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Sometimes it can help to have a prayer that’s already been written and to pray it in community (even if it has to be online community right now). Here’s one prayer you can pray aloud with others to help spur you on to pray more. 

Our lives are being disrupted. We are forced to let go of things that have felt both normal and essential. In all this, God invites us to come to him, to be passionate about our love for him and others.

In this new season, real hope isn’t a cliché. No, God, in his wisdom and sovereignty, guided us to this theme two years before COVID-19. He knew how people would crave tangible hope right now. 

We are not called to live life alone or in fear. So how do we get ourselves unstuck? Here’s some advice on how to deal with loneliness (both short-term and long-term).

It feels so overly simplistic to say that life’s not about this job or that position, but it’s not. It’s not your accomplishments that people will remember at your funeral. 

Through contextualization, we can restore the beauty and value of our shared experiences and culture and reorient ourselves to see how our cultural identity relates to our faith in Jesus. Contextualization is more than being able to identify areas that aren’t working well; it’s reengineering structures and systems to cultivate a space and message that are relevant to the people in the room.  

I often think about the gospel and how it was presented to me. It was in the country roads of southern Arkansas, where my grandmother sang in the choir of a Black church. It was the hands raised, the strength of the Black women, and the rapping of the pastor that excited my soul. It always struck me that pain, joy, and hope could coexist. 

But I believe, as a follower of Christ, that it is essential to be an intentional, active member of a church community. Membership facilitates opportunities for vulnerable relationships and accountability. 

Even now, eight years since my last Trek, I constantly recognize how the Treks have taught and shaped me into the person I am today. They weren’t just summer missions trips. They were launching points for lifelong discipleship, where I learned how to persevere and follow God through adversity.

All this begs the question: how do we allow the good news about Jesus to take on the beauty and diversity of other cultures without infusing beliefs that are contrary to the gospel?