First Stop Peru

After all the prayers, the talk, the encouragement, and the overwhelming outpouring of support, the time has officially come for me to get on a plane that will take me to Trujillo, Peru.  

I am currently in the Fort Lauderdale airport where all 26 of us are just hanging out and waiting out our 8-hour layover.

We will spend all day tomorrow on a bus and arrive at our ministry IncaLink tomorrow night. I don’t know what exactly our ministry will look like, but I am excited to jump in. It is a larger organization and they serve their communities in a variety of ways. This may look like ministering to those who live in the garbage dump, children’s ministry, community outreach or anything else it may entail. At the end of the month we will make our way to Cusco, Peru for debrief, where the whole squad will come together and rest and worship and talk about what we have learned in that month.

It was much harder to leave home than I anticipated. I have felt so loved and have grown so close with so many of you throughout the preparation for this adventure, that it was quite hard to actually say see you later.

But coming back together with Z squad has been the sweetest. These are my people for the next 11 months and I love them dearly. We have the absolute best squad mentor who points us straight to the Lord with joy and encouragement. We have fantastic coaches who care for us deeply and share their wisdom with us. We have amazing squad leaders who are loving and intentional. We have the best team leaders who are serving and loving us in crazy ways, especially since we only met them days ago.

My squad is full of people walking with the Lord and ready to serve Him. I have learned from all of them. We have worshiped together, learned together, prayed together and grown together. Now we all board a plane and head off to our first country together where we will continue to do all these things and more.

My team is made up of 5 other women I will live with, serve alongside of, and do daily life with for these next several months. We have only started to get to know each other and learn each other’s hearts but we will grow together in the grandest ways over these next few months.

All these people have encouraged my heart in bigger ways than I could ever put into words. It makes only slightly easier to say see you later to all of you who encouraged my heart while back at home.

Love you all,

Kayla