September/October 2023 Newsletter (Ethan)

This is a letter from Ethan, a follower of Christ and a brother to the Body of believers! I pray for abundant rest for you and your families. 

During the month of September we had training camp where we had sessions of different speakers pouring into us preparing us for the time we will be on the field and also preparing us to be set up for walking out our faith the rest of our lives. As a leader this year we are given a flock to help shepherd, so I have a group of 7 guys that I will live life with and have the opportunity to continue to point them back to Christ in all things.

At training camp there was a designated day for an activity called the “Man Hike”. This is essentially a hike meant to bring the men to a place of full dependance on the LORD and needing one another’s help. The hike was made up of eleven laps around a three quarter mile terrain through woods, gravel, and an extremely steep hill. In three of the laps we had to carry one of three objects, a tire weighing around 150-180LBs another tire weighing somewhere between 200-225LBs and a log somewhere between those two, the rest of the laps we had to carry a different team mate on our back. We also had to have somebody crab walk the length of a lap each time, and on top of that someone else had to be blindfolded. If that wasn’t enough we also had to do eight hundred pushups and eight hundred squats between the eight of us. I had a goal in mind: help the team by bringing us back into a place of putting the LORD first after every lap.

  We started the laps and were moving well, the guys were willing to do the hard things and carry the big objects first. We got to the end and I played some worship music and we prayed together. The next two laps followed suit but on the next one I let them be, I was hoping that one of them would catch that we needed to fix our gaze on the Father but no one caught it. It’s obvious in saying the next lap was the hardest of all up until that point, we endured conflict, someone's nerves giving out, and our longest lap yet by over an hour. At the end of that lap we were all pretty tired.

  One of the guys mentioned being pretty upset with God and that’s where we will tune in. “Have you ever yelled at God? Just told him all the ways you’re frustrated with him?” One of the guys asked. “Yes, I often go into the woods and yell and converse with God! I haven’t been able to do it here because there’s one hundred and fifty people who would think I’m crazy when I walk out.” Everyone lets out a laugh. I then jumped into the conversation “I think it’s okay for us to wrestle with God in our frustrations, part of an intimate relationship is that you don’t hide things from your partner. I believe God is willing to meet us in the middle of our frustration. Jacob wrestled with God and he was blessed and had his name changed because of it.” A few of the guys ask “What did his name get changed to?” “Israel,” I responded. We all looked at each other in a silent agreement before someone blurted out “That’s what our team name should be!” So that’s how my band of brothers for the next nine months chose the name of our team. 

Subsequently following training camp, the men were sent to Mayfield, Kentucky to work with a familiar organization to myself called Samaritan's Purse or SP. There was a violent tornado that ripped through this community last year, so violent in fact that it is nicknamed “The Beast''. We were able to help with rebuilding homes for people who otherwise wouldn’t have a place to live except for where they have been in trailers or family homes. It was a sweet opportunity for me to see the rebuild side of SP considering I’ve worked with the disaster relief side before. Some of the community we were working in had their homes rebuilt by SP already but most were still heavily in construction, it was really a beautiful sight to see kids running around or riding their bikes and sprinklers in front yards and couples walking their dog. I was reminded of how real every house is, that I had the opportunity to pray over every house that in Jesus name it would become a home and that he would come and dwell with them. 

After our week in Mayfield we had a few days back in Gainesville, GA where I had one of the hardest goodbyes of my life. Saying goodbye to Baylee (my girlfriend) with whom I spent basically the entire summer with was really difficult. I was again reminded of what it means to count the cost as Jesus speaks about in Luke 14:28-32. We both had immense peace about where the LORD was calling us to at this time and because of that I’m confident that He will lead us through these next seven months of long distance with joy and thanksgiving! 

Israel (my team), is now in Kampot Province Cambodia in a tiny village off the main road, no grocery store, no wifi and definitely no air conditioning. It's in the high eighties to low nineties everyday but the humidity makes this the hottest place I’ve ever been by a landslide. We are working with a ministry teaching English and coaching soccer, while we are here we will also help by building a new class room which will continue to bless the ministry long after we leave.

I would ask that you would be in prayer for the guys to continue to seek the Father and that the LORD would give us connections to further the Kingdom outside of the scheduled ministry. I would also request prayer for financial support to come in and for deeper intimacy between the LORD and myself. 

I want to again extend so much gratitude to you for supporting me in where the LORD is taking me. I pray that these newsletters would not only serve as an update but to build you up in your faith and challenge you to seek the LORD in all things. “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6.