September 2023 Update! (Baylee)

 Hello everyone, 

I pray this update finds you well! I just wanted to give you all a quick update on my life and what the Lord is doing! I am currently living in Gainesville, Georgia on the Adventures in Missions base with 20 other World Race alumni between the ages of 19 and 25. The program I’m participating in is called Center for Global Action (CGA), and while I’m here, I’m learning about missional leadership! 

In my weekly schedule, I have class five days a week as well as house church hosting once a week, which is essentially a gathering of my fellow apprentices to encourage one another, worship the Lord, and apply skills and strategies that we’re learning in class!

The premise of this program is to know yourself so that you learn to lead yourself so that you can lead others. Essentially, the program places the apprentices in situations in which tension, stress, and pain will rise up. The purpose of this is to take the things that become exposed to the Lord, invite Him into it, and allow Him to heal, speak into, and transform the things that have rooted themselves in our hearts that are not of Him. Honestly, participating in this program has been one of the most refining experiences of my life, and if you know anything about refinement, it is full of friction. Proverbs 27:17 says this, “as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another”. The apprentices participating in this program with me as well as the staff have played a significant part in sharpening me in order that I may be most useful in the hands of my Maker!

One of the most significant things I’ve learned while being a part of this program is the personal meaning of the word “honor” in my relationship with the Lord and in my relationships with others! God first started teaching me about this through Psalm 91:14-15: “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.” 

The Lord makes beautiful promises to us in this passage, but the last section is what really strikes me; “I will rescue him and honor him”. I am unworthy to even be rescued by the Lord, yet He extends a gracious hand to me! How is it that He also says He will honor me, though even my best deeds are like filthy rags in light of His holiness (Isaiah 64:6)?! What a love! The definition of honor is: “to elevate in rank or station, to ennoble, to exalt, to bestow value upon him”. This past month has probably been one of the most emotionally difficult months of my year so far, and in the midst of it, the Lord has been revealing to me the ways in which He’s honoring (bestowing value upon, ennobling, exalting) me. This can be an easier truth to accept when things are going how I want them to, when I’m feeling mentally and emotionally strong, when I’m in a place I want to be. However, I think that this verse really comes alive in hardship. When I don’t feel like I’m enough for God, He honors me. When I feel fragile, He honors me. When I’d rather be anywhere else than where I am physically and spiritually, He honors me. 

Think about one of the most difficult days in your life recently. Were you feeling lost? Abandoned? Forgotten? Lonely? Betrayed? Stressed? Anxious? Afraid? How did God honor you (lift you higher, bestow value upon you)? Do you see how He honored you at all? Psalm 91 says that He WILL rescue and honor us, of this we can be sure! If I go through my entire day without seeing the ways He honored me in my pain, it is me who must adjust my gaze and heart posture, for the character and promises of God are unchanging and my heart is so easily forgetful! My prayer for each of you as you read this newsletter is this, “Father, show your children how You are honoring them today. Expose the ways we have so quickly blinded ourselves to your goodness and kindness through our own doubts, ungrateful hearts, and selfishness. Open our eyes to see just how great you are! How big you are! How righteous you are! How deeply you care about every detail of our lives! How near you are to us in all circumstances! Open our hearts to receive your radical love! Help us see you rightly! We love you Lord, amen!” 

I encourage you to slow down, really sit with the Father, and just let yourself be loved by Him! Ask Him to show you where He was & where He is in your circumstances! He longs to be close to you! This is something I’ve been doing daily to help myself remember that I am so small, His love is so great, and I can rest in that, no matter how I feel. 

In this lesson and in so many other ways, the Lord has been using my time in CGA to deepen my compassion, change my heart and mind to look more like His, and continually grow my heart for missions! I am excited to see what the Lord will lead me into, both here in Georgia as well as in the future overseas. No matter where He has me, the call is still the same:

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.”- ‭‭John‬ ‭13‬:‭34‬ 

“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”- ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭28‬:‭18‬-‭20‬

I pray that the Lord encourages you through this letter! I invite you to reply to this email with your prayer requests, it’s my joy to pray for you! Here are some of mine:

• That the Lord would establish His will in my life & my heart would be in a position to live it out in fullness in order that He may receive all of the glory! (Matthew 26:39)
• That the Lord would glorify Himself in me in a season that feels like winter; cold, heavy, dark. And that His comfort would be so evident in this time! 
• That He would give me opportunities to learn new skills & unveil new passions! Being in a season of learning new things is exciting and brings some life into routines that can feel mundane:) 
• That He would give me clear direction in the purposes He has for the next few months in CGA as well as what He desires me to step into afterwards! 

Thank you all for continuing to choose to be part of what God is doing in and through me! It is a joy to share this life with you!

Much love,

Baylee