who am I to have received all I have? If God loves all of us equally, why do I walk in the favor and abundance I do and not my brothers and sisters all over the world? Why?

Again...I still don't have the answer. I feel very blessed, but also broken. To have seen what I've seen the last two years and somehow still walk away and be able to go eat McDonald's or Starbucks. I just don't know... but maybe that's okay. It's not about the solution, but about the question. Not about the whole world, but about one person.

I look to how Jesus lived and focused so often on the one-the one sick girl, the one broken woman at the well, the one woman who reached out to touch Jesus and He knew that it was THAT one. In the multitudes, to find the one and love that one well. And you never know who that one may be. And I will probably never know. And that's okay.

Missions is Like Childbirth

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT

I'm starting to realize missions is like childbirth. At least the trips I've gone on lately... the World Race, Peru, and now Guatemala. For much of the process, I am physically uncomfortable, emotionally broken, spiritually challenged, and just plain confused.

I don't understand why people don't just get me (or it). I don't understand the need for overcommunication (though I'm beginning to more and more). I don't understand why God created mosquitoes or ants that bite or horseflies. (Maybe He didn't... sometimes I think they MUST be creatures of the Fall). I don't understand why it becomes more impossibly hot and humid the closer one gets to the equator. I don't understand how being constantly itchy or having weird skin issues grows my character. Basically, I don't understand why it is necessary to be so uncomfortable to grow.

Okay that's a lie. I do understand... God cares more about my character than my comfort. And when I look back on the World Race, I realize I've forgotten much of the challenging stuff. The physical discomfort of sleeping on the floor for 5 months. The questionable health care in developing countries. The awkwardness community sometimes brings. The frustration of never going anywhere alone.

Because the end result is so beautiful. It's like a mom going through childbirth. It is so epically painful, even with an epidural, and yet women keep doing it, because the result of a new life in the world is so epically beautiful.

In the end, it's not about the discomfort or the sickness or the challenges. It's about what all those things turn me into. It's about learning perseverance, about getting in tune with what God's doing in my life and in the lives of others around me.

It's about the glorious transformation that occurs when people start walking in their God-given identities. About how they start to look more and more like Jesus as time goes on. About how iron sharpens iron, and rejoicing in our sufferings because suffering produces perseverance and perseverance character and character hope, which does not disappoint us.

I forget all the hard stuff because I LOVE who God is making me to be. The suffering I forget because I remember the perseverance He is growing in me, which is the character He is building in me. In that, He grows my hope, which will not disappoint. I love the person who came alive on the World Race (once I got over my junk...). I love the woman who is learning to lead with grace and perseverance and hope. I am so thankful for the process, I forget the painful parts and celebrate the victories.

This new life God has given me is so worth the pain and hurt and challenges. I am not sure I would have said that a year ago, but now, I see His victory in my life and how through the pain and challenge He is still growing me. Clearly I'm not done yet because I am back on the field, back to the heat and the itchies and the community living. But this time, I go with an awareness of the process, and the blessing that the process is. As God continues to shape me into the woman He needs me to be, who looks more and more like Christ, I am content to be here, even in my mess.

Because the new life... is so worth it.

Guatemala Top 10! (Week 2)

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT

So I have been in Guatemala for approximately 9 days now. In those nine days, I have prayer-walked through the streets and market, visited a church, an elderly home and the garbage dump, and eaten a lot of arroz y frijoles y tortillas. I have worked on my Spanish (entiendo-si, hablo-mas o meno) and had some good conversations and some hard ones. I have once again realized that it is NOT about having it all together or having all the right answers, but just about being real.

But now, for something slightly more light-hearted. My current top ten favorite things about Guatemala! (In no particular order)

10. I bought real live Skippy Peanut Butter today. (Any country with legitimate peanut butter always wins points in my book.)

9. McDonald's and Pollo Campero are both right down the street (yay junk food! Especially ice cream and air-conditioning)

8. El Mercado (the market)

7. Home-made Flour Tortillas

6. Chiki cookies (I hadn't seen them since visiting Nicaragua in 2008. They are so delicious and so cheap!)

5. McDonald's and the grocery store both have Coca Cola Light (the better version of Diet Coke)

4. The rain (it brings cooler weather and is nice to listen to)

3. Practicing my Spanish (Si, hablo un poco de Espanol)

2. Our amazing contacts and cooks

1. Ministries that break my heart but let God be my hope (to the garbage dump, to the old folks' home)

(PS Photo Credits to my AWESOME Team... especially Jennifer!)

The Ancient Ones

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Today we went to visit El Hogar De Ancians Santo Francisco de Asis (The home of the elderly of St. Francis of Asisi).Walking in, I felt so uncomfortable. I have tried my darnedest for most of my life to avoid these kinds of places. I generally find them far too depressing, even in the US. It's the same reason I avoid funerals and memorial services and hospitals. I don't like death. I don't like being reminded that at one time or another, we will all be there, dying or having died. I know, I know, "Teach us to number our days aright, O Lord..." but really. It is so hard for me.

So walking into this open air home, with the rain falling down, glancing around and seeing people in wheelchairs or leaning heavily on canes, I felt uneasy. I knew in my heart that this was not a place I wanted to be, but my head rationalized, "You need to be the example. You are the leader and you need to get over yourself and your own discomfort to love these people with the love of Christ."

So I did. I walked in and started using my minimal Spanish to communicate with the people. Eventually I sat down at a table with a precious little old lady. I asked her what her name was (Elvira) and how she was doing. A bit later, I asked her about her family-she used to have brothers and sisters, but they had all died, and she had no children. I realized that she had lived through Guatemala's civil war, and I couldn't even imagine what that would have been like.

(<-- Elvira y Mi) She told me she used to sell bread at Rio Dulce, and that it was a nice tourist attraction, where gringos used to come and take her picture and buy her food. She also told me that her birthday was November 15^th, and asked if we would come celebrate with her. (I hope we can).

I found out later that at this home, the residents don't always receive enough food. Many of them are disabled and have been abandoned by their families. For all of them, this is their last resort.

My heart was broken, as all I could do was pray. I prayed in English and then in my broken Spanish. "Padre Nuestro, gracias por mi hermana. Gracias por mi amiga. Dios le bendiga. Bendicciones. Amen."

After praying this prayer for a 96 year old man, he began to speak to me. I couldn't really understand much except that he said something about Mexico and Cubans, I think. But I realized the important part was that someone was there, listening. Even though I couldn't understand, I was a smiling face and a caring heart.

Once again, going where I didn't feel comfortable gave the Lord space to move and show me how to be His hands and feet and smile and listening ears. To press beyond the language barrier because God speaks all languages and His heart is for all people. To let my heart be broken for these people.

Whew be careful what you pray for...

Abba Father

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT

It was a little less than 2 years ago I stood in the training center at Adventures in Missions, overwhelmed by the presence of the Lord. Training Camp for the World Race wrecked me. For the first time in my life, I didn't feel like I had to pretend to have it all together. It was okay to acknowledge past hurts and wounds, and in that acknowledgment find healing and freedom.

One night, someone was praying over us and called God Daddy. I had never thought of God as a Dad. Of course, Heavenly Father, and the example of a perfect father figure , but never something so informal and yet intimate as daddy. My heart was broken as I realized the walls I had put up between me and God because I didn't understand this intimacy. I didn't know how to call Him Daddy or Papa or Abba because I saw him as the old man in the sky, who was sovereign and loving and trustworthy, but I didn't necessarily know how to feel that way about him-as a good, loving Dad.

Needless to say, I was wrecked. I wept and sobbed and asked God for more of that intimacy. And He took me on a pilgrimage into His heart and around His world.

Last week was training camp for the Real Life trip I am leading. And in the same training center where two years ago the idea of calling God Daddy was so foreign and the idea of His love sweeping in like a hurricane and sinking in His grace was so new, I was screaming and shouting and singing with all my might ABBA FATHER. Papa. Daddy. For fifteen minutes straight, just telling God who He is-a good good father. A loving Abba Papa.

This intimacy with my Daddy is new and wonderful. To see Him for who He really is, as a loving, protective, merciful, gracious Dad is so amazing. I am in awe of how far God has taken me in two years, and how far He will continue to take me as I step into more and more intimacy and love.

"He's a good good daddy, with a good good heart. He's a good good father to us."

Here in Guatemala!

Wed, 7 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT

I am fast approaching the period of time where I will no longer be able to brag about where I was this time last year. It's September now, meaning last year at this time I was in Romania with Team Unshakeable, being challenged to actually walk in all the Lord has given me. To be a prayer warrior. To be creative. To step up and organize a worship night (Yay Christmas in September). To know my identity and my gifting and to choose into that EVERY SINGLE DAY. I am chuckling at myself because this time last year my squad leader and I committed to praying together every day-I think I actually prayed with her maybe two or three times. Oops.

But now, a year later, I am in a season of my life where I absolutely have to believe truth and walk in it. How can you lead people if you are not leading by example? I have to pray. Where we are in Guatemala-Puerto Barrios-is a very dark place spiritually. But it has been said over our team that we walk in abundance and that we will bring abundance to Guatemala (and not just because there are 23 of us!). So I will pray for my team, for our contacts, for this city. I will speak an abundance of life and joy and peace and grace and unity over us.

Through the training camp process (where I've been the last week), God has been so good at showing me where He has grown me and how He has prepared me for this season. I KNOW if you had told me this time last year I would be leading a real life trip this fall, I would have chuckled at you. The funny part is people on my squad were applying to lead real life trips, to squad lead, etc, and I was still stuck in this lie of unworthiness and not accepting that if God calls you to it, He equips you for it and guides you through it. But I broke that off, busted through it, and now I get to help others do the same.

I can see how God has prepared me. I am starting to see why this is my team, and especially why these 15 girls (yes, 15!) and 6 men are here and why we (Julian and myself) are their leaders.

I can see how the time at home WAS NOT wasted. I can see how my trip to Peru opened my eyes to God's calling on my life. I am seeing more and more how each part of the last seasons of my life has prepared me for this time. I was just listening to The Anthem (I know, again) by Jake Hamilton and once more-Wake Up Child (God totally re-woke me up), It's your time to shine, You were born for such a time as this.

What is currently blowing my mind is that the Lord already knew I'd be here. Last year when I stared at my squadmates applying to lead trips and thinking enviously I'd like to do that but I'm not ready...that God knew I would be here. I don't think I was ready last fall. I needed to still walk through some brokenness, some healing and some more freedom (always more freedom!). I needed to receive the wisdom to lead this, to walk through it myself. But now, I am here and ready or not, here it goes. I am excited, I am in awe of how God has moved, and I am trusting He will continue to do so. So let's go!

I Have No Five Year Plan

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT

I Have No 5 Year Plan

Today marks the 9 month anniversary of coming back from the World Race. 9 months?!? Wow. People have babies in that amount of time. People get married. Major life changes can happen in nine months... And while I definitely have not stayed in one place for the entirety of the 9 months, I am still kind of in awe that it has been that much time. Some days it feels like yesterday, others like it never even happened.

And last night I lay in bed reflecting. Reflecting on the last nine months, thinking forward to the next four, the next nine, the next year. I've known for awhile I don't have a five year plan. When I was on the race, I had the notion of doing teach for America for 2 years and then a 3 year master's in international development and social work. The fact that I went to Peru this summer and not the infamous TFA institute should clarify where that notion went... nowhere. BUT Peru was awesome and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

So anyways. I was laying there last night, ruminating. Thinking where I'd like to be in five years. Part of me is hoping to be married in five years, though this constant gallivanting throughout the globe probably makes that more challenging than I'd like to admit. I think it might be nice to have finished a master's program by then (though I think my plan of just being such an incredible human being that USC would have no choice but to give me an honorary doctorate with which I would be able to put Dr. Glenalyn Hunt on my business card without spending the next 6 years in school is totally valid). It would probably be good to be a little settled somewhere, and maybe not still living at home. I hope the organization God gave me a vision for is more than just a mission statement in my head and actually working to change a couple of lives (or more than a couple).

In Ukraine last year, month 11 of the race, I wrote out a prayer and some goals. I wrote some of the biggest lessons I've learned and what I wanted when I got home. I had something of a plan...but I had no accountability. So now nine months have passed and I'd say if I were generous with myself I've made strides in 3-4 of 9 of these goals.

But you know what I'm realizing? That's okay. I was aware of the choices I was making, and I chose to make them anyway. And while I know God used the last nine months, I see why some months were better than others and why my plans were derailed but God's plans prevailed.

Nine months ago, I would not have believed you if you told me I would lead a trip to Peru and have an amazing, life-changing time. I probably would have doubted that I would be leading a Real Life trip and leaving in a week. I would have argued that I am still such a mess, how could God possibly use me?

I'm not sure why it's taken me this long to realize God usually uses MESSY people. I look no further than the disciples that Jesus hand-picked to spend three years with and use to build his church and feel so much better. Peter was the epitome of a HOT MESS for most of his ministry alongside Jesus, and yet that's who Jesus built His church on. Paul was persecuting the Christians and soon enough became one of the persecuted as God got a hold of his life. I figure it's because you KNOW God is the one responsible and He gets the glory because He is the one that changes the lives.

So yeah. No five year plan have I. If you had told me 5 years ago as I went off to my first day of classes at USC that I would be the person I am now, I would not have believed you. My five year plan from undergrad went to pot about the second semester when I realized that what I wanted to pursue in my studies and in my life was not conducive to a normal lifestyle. It continued to change and change and change and now I sit, five years out from high school, so thankful for the changes that happened.

I had the opportunity to sit and chat with two of my favorite teachers from high school today. It didn't really seem like it'd been five years (or 7) since I sat in their classrooms, learning and developing skills that I still use today (my ability to write a cogent essay in 45 minutes or less, for example, or to crunch out a blog in 20 minutes... it's shorter than an AP World History paper...).

I'm not really sure where I am going after December 26^th, 2011. But I know God will open the doors for the next step. Until then, I am trusting He has a plan. Until then, I am so pumped to serve as a Real Life leader in Guatemala this fall! Until the next BIG step is revealed, I am content to wait and know God already has it in mind and it will be revealed when I can handle it.

Yeah I think if you'd told me five years ago I'd be where I am now, I would have been scared to get out of bed in the morning. But now, boldly I wake up each day, knowing I am in God's hands and that He has good things for me. And trusting the next five years hold good things too. Amen.

I leave for Leader Training in Georgia in nine days! If you feel led to support this next trip, please click this link:: https://www.adventures.org/give/donate.asp?giveto=worldrace&desc=For%20Glenalyn%20Hunt&tuid=9529907

Also, if you would like to commit to being a prayer partner, please e-mail me at Glenalyn.h@gmail.com.

THANK YOU!!

A Small Piece of God's Heart

Sun, 14 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT

This is what I shared at church today. Kind of. :)

About this time a year ago, I was in Uganda on the World Race. It was my turn to give the word and I asked God what I should say. He told me to tell them who they are. What I'd been learning up to that point and what I am still learning is my identity in Christ and what that means. What it means to walk in the authority God is giving me and live out His dreams and desires for me. As He gives me more and more of His heart, I am realizing His desire for His children to wake up into their God given identities and do what He has created them to do: to love God and love people, to live out of their identities and not their inferiorities, and to passionately pursue the dreams He gives them.

This message is the same for the people of Uganda as it is for the people of Ukraine as it is for the people of the United States. God is the same throughout all of time, space and place, and His heart for His children to know Him is the same. That is probably the biggest thing I've seen God moving in around the world, and where my passions and the needs of this world intersect.

I want to see this generation raised up as one believing the truth about their identity in Christ and walking boldly in the Lord's will for their life. I have been so blessed to be given this truth and the opportunities the last two years to learn what it means and walk it out-to be Christ with skin on to a hurting world.

It was on my recent trip to Peru that the Lord gave me more clarity in my overall calling. I had an amazing time pouring into, praying for and discipling the 10 high school students on my team. I have always had a settled conviction that what we do now matters for the next generation. Maybe it was being raised in the home of a journalist and a teacher, but I clearly see why it matters to care about what is going on now as to how it will affect the future, and to educate and encourage the next generation into greatness.

About a week after returning from Peru, I was listening to a sermon called Chazown by Craig Groeschel. It is also an awesome book and talks about asking God for His specific vision for your life. I had been getting discouraged, feeling the dreams I had for seeing the Asian countries of Thailand and Hong Kong come alive in Christ, seeing revival in America, starting with the youth, and starting an organization in East Africa for young women's university scholarships and leadership development were so utterly disparate that they couldn't all be from the Lord.

And God gave me a vision statement for my life that incorporated all three-he's so clever like that: You are to pour into the next generation, awaken them into their God-given identities and talents, and help provide the resources they need to bring kingdom and change the world.

So it is with that unified vision statement that I am taking the next step forward. I am leading a four month missions trip to Guatemala this fall with 20 college students. I am so excited to see what God does and how lives are changed, both American and Guatemalan, as we passionately pursue the Lord and all He has put on our hearts.

Hey! Guess what?!?

Fri, 12 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT

I recently returned from leading an amazing 3 week missions trip to Peru with high school students and while there, God really opened my eyes to the call on my life: to see the next generation awakened into their God-given identities and talents, and help provide the resources they need to bring kingdom and change the world. This call is a global one, extending not only to the youth of America but the youth of Africa and Asia too. However, I am taking it one step at a time, with the next step being another in leadership.

About a week after I said good-bye to my ninos, as I affectionately called the students in Peru, God gave me the opportunity to lead a Real Life trip to Guatemala this fall, August 31-December 14. Real Life is Adventures in Missions' college aged ministry, sending 18-22 year olds on semester long missions trips. I am so passionate about seeing the up and coming generation come alive in Christ, walk in freedom and in the Spirit, and make the calling on their lives reality. I feel blessed and humbled by this opportunity, and I know it will continue to be life-changing, as God works in and through me to accomplish His good purposes.

While in Guatemala, we will be in Puerto Barrios, on the Caribbean coast, working with Shofar Ministries. Our team will have several ministry opportunities that range from manual labor to preaching and performing dramas in schools and churches. We will have the amazing chance to work with street children and visit an orphanage. There will be opportunities to bring food and clothing to those living in the local garbage dumps or in the mountains as well. As a leader, I will have the additional ministry of mentoring and discipling approximately 20 college students for four months, which I am very excited to do.

First, I want to first say thank you! Without my supporters and your faithful giving, I would not be able to go on these trips, and so I am so thankful for you.

Second, I welcome your prayers. I believe the nation of Guatemala will be changed as will the students I am leading because of God taking us there, but I know prayer makes things happen and I am so thankful for you standing in the gap and praying for me and my team.

Third, I need to raise $1500 for this trip. Because AIM is a non-profit organization, they ask leaders to raise $1500 to cover the costs on the field.

I firmly believe God has called me to this as my next step, and if you feel led to support me in prayer and/or financially, that would be amazing. You can donate online through my blog, Click Please Support Me! or via check. **Email me for a support card!**

Thank you so much for your support, encouragement and prayers. They really do make a world of difference.

The War's Already Won

Sun, 31 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMT

"Life's a fight of wrong and right, and it's tearing me apart. Oh but what the cross has done. Yeah the world will try to battle for my heart, but the war's already won."

I took an hour this morning to re-read some of my previous blogs, mainly from the race. I marveled at what I wrote, in terms of the truth I was claiming over myself. I noticed how the months that tended to be drier were less soaked in truth and grace and more in a perpetual sense of "why am I not good enough?" Of being so honest in my failings that I forgot to celebrate the victories. Because there were victories. I think mostly of my time in Africa... I was so done day 10 in Kenya... I had snotted and cried and complained to anyone who would listen about how homesick I was, how I couldn't believe we still had six months, etc etc. BUT I DIDN'T GIVE UP. I sure as heck didn't feel like a warrior, but I wouldn't give in to my own desires. I knew God had called me and even though I didn't know how to fight, and even though I wanted to sit down (both on a toilet and metaphorically...), I kept trying to stand.

But I made it. I didn't believe it, when it was over, that I had done it, that I had lived three months in Africa and somehow, in spite of all my stuff, still made something of an impact. Probably not what would have happened if I could have just stood in the victory that's already been won... but now that's getting ahead of the story.

I was reminded this morning of how far I went in the last three months of the race. I learned how to stand, how to walk in my identity, how to do life as ministry. I learned it wasn't about numbers of people accepting the gospel but about how I portrayed the gospel through the way I loved my team and contacts. I also realized this had to do more with the people I was with than where I was or what I was doing. My team was stirred into a new level of action in Romania and that propelled us for the last two months of the race. People called out the greatness in us, which inspired us to call out the greatness of ourselves and each other. We started believing and walking in this greatness, and all of a sudden, something clicked.

And then I came home.

Home. This promised land of flowing water and flushing toilets, of Diet Coke and Starbucks, of big beds and big couches, of family, friends, and comfort. While the warning "God cares more about your character than your comfort" had been my mantra for much of the race, I was enveloped in comfort, in ease, in rest that rapidly devolved into laziness. With no one in my day to day life to remind me of who I am, what God did, and how He still has plans for me, the days of rest slipped into weeks of apathy, until finally one day I got an e-mail from the World Race, asking for leaders to lead summer trips.

I knew I wasn't okay. I knew this wasn't the life God had been calling me to on the race. I knew under the guise of "life as ministry" I had let the truth I had fought for on the race slip away, leaving me feeling unmotivated and empty. So I figured, why not? Take a step forward, if you get it, God's opened the door, if not, at least you are moving. It is easier to steer a moving car than a parked one. (Yesterday in my devotional this metaphor was there, along with this idea that Paul's commitment to the lifestyle of going put him in the place to hear the specific directions God had for him. This is key.)

A few weeks later, I was accepted to lead an Ambassador Trip to the Amazon Jungle. Talk about character over comfort. Sleeping pads, bucket showers (or river-bathing), pit toilets, and a whole lot of things that bite (snakes, spiders, tarantulas, horseflies and of course, mosquitoes). But I said, Yes, sounds good.

Fast forward two and a half months and I am in Gainesville, GA for leader training. I met Alana and Rich, my co-leaders, and we bonded pretty much instantly. Our mutual loves of Jesus, ice cream and music were enough to solidify an understanding that this was going to be an epic trip. As we learned and laughed together, I firmly understood God had set us up for success and I was so excited. Through different sessions of teaching and worship, things that had sat dormant in me for the last seven months began to rise up to the surface. This idea of being a fighter, of being a warrior, of knowing God had called me to this time and purpose, gave me such passion and excitement for the month ahead.

In my devotional during leader training, I read about this idea of fighting from victory. We know the war is already won. We know that Jesus died for our sins but was also resurrected into life everlasting. WE KNOW that when we invite Christ into our lives, we become one with Christ, both dying to sing and being raised into the resurrection life.

But so often we stay on the side of the cross where we are weeping for the loss of Christ and out of our own sinfulness. We forget the veil is torn now, that we are invited in to be co-heirs with Christ, to be hidden in Christ, to be wrapped in our Loving Father's arms. That while the pursuit of righteousness is still necessary, it now comes from an understanding of whose we are.

If we could learn to live out of our identity in Christ instead of our inferiorities, we would learn to stand in victory, knowing God has given us what we need to fight for Him. One of the key passages for this trip, at least for me, was Ephesians 6:10-20. It is the Armor of God. I knew the importance of the armor of God, I had gotten into the habit of praying it on myself every day, to stand firm in the victory of the Lord, but it wasn't until a few weeks ago that I started to understand-this is God's armor. Like the same that He uses to fight with, He is inviting us to partake in, to wear, to adopt His shield of faith as our own. To wield His word as our sword. To stand firm in His truth, and righteousness and peace. To wear the Helmet of Salvation. If this doesn't rock your world...I'm not sure what will.

"Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand." I did some Bible Dictionary searching in Barnes and Noble the other day. The word to stand here indicates an idea of steadfastness, of standing firm no matter what is thrown at you, and continuing to fight from victory, assured of the ultimate outcome, walking in the authority that comes from being a co-heir in Christ.

"Life's a fight of wrong and right, and it's tearing me apart. Oh but what the cross has done. Yeah the world will try to battle for my heart, but the war's already won." (Battle by Chris August)

Through the cross, we are victorious. It is the daily choice of living in that victory. I learned a lot the last month, but this is an idea God has been trying to drive through my stubborn, broken self for awhile now, and I am finally starting to get it. Not a victim of circumstance, but a victor over circumstance. Not an apathetic person floating along, but a convicted person walking in the knowledge of the calling God has on my life, and actively pursuing that as the Spirit leads.

A Whole New Hemisphere

Sat, 30 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMT

So I got home on Tuesday at 12am from an incredible month of ministry, community and growth. It was truly life-changing and I am still processing through all the amazing things the Lord did.

In the meantime, I would like to introduce you to two of the students and the AMAZING song they wrote to summarize our trip. Please enjoy the musical stylings of Brittany and Hattie as they perform, "A Whole New Hemisphere."

Worthy to be Loved

Sat, 2 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Lonely. Outcast. Socially awkward. Stupid. Not humble enough. Unworthy of love. Depression. Anxiety. Alone. Friendless. Worthless. Not talented enough. Not enough.

This is a small sampling of the lies that had been spoken over our students and that they'd been believing. After grappling with their stuff for at least 24 hours, today was the day to deal with some of it.

To let go of weight they were carrying and let God have it. To choose to bring it to God in surrender. To smash the lies and declare new truths over themselves.

Truths like::

Worthy. Loved. Called. Chosen. Princess. Righteous. Royalty. Precious. Compassionate. Enough. Forgiven and freed. Invincible with God. Capable. Worthy of love.

This is the cry of my heart: that a generation would know who they are in Christ, that they can walk in freedom and truth, that they would know they are worthy and loved.

I wanted to lead this trip to the jungle because I wanted to show these students who they are in Christ. It is day 3, and they are already starting to get it. I cannot wait to see what happens in the next few weeks. God is working in them so much and I just feel so blessed to get to be a part of it.

In other news...training camp has been going amazingly. I have clicked really well with my fellow leaders and God has definitely been in the details in putting us together and giving us the team we have.

(ME and Co-Leader ALANA)

We leave Monday morning bright and early for Peru, so please be praying for traveling mercies.

Please be praying for a hedge of protection around our students and us as leaders. God has revealed to us the need to be Amazonian warriors-to stand in the gap and fight for our students and ourselves. As always, God is so good because He has been teaching me how to fight for myself and how to fight for others, so now is the time to be putting it to the test.

I feel so incredibly blessed and honored to have this opportunity and I am so excited to see what God is going to do in the jungle and in our hearts.

Blessings and love,

Glenalyn

I also have managed to have some fun, like visiting the original Chick-Fil-A::

Off to the jungle...

Mon, 27 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Well in a week. Today leader training starts for the second round of Ambassador trips. I am currently in Buckhead, Georgia staying with my friend and squad leader Liz.

Firstly, I apologize for the complete lack of blogs the last two months. In that time span, I worked at a large retail store for five weeks before quitting to be an after-school program teacher at my church's preschool. The last two weeks have functioned as a full-time day camp, so I have been pretty busy working. Plus Leyna my teammate and friend from the World Race came to stay for awhile, so she was here too. And I was celebrating my birthday.

All in all that list of busy-ness is really a list of blessings. I am so thankful to have a job that I really like (I'm basically a camp counselor-which was probably my favorite job ever! RWC 08), to have friends that will celebrate with me multiple times (you know who you are), and to just have friends and family to do life with.

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Quick anecdote: Last year on the World Race, we were in Kenya the month of my birthday. I (only half-jokingly) suggested they call me princess all month. They declined and resumed calling me Grenaryn. But they did take me out to dinner in Nairobi at a nice Italian restaurant, and we all had a great time that night and the next night at Carnivore. It was definitely a memorable birthday-how often do you celebrate a birthday in Africa?

This year, I was super blessed to be able to celebrate with my mom's side of the family, my dad's side of the family, two groups of friends with really delicious meals, and a nice dinner at home. I love having so many birthday celebrations because I love spending quality time with people, having good, fun conversations over delicious food, making memories and enjoying life together. So basically it was a month of celebrating. which was awesome.

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NOW I am preparing to co-lead a trip to the Amazon. This kind of blows my mind. If you had told me four months ago I would be going to the jungle in a week, I would probably have laughed at you. God sure does have a sense of humor. But really, I am so excited for this opportunity.

Prayer requests: We have leader training June 27-30, and the students come June 30. Pray for soft hearts and a readiness to learn and experience all that God has in store in the next week and in the next month.

We travel to Peru in a week-prayers for safe travel and travelling mercies are very appreciated.

Our ministry will likely be working with kids and youth, but who really knows? We are open to where God wants us and the team He has formed with our students, so I am letting Him take the lead.

Boldness, strength, reliance on God, unity, compassion, openness to His moving, wisdom, discernment, joy, an adventuresome spirit, a willingness to serve. Those are some of the things I've been praying for, and would welcome you joining me in them.

I am so thankful for all of you, your prayers, encouragement and support. Know that God uses you in my life in a powerful way and I am so blessed through your lives.

Blessings & Love,

Glenalyn

Good Friday Musings

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Today, while walking the dog with my mom, I was thinking about last year's Good Friday. Easter was almost a month earlier last year, so we were still in month 3 on the World Race, in Manila. The night before Good Friday, half the squad went to a little restaurant by our house and parked on the road where hundreds of Filipinos were marching up the hill to the church. You may have heard of this cultural phenomenon-when certain individuals throughout parts of the Philippines will enact parts of Christ's sacrifice through flogging or even being nailed to a cross (not unto death, thankfully). Though not sanctioned by the Catholic Church, these practices still occur.

So last year on Good Friday, we had seen people walking up the hill and some being tortured (their choice!). The ladies outside our house in the Philippines had been singing for much of Holy Week in droning voices (we were thankful when their sound equipment stopped working. Answered prayer...). Everywhere, essentially, were signs of the predominantly Catholic and religious influence on the people of the Philippines.

This year, I'm at home. I have heard and been wished a "Happy Good Friday." I am not sure about this statement. Yes, I am thankful for Good Friday and what was accomplished on this day around 2000 years ago. And yes, I find joy in salvation and thankfulness that Jesus was willing to pay for my sins.

Good Friday isn't good because it makes us happy. It is good because it gives us freedom and forgiveness from sin and direct access to God our Loving Father.

But here's the conviction in my Spirit I can't shake. I read earlier this week, in Victory Over the Darkness, that too often we as Christians live and stay stuck on Good Friday-on the crucifixion element of our faith. Yes, it was a necessary sacrifice and yes we are thankful for it. Jesus died for our sins, was crushed and persecuted for us, took our deserved place in the wrath of God. It is hard and sad but good and necessary and I am thankful, so thankful, for Jesus and His sacrifice, and for the atonement of my sins.

I can only imagine what Saturday was like for the disciples and believers back on the original day between Friday and Sunday. Though Jesus had predicted His resurrection, though He has told them death wouldn't win, though He had demonstrated His power over death through the raising of Lazarus, I have to think as the disciples hid out and waited, they probably doubted. They questioned. They knew Jesus was dead and buried. I wonder if they were disappointed...or confused.

But we must remember what comes on Sunday. He isn't dead. He is risen! The grave is empty! The resurrection and the conquering of the enemy and the victory over death. The second part of the holiest weekend on the calendar is so crucial.

It's really the whole story that we need. Yes, Jesus died for our sins, and yes, this is a necessary and saving part of the Gospel.

But the other part is living empowered in the resurrection life of Jesus. The other part is (7 weeks later, after Pentecost, 2000 years ago, now it's available all the time) living alive and in victory with the Holy Spirit. Sin has no hold on us, and we can walk in freedom. God showered us in His grace at the cross, and now He gives us the power we need to live awakened into our identity in Christ and in Jesus' ultimate victory.

So yes, on Good Friday, we remember Christ and His sacrifice and we are thankful.

And on Sunday, we are praising God because Jesus is alive. We serve the LIVING GOD who has victory over death and invites us into a living relationship with Him. We live in FREEDOM and in the knowledge that if our God is with us, whom then shall we fear?

Let us live alive in Christ, freed from death and shame and guilt and darkness, walking confidently as God's children in victory in Christ.

Amen.

Follow-Up on My Next Adventure

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Here are some answers to questions you may have, including what we will be doing, where my heart is, what goals/expectations I have (with the understanding God will probably blow them out of the water!), and support needs (both financially and in terms of prayer).

Please let me know if you have additional questions! If I know the answer, I would love to answer them.

Q 1: Can you describe the Amazon mission a bit more - maybe some of the things it does, the lives it touches?

A 1: The trip is to the city of Nauta, Peru, located on the Amazon River, and surrounding areas. We will be partnered with an American contact who has been living and working in the region for over five years. Adventures in Mission's main goal is to bring the kingdom of God to wherever its missionaries are. With that in mind, the trip is tailored to the needs of the local people and effective ways to reach them. We will likely do Vacation Bible School, Evangelical Outreach, preaching in churches, and training and equipping local Christians to further the spread of the Gospel. We may also do manual labor for those in need, sports evangelism, orphan outreach or feeding the poor. We will seek to be the hands and feet of Jesus to those we meet, through structured activities as well as where God leads us to meet needs.

Within these activities, however, my main goal is to be a leader and discipler for the students God has entrusted me with. As one of three leaders, I will be responsible for cultivating an open, loving environment for the students. While there will be many needs we can seek to meet on this trip, my primary focus is on the students and seeing them come alive in their identity in Christ and their purpose in bringing the kingdom of God to wherever they are.

Q 2: What are your goals for this mission trip?

A 2: My goals for this trip are to pour into the lives of the students on the trip, grow in my leadership abilities, learn and practice the discipline of discipleship, and love those we meet, giving them an encounter with the love of Jesus in each interaction. I will have the opportunity to serve the students as one of their leaders, to love and encourage them so they are equipped to pour out into the community we are serving in, and to love selflessly. Though many people have told me they see leadership potential in me, I have not been given many opportunities to practice. I am excited for these three weeks to live out what I have learned and experienced, and to lead these students as God leads me. I am passionate about seeing these students learn and live in their identity in Christ, and the freedom this provides.

I am also looking forward to loving the locals we meet and work with, especially the kids. On my previous trips to Latin America, there have always been a couple of kids who will completely steal my heart. I imagine that happening again.

Q 3: How does this mission reflect the love of Jesus, and His call for us to share his love?

A 3: The primary goal is to love all those we meet. There is a line in the song "Changed" by Aaron Niequist that says, "We've been empowered to love the world to heaven." I love that idea. Through Jesus, we are loved and cleansed and empowered to love others. The love of Jesus is manifested in many ways-through awakening people to their identities and freedom in Christ, through feeding the orphans, the widows and the poor, to caring for the addicted and broken, and through sharing love with people every day-random acts of kindness and generosity, and selfless giving of resources, including time. I see this trip as an opportunity to live empowered in the love of Christ, to lead the students into the same empowerment through the grace and love of Jesus, and to love all those we meet in such a way that brings the kingdom of God to them and shows them a new life of love, grace, freedom and truth.

4. What are your expectations for this trip? Do you have other needs for this trip (including financial)?

I expect to see God move in new ways, and to see my students become more aware of who they are in Christ and how they can impact their world. I expect to grow in my servant leadership abilities and in my relationship with the Lord. I expect to be changed to look more like Christ and refined in my calling and next steps.

My needs for the trip are pretty simple. They boil down to prayer support, financial support and encouragement. I need to have a solid prayer team for this trip, that I know will be lifting us up to the Lord daily-that we would be hearing from God on what to do, that we would lead in wisdom and grace, that the hearts of those we meet will be soft, and that the love of Jesus will be at the core of all our motivation and action.

In terms of financial support, the trip cost is $1875. This includes roundtrip airfare from Atlanta to Peru, room and board, and transportation costs. It does NOT include roundtrip airfare from California to Atlanta, gear costs, insurance or money for ministry activities that require additional supplies beyond ourselves and a Bible (like supplies for vacation bible school or special activities or treats with our students). I priced airfare yesterday and it will likely be around $450 to and from Atlanta. Additionally, I have talked with my co-leaders and we would like to have some extra support money for ministry activities on the field (whether with the locals or our students). I am planning to support raise for these additional costs as well, but the $1875 comes first.

In terms of encouragement, I know there are family, friends and teammates who will be reaching out and lifting me up in prayer and in love. I am truly appreciative of them, because their love and encouragement make it that much easier for me to do my work in this season.

For more information on the trip itself, visit: http://adventures.org/trips/mission-trips.asp?locID=36&tripid=3625.

For more information on me, my heart and where God has taken me lately and continues to lead me, visit: http://glenalynhunt.theworldrace.org

To donate, please click here or click on the left-hand tab that says Support Me! Though it says for the World Race, it will work for this trip, I promise!

Thank you so much!!

Blessings & love!

My next Adventure...

Mon, 18 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Many blogs have been swirling around my head for weeks now. I'll be honest-God puts them on my heart, and I think about them and start to write them in my head, but the transition from head/heart to keyboard to Internet tends to fall short.

I am going to break this trend, starting with this blog, which will introduce multiple ideas and then splinter into different blogs. But bear with me, have patience, and I will try to show/tell what I have been up to in the nearly five months since being home, what God has stirred in my heart, and my next step, for now.

So in an effort to practice full disclosure, let us rewind to November 22, 2010. I arrived back at Oakland International Airport with an amazing reception from my family. The next day, my mom treated me to a meal at Panera (my favorite American eatery) and we went to Target. I was determined not to have a "world race style" melt-down in the store, and instead found it tremendously comforting that things were in order, no one called me names, and I got in and out of the store with exactly what I wanted.

Two days later, it was Thanksgiving, which was glorious and delicious. And due to jetlag, I went to sleep long before our family went home.

The next day, I was wide awake and ready for Black Friday shopping. Eager to embrace all things American, I went to JC Penney's and then Kohl's a few days later, and came out with a great new wardrobe, perfect for the holiday season. (Just stick with me...)

A week after Black Friday, I went to LA/USC for a week to reconnect with my college buddies. This was a great time of fellowship and sharing and processing. I also got to meet up with my friend Tiffany-who is currently on the World Race. She gave me an opportunity to speak life into her and encourage her and share some of what I had learned. It was a great, though brief, conversation. (more on this later).

Then it was the holiday season. I started working at a small company doing social media marketing (about 2.5 weeks after returning to America). In retrospect, this may have been too soon to start working, but I was eager to do something-I don't rest well... The season flew by and was wonderful to share with family and friends.

Soon enough, I went to Vegas with my friends for MLK weekend. Then a few weeks later it was time for my trip to Hong Kong/China to visit my BFF, Sanam. (You can read about that here). Then a few weeks after that, I went to Denver to visit my friend from undergrad and check out the University of Denver as a potential grad school.

So it has been kind of non-stop-traveling at least once a month, working, connecting with people, sharing about my trip, and all the while trying to be a "normal" American, going through "re-entry*," but feeling a stirring in my Spirit that THIS wasn't enough and wasn't fully where I needed to be.

(*I think re-entry is an interesting idea. My friend told me the other day it takes a year to move on from the World Race. I am not sure what this means. I do know if it means not living like I did on the race...well I'm not sure that's something I want. I liked the person I was by the end of it, liked this girl totally alive and free in Christ and wanting to change the world-one person at a time. More on this soon)

So back-track to early March. This stirring in my Spirit, this unsettled feeling, this discontent. Wondering if I had changed at all, wondering what more there was, because the current life I was living didn't leave me feeling fulfilled or satisfied.

An e-mail came from the World Race, suggesting that if you were looking for the "more," think about applying to lead a summer trip. I sat in my desk at work, and thought, "Why not?"

You see, one thing God set in my heart on the Race and has been stirring in my Spirit since I got home was seeing people come alive and walk in freedom in Christ. To see lives abandoned to the Gospel and to God. To see my fellow Americans get over themselves and dig into God and the lives He has for them.

"Leading a trip this summer would be a way to do that," I thought. So I went ahead and applied, interviewed and waited, praying the whole time, "God, I trust you. If this is what you have, then open the door. If it's not, then shut it and show me something new."

The door has since swung open and I have been blessed with the opportunity to co-lead an Ambassador trip (AIM's trips for high school aged students) to....

...............................................Wait for it..................................................

THE AMAZON JUNGLE, PERU.

I am so incredibly excited about this opportunity. I know it is a step forward into the calling God has on my life, which He is revealing day by day. I know parts of it-including the passion and desire to see people awakened to their identity in Christ and to live in freedom-and to connect American Christians with ministries in the US and around the world to make a difference that they are passionate about. I had a year around the world with individuals who I believe will be some of the most impactful of our generation, and I want to help connect them with people I meet who are interested and passionate about the same things. (More on this later too).

I know there will be more blogs to come, and I will explain more about my trip as I learn more, and more about all of the above. I just wanted to share what I've been up to and where I'm going next.

The essential details:

I will be co-leading this trip with a fellow WR alum, Alana Serna and an Ambassador trip alum, Rich Brooks.

The trip starts and ends in Georgia, with training camp and debrief. I am excited to reconnect with my WR buddies living there!

I will be gone June 27-July 24, with three weeks in-country.

I will be support raising for this trip, with a goal of $1875. If you feel led to financially support me, I would love that! Every dollar counts, as does every prayer!

CLICK HERE TO DONATE!

Or use the Please Support Me tab on the left-hand side of my blog.

(Yes, it says, The World Race, but it will work, I promise! Thanks!!)

I also need to build a prayer team for this trip. If you are willing to pray for me and my team, I welcome that and would love to know!

Thank you for your support, prayers, and love! Please let me know if you have any questions & stay tuned for more blogs coming soon!