Mike Paschal, one my very best brothers from the States who recently came to visit, brought us an amazing "gift" all the way from McGregor, Texas.
This (see picture to the right) is
Tracey... or better known as "Traday."
Traday came to Swaziland
with great expectation, a little hesitancy and a lot of faith to see God move powerfully. He already has.
I've seen a powerful strength and compassion in her that is so inspiring that I wanted to share it with you all.
Mike understood
the call of God on Tracey's life, how she was born to serve God in the nations of
the earth, and that she would come "fully alive" when she finally had her
opportunity to serve forgotten people.
And here she is in Africa in the most AIDS-infected country on the planet, joining us in orphan work.
He was right: Traday is coming alive in ways she would have never dreamed, all because she's getting to live the life that Jesus talked about, what the apostle James called "pure and faultless religion."
Only in the context of activating something you've learned can you ever hope to become like your teacher. We call it discipleship... becoming like your Master -- Jesus.
Traday is looking more and more like Jesus, because she's doing what he said to do -- living her life radically for the kingdom of God, trusting the Lord for big things, and bringing life to dead places. Her faith is exploding, as she seems him coming through.
It's exciting for me to see young people like this woman of God who are really going after their destinies and not settling for a dry and mundane faith.
For the past couple weeks, she has been camping with a team of World
Racers and my daughters, right next to giraffes, lions, crocodiles and hundreds of
children.
The lions keep them up at night, and the heat of day is almost too
much to take, but Traday is finding new levels of her heart and
what it means to really come underneath those that cannot help themselves.
She is serving the "least of these" and finding Christ in the midst of brokenness. I have no doubt that this experience will bring her to a deeper relationship with the Father and impact the world around her as she takes these stories and faces with her.
She told me this week that there is nowhere else she would rather
be than here, that she feels like she is home again.
Traday... Welcome home and thanks for
being part of our family. It has only just begun!
For more of Traday's story, visit Mike's blog.