SOJOURNER.

“You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”

-Leviticus 19:34

For the past few years of my life, the word ‘sojourner’ has been incredibly significant to me. Mainly because I have personally felt much like a sojourner in multiple seasons of life.

The Lord has had me living in several different places over the course of my 22 years, and this past year I found myself coming to the point of feeling ‘homeless.’ Like I didn’t truly belong anywhere.

I am incredibly blessed to have so many wonderful people that have comprised my journey in places all over the world; I have learned how it is truly people who become “home.” But I have also wrestled with this internal desire to be able to have a physical dwelling where I can claim “roots.”

And this last year, one of the things I truly struggled with the most was a sense of lack of belonging. I found myself getting well acquainted with the term ‘nomad’ and relating to the Hebrews 11 passage where the people of God wandered their whole lives, never having a true physical home, yet- ^“These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect” (Hebrews 11:39-40). 

My mom wisely pointed out to me during this season that it is in fact, a good thing to have this feeling of homelessness. Because it points to the fact that our Home is not here.

 

“If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”

-C.S. Lewis

 

And all along, God knew that He was preparing me to live a life where I would be required to live with a “hands open” mentality, willing to follow Him wherever He takes me even if it means living in temporary places for temporary seasons for the rest of my life….

and the World Race is literally an embodiment of this ‘nomad’ lifestyle I have come to embrace and actually DESIRE (I love it- we are actually living out of a backpack & ready to set up camp anywhere haha).

 

AND NOW THE TESTIMONY !!!!

Our first month of ministry in the Dominican Republic has been so impactful. And God has physically manifested this “sojourner” mentality through the testimony of countless Haitians I have had the privilege of embracing.

The Dominican has become a place of refuge for thousands of Haitian people in the past few years because of increasing tension in their homeland.

My team has participated in various forms of ministry these past few weeks at our ministry host “Mission of Hope” (macheting, painting, power-washing… lots of new skills to add to my resume haha;) and while it has been a pure joy to serve this campus and help them in their beginning stages of using this place for ministry in the Dominican, my sweetest moments have been in the community doing house visits with Haitians.

MOH believes in the local Church model (this is IT!) and helping to equip local pastors to reach their people. Thus, when my team goes out into the community we are led by a sweet local pastor who leads us to homes in the community where we sit on their front porch and try to build relationships, having conversations through a Creole interpreter with the ultimate goal of sharing the Gospel with them.

As I have witnessed the poverty and sad displacement these beautiful Haitian people live in, I found The Lord reminding me of the “sojourner” idea yet again. These people are literally sojourners in a land that is so unfamiliar to them and where in so many ways, they are not truly welcome.

I had the opportunity to have a conversation with a Haitian family (through a translator) and felt God prompting me to share Hebrews 11 with them, encouraging them that if they feel homeless in this land, they are in good company with thousands of people from the Bible. We got to share the Gospel and pray with them at the end; I am not sure if that example resonated with them, but I believe The Lord really wanted to speak to me & remind me of how we are truly wanderers on this earth until we reach our eternal destination.

 

God has given me such a beautiful picture of sojourning through the Haitian people. My prayer for the remainder of my time here is that God will give me ample opportunities to love on them and share how the Gospel means they can have a heavenly Home.

The first month of the World Race has been holy and refining. I am learning so much and embracing every minute of this beautiful adventure.

I am grateful for a God who has consistently led His people (all throughout the Bible, starting with Abraham) through seasons of sojourning on this earth, so that they may discover their permanent residence to be

H E A V E N.

keep on keeping on,

kenz 💛