I’m Surrounded

God has given me a renewed spirit and desire to be on the world race. (Thanks God!) 

During our month 5 debrief, we celebrated the time that we had with our squad leaders on the field. One of them (Alex) is incredibly talented in music and so we asked him to lead us in worship one last time. As we were worshipping together, I was looking around at all the people I’ve been traveling with over the past 5 months. 

I was seeing joy on faces as praises were going up. 

I was seeing peace as we soaked in the presence of the Lord. 

I was hearing love as our voices came together. 

I was seeing excitement as people danced. 

I was already noticing the beauty in the people around me when Alex led us in a song that made me think of my squad in a new way. 

We were singing the song surrounded. It says “it may look like I’m surrounded but I’m surrounded by you.” The song is talking about how we fight battles by letting the Lord fight for us. Recognizing that while things might be hard, we’re surrounded by the Lord. 

I was pondering those words as I sang and continued to take in my surroundings. I thought “I’m definitely surrounded.. but I’m surrounded by my squad mates.”

That’s when I felt the Lord telling me “That is me. You’re surrounded by me because you are surrounded by people who look like me” 

All of us have been uniquely created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). The Bible tells us so and it also tells us that as a church, we make up the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27)

Each person on my squad looks like Christ in their own way, and by living with them the past 5 months I’ve gotten to see how they reflect Him. 

I’ve seen His love.  

I’ve seen His tenderness. 

I’ve seen His patience. 

I’ve seen His justice. 

I’ve seen His boldness. 

I’ve seen His humility. 

I’ve seen His grace. 

I’ve seen His mercy. 

I’ve seen His righteous anger. 

I’ve seen His beauty. 

I’ve seen so many little pieces of who God is through individual squad mates, and together, we all form a bigger picture of who He is. 

How does this play into my renewed spirit and desire to be on the world race? Well, I realized I’m not ready to leave the community that I have within this squad. Sure, everyone in the world is also made in the image of God and no matter where I go I can find a community that reflects Him, and no matter where I go or who I’m with I’ll always be surrounded by Him. However, I’ll never again have the opportunity to be surrounded by this specific group of people. In 6 months, I won’t be experiencing Christ in the way Z squad exemplifies Him and I want to soak up and enjoy every minute that I do have this community. 

The people on Z Squad are a gift to me. They are my consistent church and I’ve realized how deeply I love them and how much I enjoy their presence. No matter how hard this race gets, they’re with me every step of the way, showing me God’s love. 

They’re there for me when I’m homesick. 

They’re pushing me to grow. 

They’re helping learn what God is trying to teach me. 

They cry with me.  

They laugh with me. 

They show me grace and mercy and are patient with me as I learn. 

They help motivate me when I don’t feel like going to ministry. 

They push me closer to the Father and they remind me how loved I am. 

I wouldn’t trade this squad for anyone else and I sure am thankful that everyday I’m both surrounded by God and by people who reveal to me pieces of His character. 

Of course, seeing Christ in those around me is something that the World Race has been teaching me since month 1, but it just hit me in a big way this month. I want to encourage all of you reading this as well to seek Christ in those you’re surrounded by. What do you see that is a reflection of His love in the people you love, and even in the people you struggle to love? 

~Blessings, 

Kaci 

P.S. I’m now in Côte d’Ivoire and we are partnering with a church to evangelize to Muslims and pray over those in the local hospitals.