God’s Provision and My Farewell

The last you have heard from team Mazerunner we were heading out to trek for 2 weeks in the Accursed mountains near Montenegro. The night before we were supposed to head out we travelled to Peje and stayed the night in an Airbnb. Within seconds of checking in my phone beeped with a message from a former boss that would change the trajectory of my Race forever. That was the first of many times God would show up and provide in a crazy way.

I set out in this new season trusting that God would either heal me of my gluten intolerance, provide a way to get gluten free food, or provide a way out. During our trekking trip, God showed up again and again despite my fear and unbelief. After a 30 min bus trip and 5 mile trek with our packs we came across the town of Boge. Our team sat down to pray and was given visions of a man’s face, a heart and wood, fire and warmth, and an overflow of food.

After searching the town to see if anyone lived there we knocked on a door of a small wooden cabin with smoke exiting the chimney. Who else would be there to answer the door but a woman from the bus we took up the mountain. She informed us that this was indeed not a village but a ski resort. A quick phone call later (on a phone that had a heart on it) and we were welcomed into a nice cabin. We then spent 4 nights in the cozy cabin, waiting out a snowstorm and ministering to the staff and the owner. The owner *Barney* happened to be the face that one of my teammates saw while we were praying. Food was delivered to us and prepared for us during those days we spent snowed in at the cabin, and a lot of the food ended up being gluten free. I love that God foreshadowed exactly how he was going to bless us! How cool is he?!

Later we trekked somewhere else, and ended up spending our sabbath on the top of this beautiful mountain. We then met an austrian kosovan family, and spent 3 hours talking about life and faith before praying for safe travels. Even on that mountain, God provided this small restaurant which had a plethora of gluten free food in budget! Literally like total night and day to my experiences thus so far.

Finally, we headed back to Peje and spent 3 days with this sweet multigenerational family that runs a hostel. During our days we would hang out with the street kids who were a mix of Romas, Grecians, and Albanians. Their situation really broke our hearts and we formed so many sweet friendships. We were blessed to form relationships and give out so many bibles. We also got to pour into this sweet backpacker *Erica* who stayed with us a night and shared some meals with us. All in all it was quite an adventure and we wrapped up our two weeks of ATL with heading back to Prishtina and having an incredible day amongst the team eating gluten free chicken nuggets and ice cream, going to surprise tattoo appointments, and wrapping up our time remembering fond memories.

That brings me to today, where I am sitting in an airport on my way back to the US; typing this out and wondering what the heck happened and how I got to this point. When I received that call from my former employer I had no idea that God was going to bless me tremendously with a job that I could only dream about. A job that would send me home early from the race with very little notice. There are so many emotions tied to leaving early; sadness, loneliness, excitement, confusion, and thankfulness. I feel so blessed that God gave me my dream job with a company I deeply admire. That he allowed for me to live bold, abandon my comforts, and trust in him the last 2 weeks of my race. I grew so much in such a short amount of time.

I’m excited to take what I learned on the Race back to the US, and to implement intimacy, community, and mission in my daily life! I want to thank all of my supporters, who prayed, encouraged, and sacrificed for me to go on this trip. Please know that coming home early was not an easy decision but one made in intentional prayer. In the end I felt God was leading me home as my heart was burning for corporate America, my future coworkers, and the mechanics working at the plant. I’m so excited to reconnect with all of you and share what I have learned once I have transitioned back to life in America. Please be patient with me, as I process my race and step into what this new season of my race back home. And please feel free to follow the rest of the Mazerunners on the rest of their World Race Journey.

Join me in prayer for a couple of key areas as I head home:

• The people of Kosovo, and the Roma community who live on the streets of Peje. That the Lord sends more harvester to care for and disciple the community of street children who have stolen our hearts.

• Team Mazerunner and the rest of my squad as they continue on to Georgia and Armenia. That the Lord will provide Holy Ghost setups, accommodations, health, and safety.
• That the American church would be set on fire by the Lord to care for and reach it’s people.

• That I would be able to implement what I learned on the Race to reach those around me and give them the hope of Jesus. And that I would have safe travels and a good transition back to life in the states.

• That I will be able to adequately foster relationships made with my team and squad despite being apart. And that despite missing them I will be comforted by the Lord.

All my Love,

Jo