So as I mentioned in my previous blog, I spent the first week here in Romania with the flu. I started to feel sick during our second flight with fever chills, but I figured it was a side effect of the medication I was taking to clear up my second round of parasites. As soon as we got here in Romania I started getting way worse with aches, and nausea and my fever went on for 3 days. So after my 14 hour nap, a nurse on our squad thought it best to go get a blood test at the hospital just to make sure it wasn’t malaria or anything. So Lidia, our ministry contact, took us but warned me that it would probably be a 2-3 hr wait before we even got in. Ashley chuckled and said, “maybe God will grant us favor.” We arrived to the hospital walked in the door and in less than 2 minutes (no joke) I was being attended to by a kind, English doctor. He wanted to do a thorough exam since I had been to many foreign countries, so he did a blood test, urinalysis, x-rays and an ultrasound. He got me a bed to lay down in, instead of sitting up, hooked me up to an IV to replenish my electrolytes and give me pain killers and let me rest. About 20 minutes after having a nice nap, he came in with the results and said I was a very, very healthy young lady and all I had was the flu. He gave me a prescription, handed me a record of all my test results and wished me the best in life.
I was nervous the whole time how much this would cost because some people had to pay $350 in Guatemala for hospital care that only included blood tests and an IV. I asked him how much and he said, “no worries”. The whole trip to the hospital took about 3 hrs. God definitely granted us favor!
So, I spent the first week in Romania sick with the flu, but I realized something amazing when it was over. I have been sick every month so far with the flu, parasites or allergies, and the last 3 months every time I got sick I was frustrated and wanted to quit the Race and go home. But this time all I wanted to do was get better so I could start doing ministry here. What a change the Lord has done in my heart! I still have a lot longer to be here on the Race, but I have settled in. I am not thrashing about anymore, trying to get away from what is uncomfortable. It’s like that moment a child has after they have had this crying fit, when they are worn out from crying, and they take these short little gasps for air. Their face is red and wet, and their head is pounding, but they have stop fighting and have curled up in their mother’s chest, allowing her to stroke their hair while she whispers, “shhhhh it’s okay. You’re okay.”
The Father has me in a place where I have surrendered to what the Race is and how this process goes and I am settling in to His chest while He whispers, “Shhhh it’s okay. You’re okay.”
It has been a while since my series of fundraising discussions took over my blog, but I am back and very happy to announce that I have made it to Europe and I am loving every minute of it!
We arrived here in Romania Sunday, April 9th after 4 solid days of traveling. It took a bus, 4 airplanes and 1 train to get here, so we were absolutely exhausted when we got here. We spent the next two days sleeping in actual beds!! My back rejoiced as I tucked myself into the crisp, white sheets and sunk into the soft mattress. I didn’t wake up for 14 hours haha. I did spend our first week here with the Romanian Flu, but I am about to post another blog explaining all of this and what God taught me through it.
The ministry we are partnering with this month is Caminul Felix (caminulfelix.com) which translates “Happy Home” and is an organization that builds large houses for Romanian orphans to be adopted into. A Romanian, Christian couple would become parents to as many as 19 children, like our contacts Mircea and Lidia. The parents come with their own biological children if they have any and welcome many more who are in need of a stable, loving family:
“Millions of children of all ages have been left abandoned by unfortunate circumstances. In this
abandoned state they live their lives in despair and loneliness. The suffering among the rejected children is our calling. We believe that their only hope for full life is to be given a new, real
family, with a mother and a father, and with the security and caring love a family can provide. The environment they can be given at the Felix Family Village is this. And it transforms their lives.” –http://www.caminulfelix.com/who-we-are
In partnering with the Caminul Felix family villages, we also partner with Habitat for Humanity in building the houses. So, from Monday to Friday we spend a typical workday (9-4pm) doing construction, which can be quite interesting when you throw together a group of 25 people who have never done construction before. Thankfully our supervisor and “go-to-guy” Benjamin, is a great teacher! We have been learning how to fit in drywall, filling in the cracks with plaster, sanding the walls down to be ready for paint, and some of us have built an attic, complete with fiberglass insulation.
Every day is pretty much the same, which can get boring but I have realized that each day I have a choice. I can choose to be joyful as I work and make the most of this opportunity or I can choose to complain and believe that repetitive sanding motions are worth nothing. So I have been choosing joy, and the days that I choose joy the Lord speaks life in to me and He shares visions of how a building, a house can become a loving home.
One day I listened to my iPod while I sanded the walls up high on a ladder and the song Freedom Reigns by Jesus Culture came on and I prayed over those walls and over that house. I declared FREEDOM over the family that would live there and the Lord began to flash pictures from this home’s future family photo album in my mind. I saw green walls with white trim; I saw a mom with a rooster patterned apron making apple pies; I saw little boys running through the halls with dinosaur figurines; I saw little girls carting around crafts dripping in glue and glitter; I saw a Christmas tree in the corner with random, mismatched decorations collected over the years; I saw the family gathered in the living room praying when troubles came and rejoicing in battles won; I saw more children being brought home for the first time and feeling welcomed and loved. And then I imagined what the home would smell like when fresh laundry was brought in from the clotheslines; what it would sound like when the parents sing to their toddler after waking from a bad dream; what it would feel like to curl up in a handmade quilt after coming in from a snowy, winter’s night; and what it would taste like to eat watermelon on the front porch on a hot summer’s day. It was so beautiful and I thanked the Lord for helping me see these walls come to life and showing me what could become of our repetitive sanding motions: this house would become a home.
These past 3 months have been manual labor and service and we are starting to wonder where the “good stuff” is. We want to see the crippled walk and the sick child to be well again. We want to see the gospel preached and people coming in to the kingdom. We want to see addictions being broken, and prostitutes finding freedom and redemption. We want to see bread and fish multiplied and we want the prison cells to shake because of our worship….but all we continue to see is buckets of paint, wheelbarrows full of mud and walls to be sanded over and over again. And then the Lord reminded me of Luke 16:10—If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones.But if you are dishonest in little things, you won't be honest with greater responsibilities.
We still have 7 months left on this race and the “greater things” have yet to come. Right now God is asking me: Aisha, will you find joy and promise in whatever I ask of you? Do you trust that my plan is what’s best? Are you willing to be faithful in what seems like a mundane task, so that I can prepare you for what’s yet to come?
While these 4 months haven’t been filled with the “this is what I was born for” moments, I know that I am in the will of the Lord and He is asking for my faith and trust in Him. I am convinced that greater things have yet to come and greater things are still to be done, but also that what I am doing now matters because…I am not just building houses; I am building homes.
Currently I am in a coffee shop in Tegulcigapa talking with everyone I know, sending out my plea for $2575 in donations. The deadline was yesterday. I didn't meet it. But I have been given a couple days grace.
While posts are being made left, right and centre of people advocating for me, urging the church to step up, all I hear is: AISHA DAVIS, YOU LACK NO GOOD THING!
I am so humbled to have people rallying for me and fighting on my behalf. This is the Church! So this is a quick message, yes to encourage you to donate NOW...but also to thank you. And to attempt to express but deepest gratitude. I don't take your sacrifice lightly!
In exactly 9 days will be the outcome of much prayer and hard work to stay here on this race.
In 9 days the results will be in my fundraising account and it will be decided whether or not I continue on with the race.
In 9 days I will either go or I will either stay…
So I have been asking myself what does that even mean? And if I could decide what would my choice be? Being a list-maker, I came up with a list of reasons to stay and reasons to go and this is what I have:
Reasons to Go:
I would get to sleep in a comfy bed
I would get to eat the food I like and I’m not allergic to
I would get to see my friends and family
Less bugs and smaller spiders
Hot showers
Not having to do feedback and reflection every single night
Less dirt between my toes, in my hair and all over my clothes
Regular bowl movements!!!!
Roosters, dogs and big rig trucks wouldn’t wake me up every morning at the but crack of dawn
I could watch The Big Bang Theory, FRIENDS and One Tree Hill whenever I wanted.
I could speak to everyone in English and actually have a clue of what they are saying back
I could actually stick to a schedule and expect to carry out planned activities on time
I could eat an apple without wondering if I’m going to get a parasite
I could choose not to be around someone when they are annoying me
I wouldn’t have to sign up for a chance to go on the internet or take a shower
Reasons to Stay:
I have prayed for an opportunity like this my whole life and here it is.
I am surrounded by 38 people who are crazy, deeply in love with the Father and not afraid to scream it out loud
I am getting to be a part of God’s story as He pours out His love on the nations
I get to see people let go of the bondage, oppression and chains they have been living in for years and walk free from it all
I get to use my love for painting to bring life and hope to dark places
I laugh at least 3 times a day
I get to abandon technology and materialism to see the true meaning in life and just enjoy nature
Cold showers are actually refreshing and they encourage you to be ready for the day
I save money that I would have spent on gym memberships and tanning beds by working out in the hot sun all day
I get the opportunity every night to have 6 people tell me how great I am, who God has made me to be and then to call out the areas of my life that need work and call me up into life and freedom
I get to taste food, smell smells and hear sounds that I never knew existed
I get to learn a new language
I get to learn how to love without using words
I get to learn from 38 other perspectives, opinions and insights
I get to be away from my friends and family in order that I may realize how blessed I am to have them
Becoming free from law and legalism and embracing the love and freedom that Jesus intended us to have
I have more time and less distractions to read the Bible and realize how insanely awesome this book is!
I am becoming a fighter! A warrior! No longer someone who flees
I am finding my home in the Father and displacing my orphan spirit
I am developing a passion for my family in Jamaica whom I’ve never even met
I am being prepared for marriage and motherhood
I am becoming more comfortable with the skin I’m in
I am putting an end to apologizing for the woman God made me to be and embracing the mystery that I am!
I am seeing “ministry” as a way of life, not something that some of us are called to do. It’s just love and it’s just life.
I am learning to appreciate every cup of coffee I get or every taste of peanut butter. Don’t take them for granted!
Knowing how BLESSED I am to be born in Canada! It is clean, safe, and people have NO IDEA how free and rich we are!
Understanding that blessing comes with a responsibility to bless others.
…..No joke, I could go on and on and on!
Looking at the second list (that is much longer) and then comparing it to the first, I realize how shallow the first one is and how full of LIFE the second one is!
I want to stay.
I NEED to stay.
I need $3653…
I have 9 days…
I expect a miracle and nothing less.
As I have mentioned before in previous blogs, I never realized how hard this race was going to be. I signed up thinking I was going to get out here in the world and do some hard work for the Lord and love every minute of it. But the more we press in to community and the more I ask the Lord to refine me and search me, the more I realize there is a lot in my life that needs to be cleaned up and a lot of brokenness that needs to be healed. I have an extremely hard time opening up with my team and being vulnerable. When you love people, you have to allow them into the deeper parts of yourself; you have to abandon surface level conversations about weather, ice cream and your favorite TV show; and you have to let them into that place of hurts from the past, struggles of this very moment and fears of what tomorrow my bring. You also get to celebrate victory over past pains, release in this moment and peace about what the next day may bring. But I have only been seeing the first parts, the hard parts, and I have been resistant to the celebrations and the freedom.
A couple days ago I washed my clothes Honduran style by hand over a bumpy, cement table, type thing. And let me tell you, it was hard! It took a lot of upper body strength, especially in the arms. I whined about it a lot at first and then something clicked in me and I realized I could go deeper and I could push harder. So I zoned in to this fighter mode where I scrubbed and scrubbed. Beads of sweat dripped down my face as the sun shone hot on my back and someone in passing simply said: “You look like you’ve been doing this your whole life!” And I heard the Father say, “Aisha, You’re stronger than you think.” And then I realized if I can tap into deeper strength to wash my clothes, then why can’t I tap into a deeper, inner strength to press through my emotional, mental and spiritual processes? These past couple days I have been doing that. When the Lord heals you and when He leads you through your junk, life ought to get lighter and we ought to get stronger. I have to wonder if when we feel heavy and when we feel like this process is too hard, if we are just living in a lie that, this has to hurt or this has to suck or this has to be so unpleasant. We are stronger than we give ourselves credit. If the same spirit that rose Jesus from the dead is living inside of me, then I ought to be feeling lighter and I ought to have the strength to say, “Today I am going to live free!”
So, may you too tap in to the strength that is inside of you and may you press through with joy and with freedom! Be light! Be less weighed down! You ARE stronger than you think!
Ok it’s time for some FUNdraising! I'm limited on fundraisers since I'm out of the country and since I still need $3703 by April 1st I'll do what I can. Here's the deal.....
Every donation of $50 or more = 1 day I don't shower! Yep, that's right! Aisha Davis---who has a hard time going 1 day without a shower--is going dirty! Don't have $50? Find a buddy (or however many you need) and all throw in!
DONATIONS MUST BE IN BY MONDAY MARCH 26TH! For your donation of $50 or more to go towards this dirty little fundraiser you must either email me at aisha.davis@bbc.ca or post on my FB wallthat you have donated for that cause. My last shower will be Sunday March 25th!!! Be grateful I’m in another country but feel sorry for my team haha
Example: 20 people donate $50 each (totaling $1000) means I don’t shower for 20 consecutive days (AHHHHHHHHHH!!!)
To donate: Click “Support Me” via my blog aishadavis.theworldrace.org
Last night during our worship session, some crazy intense stuff happened. People were brought to their knees as they confessed and ripped the veil off their faces. There was snot, and tears and sweat and FREEDOM! I sat back and watched, asking the Lord, “what is happening here?” And this is what He gave me:
-Pulse-
We pulse to the beat of this Holy Spirit drum,
We surrender our rhythm and sway,
in the sweat and glow of love.
We unhinge our jaws that grind with rage.
We relax our scowl of bitter shame.
We reach for hands to clench and squeeze.
We’re done with thoughts of:
the gods we must appease.
We move and grove,
spirits ooze with words of pleas breathed up to you.
We press our cheek up to Your chest.
We cast out lies of second best.
We crave Your heart,
our Abba’s love.
We cast aside this push and shove.
We run.
We jump.
We dive.
We fight.
We crawl.
We beg with all our might.
We ask, oh God,
have mercy please!
And bring us always to our knees.
In You oh Lord,
we find,
our Pulse.
-A New Breed-
We are different.
We are the men and women that the God-Man made.
We plunge messily into freedom and redemption.
And then we dance like fools to the beat of a Ghostly drum.
We are excessive tippers, star gazers, and we talk to ourselves on the streets.
We are honest mothers.
We are courageous fathers.
We are secure daughters.
And we are sons that breathe.
We are chain breakers and we belong to a King.
We are coming back to our humanity.
We are living in identity.
Yes, we are a New Breed.
Debrief has been astounding. The Lord has used these past 4 days to rip us open like an overstuffed suitcase and has allowed all of our junk to come spilling out. He is answering my prayer and exposing stuff that I had no sweet clue was even there. I am understanding unhealthy things about myself that have led me back to the same place over and over again, like a child lost out in the wood. But He has called me and told me to return. Return back to the meadow and be with Him a while. He has longed for me to stay in a season of restoration and I must stop fighting it! It is okay to be broken. It is okay to be a mess. It is okay to be sick. It is okay to be the patient.
I am always feeling like I need to be the doctor, the helper, the fixer, the leader, the one they look to for answers. And now, it is my time to seek the answers. It is my time to be fully healed. It is my time to get well, get better and just be a patient. There is no shame in that. The Enemy is a liar. And he will make you believe—he has made me believe, that the patient is the weaker of the two. That it is only the doctor who is noble but that is just not true. A true leader, a good doctor must take care of themselves. If their heart isn’t whole, if their body, mind and soul aren’t well, then they will never become the full leader they were meant to be.
My life is not linear. My personality is complex and unique. I am a network of wires and strings and ropes that are hard to untangle and the truth is: people don’t know how to understand that. I am a scary package but I am not a shameful mess; I am a beautiful mystery. I am tired of apologizing for who God has made me to be and in the Name of Jesus I will not do it any longer! I will allow Him to take me out to bring me back in. I will allow Him to search me and fix the unhealthy things in me, but I will not allow the world to tell me my process is too hard for them to handle. At the end of the day, I answer to the Lord and I love Him and trust Him when He says “this is good” and then also when He says “this is not.”
I came to the realization this weekend that in many ways, I’m in rehab. We have group meetings every night where we confess our deepest, darkest struggles; the things that we have hidden and have been eating us up for so long. We cry with each other and encourage each other. We sit in on teachings of how to break chains and live your best life. We reflect and process and learn how to breathe. We fight it and give in. And some of us give up.
I came here to learn about the Lord, yes, but I am learning so much about myself. I came to do ministry and I am intensely being ministered to. I came with the prayer that people would let me in to their heart and I am struggling to let others into mine. Our confession is—my confession is: I need to be rehabilitated. And That’s OKAY.
There is a lot more work to be done in the nations.
There is a lot more work to be done in this community. There is a lot more work to be done in me.
I am not one to beg, but I come before you undone, broken and a mess, begging.
I beg of you to search your heart and ask the Lord to help you to give. I do not want to come home yet.
There is more to be done.
And I need $8203 ($3703) by April 1st to be able to do that. Every dollar counts! Do not think that what you have is too small to change the world, to change our community….to change me. To help us all press into rehabilitation, click on the support me link to the left.
And, may you too come to accept that it is okay to be the patient; it is okay to need restoration; it is okay to be in rehabilitation.
There has been this growing theme in my life called: The Art of Redemption, but 4 days ago the Lord stretched out His hand and blew that door wide open.
As many of you know, I have used the Art of Redemption as a fundraiser to sell my artwork, jewelry and handmade crafts and put towards the World Race. Thursday, as I was finishing up three murals I had been working on at Mi Casa, the Lord gave me a vision and called me to build a ministry beyond my imagination. At first I was afraid of it, but after praying, surrendering and having my team speak truth into that vision today, I am embracing it. Let me share a bit more…
When we arrived at Mi Casa, Bob explained that our ministry that month would be to paint the two houses from top to bottom, but in the boys’ house, the one with the offices, he wanted something special on this big empty wall you see as soon as you walk in. He said so many people would come in and ask if they were a church group or something, but his dream was that they wouldn’t have to wonder, that they would walk in and just know that these people followed Jesus. So I offered to paint a mural and that night spent some time praying and asking the Lord for a vision; something that would hold much meaning and much life. And this is what He gave:
The sketch to be scanned
Eventually I added the other black and while murals in the kitchen half way through the month, but this big colourful one took a long time. First I had to sketch them out on paper. Then we had to scan them and use a projector to trace them on to the wall. Then me being afraid of heights I had to climb up very high and paint this wall to life. The whole time I prayed and worshipped as the Lord moved my brush in ways I never thought I was capable of.
The mural in process
Needed a little help fro my friends, as I am seriously afraid of heights. Eventually I dove in! The sketches of the murals that were scanned and then projected and traced.
Then at the end of the month, I was working on the white tree with the cage, and the Lord spoke so deep into my soul that I thought I was going to buckle at my knees, and weep. It was a calling so heavy I didn’t think I could bare it. The Lord put before me various scenes of me going into dark and desolate places, armed with a paintbrush and bringing the walls to life with beautiful murals that spoke to everyone inside. I went into rehab centers for freed, child soldiers; I went into rescue houses for girls who had been in sex slavery; I went into hospitals, birthing centers, schools, prisons and orphanages praying for an image and then letting the Lord use me to paint it out. It became this amazing ministry where all sorts of artists joined me on missions trips and local projects in Canada, just painting life into the dark places—redeeming the lives that were once taken away.
And then the Lord said: THIS is the Art of Redemption!
I have been praying and processing through this vision and struggling with various questions, insecurities and fears about embracing this calling. I don’t know what exactly this looks like but I am trusting that the Lord will bring that to light as the months go by—hopefully I get to paint in every country!! (I have so far!) So here are the pictures of what the murals looked like and the family they are for. I loved being able to bless them and stand in awe at what the Lord can do when you surrender yourself and be His brush.
May you too allow Him to use you as His brush and to paint the art of redemption, wherever you are.
Hey ya'll!! This past month has been amazing! At first, as I previously blogged about, I had a hard time, but thankfully the Lord broke my heart and I fell in love with the kids at Mi Casa International. They are a wonderful bunch and I wish you all could have 1 minute to spend with them and get a glimpse of the love and joy they bring. Since that may not happen, I hope this video will help. My team mate Lindsay Q. made it and it is SOOOOOO GOOOOOOD! Enjoy and leave lots of comments ;)
