hey jbay!

hey guys! it’s been a few months and a lot has happened…i’d love to fill you in!

last time we talked was in november…we left off in cambodia, right? my team had been doing village ministry and the squad was about to split off into separate ministries for a month. yeah….i think that’s where we were. 

during that month, my team stayed in siem reap and continued the ministry we began with, meaning by the end of our time in cambodia we had spent around 2 and 1/2 months in the same 4 villages. time in the villages was sweet and hard and hot…very hot. my team developed sweet relationships with the children and the believers within the villages, encouraging them as well as giving each other the gift of fellowship. it was sweet to watch the team step into the newness and discomfort that is doing ministry overseas for the first time. 

As for myself, this month in which the squad was split gave me a lot of time and space to pray into the team and assess what they needed individually and as a team. We ushered in this month alone with hard conversations that led to vulnerability and growth. honestly, that month was messy. we had hard conversations & beautiful encounters with the Lord & tears & new inside jokes & lice. as i said in my last blog, this season of life and my role as a squad leader consists of holding a lot of grief and joy at the same time. a lesson i’m always thankful to learn.

after a month apart, the squad came back together just in time to celebrate christmas! it was sweet to come together and share testimonies of how the Lord moved in cambodia and in each other during our time apart. teams came back more unified and with a greater understanding of who the Lord was and who He created them to be. Praise Him!!

The next month we spent all squad again, my team stayed at the same ministry, but this time other teams would join us. It was really special to be able to do ministry alongside others from the squad, sharing with them people and places that had grown to mean alot to us. during this month, my team also stayed a week in one of the villages we had been serving in, roka. we slept in tents at the local elementary school, spending our days doing our usual ministry and our nights showing the Jesus film to the kids. the pace of this life was slow and sweet. all of our time was spent with each other, the Lord and/or the kids from the village. the fruit of our time there became evident through the smiles of the children who would knock on our tent doors every morning, and the hearts softened and opened by the Jesus film. This week staying in the village may have been one of my favorite so far on this race. it was so tender and sweet and i wish you could have been there. 

this month went fast and all of a sudden we were packing up again to head to thailand for a debrief. cambodia can be described as “shifting”. we had to shift as a team in order to meet needs at ministry everyday. we had to shift from living all squad to being alone, back to all squad again. we all had to shift how we lived as we moved into a small house with 14 other people. however, i am thankful. growth does not happen from a place of stagnation, shifting must occur in order for newness and greatness to be planted. 

debrief in thailand was sweet. we spent a week together with our coaches and celebrated everything that cambodia was and prepared for what was to come. one of my favorite parts of debrief was being able to be available for racers to sign up for one on ones with me. it was sweet to spend intentional time with people on the squad that are not on my team, therefore i have less time with them. i left thailand feeling refreshed and ready for africa!

after a 3 day travel day, we arrived in jeffrey’s bay, south africa! the whole squad is staying together for a month at GLA or Global Leadership Academy. Global Leadership Academy is a school that provides good christian education to children within the community who can afford it and those who cant who are there on sponsorship. Their goal of turning disciples into leaders reaches beyond the school and is also lived out through a program very similar to world race called global challenge. Global challenge is just one example of one of their many programs here in jeffrey’s bay and around the world that aim to make His name known. The global community is large and very kind, inviting our squad in with open arms and pouring into us in ways we didn’t even know we needed. 

jeffrey’s bay has felt like a breath of fresh air for our squad. we have space to run and laugh and play and worship as loud as we want. it’s sweet. the fruit of the shifting that happened in cambodia is starting to show through changed hearts, fresh perspectives and endurance. i’m so thankful to be back here reconnecting with people i met 4 years ago on my race, picking up relationship right where we left off. 

ministry wise, my team (team manna) spent our first two weeks at ithemba, a preschool for kids in the township. the girls were in the classrooms helping out the teachers and trying their best to wrangle toddlers and pronounce xhosa names. I saw them come alive here in a new way, allowing themselves to fully love the kids and let the kids fully love them even if the relationship was 2 weeks long. it was sweet. while the girls were in class, i was living out my lunch lady dreams. i spent my days with faith, gloria and natasha in the kitchen. the Lord knew i needed to eat a lot of porridge and gain wisdom from these women. honestly, i had so much fun…and i think they liked having an american lunch lady too. Towards the end of my time there, the topic of discussion was a debate over whose son i would marry. I learned to respond to “future daughter in law.”

the other 2 weeks we spent on serve team here at the base. Serve team consists of cooking and cleaning for the squad alongside wendy, our house mom. Wendy was here when I was here in 2018 as well, so spending this time with her is so sweet. Wendy is a wise and gracious woman who has been able to speak truth boldly into the team and into me in such a beautiful way. i’m thankful for wendy and for the way she has modeled ministry and service to us. and with this, the team has been so good at showing up and serving the squad in this way. we joke that it’s “wife training school”, but aside from that, i haven’t heard one complaint from them. oh, and marly and i work in the school coffee shop called “school beans”…yeah i don’t know. it’s fun though, i can even make you a dirty chai latte for 21 rand!

being back in jeffrey’s bay is so weird and sweet and surreal and crazy. in all transparency, jbay was my least favorite place on my race. i didn’t want to go back. on my last race, we were here during the middle of the race and I was immature and pouty…honestly….and i missed out. it is so kind of the Lord to bring me back here to redeem this place for me and to experience everything i didn’t choose into the first time. it’s truly only by the Lords grace that I am here. 

in a week, the squad will be splitting up again for a month and meeting back up in guatemala! my team will be going to Heidelberg to serve with Langeberg Christian Fellowship, a small church/ Bible college in the western cape. we are excited, but sad to leave the goodness that is Jeffrey’s bay. Prayers would be appreciated for our team as we step into this next month – prayer for unity, breakthrough and tenderness for each other and for those we are serving. 

wow! another mega blog done! thank you so much for reading. i desire so deeply to keep you guys updated but also struggle to do it for two reasons – 1, time. being busy is such an annoying excuse but i’m going to use it and hopefully never use it again. 2, my ministry this time around looks so different. my focus is on the racers, specifically my team. the things i’m praying through, working on with others, struggling with, celebrating…etc. is the personal lives and walks with the Lord of those on my team and on this squad. I don’t know how to share those stories without posting everyone’s dirty laundry on the internet. so, knowing i will never post someone’s secrets on my world race blog, i want you guys to know that the Lord has placed me so intimately and tenderly in the lives of so many people here. i am seeing chains broken and eyes opened. k squad is seeking the Lord daily, and my role is walking with them through that process. I would love to tell you more about this process and the testimonies I have and have heard. if you want to hear, text, call or email me! please!

with that being said, I am still fundraising! I am currently halfway funded, meaning I need around $3,000 before I get back to the states in May. I would love if you prayerfully considered partnering with me in this financially and in prayer. i greatly appreciate it and appreciate you! the support raising platform has changed but works the same way and can be found through the support section of this blog! 

again, thank you! i love you guys! 

also, still figuring out this new blog platform…so pictures that go along with this mega blog can be found in my facebook! friend me! 

xoxo hallie