Hello Friends and Family,
Really, I should just say family when addressing a letter to you all. After all we are all brothers and sisters united through our inheritance in Jesus Christ. However, I digress. It has been too long since I’ve written an update on the race. For that I apologize. The last blog I wrote was in Kosovo after which we have made our way through Georgia which was also the location of our second squad debrief. There are certainly a lot of stories to tell from the last few months and most recently from our time here in Armenia. I will touch on some of these stories here. The last two months have been filled with a plethora of emotions. To explain each of them would no doubt exhaust the reader and myself. Through the hard times and the good times, God has been consistent. Obviously, this is a common Christian platitude that I feel can be commonly used in a poor attempt to belittle the reality of the pains of a particular struggle or situation someone may be going through. Certainly, I myself am guilty of this. The fact remains, however, I say this with conviction. I experienced the love of the Father in a profound and personal way like I never have before in the country of Georgia. I apologize to anyone disappointed to hear more about my personal walk and not external ministry stories, but as I discussed in my first blog it is out of overflow that ministry is “productive” (for lack of a better word, I promise I’m getting rid of the measuring stick) and fruit is bared. For that reason, I will primarily delineate my personal experiences before diving into more stories in future posts. The World Race structure holding the pillars of Community, Intimacy, and Missions at the forefront is being achieved, no doubt. In all I write I pray that the Lord will be honored and something from my journey with Him can serve to encourage and strengthen you in your faith.
Being made a Team Lead immediately after our Alumni Team Leaders left the field was a daunting experience. They had left big shoes to fill and led us diligently in their relatively brief time with us. I was worried about my own capabilities as a leader and that I would not be able to provide the same experience for my team as they had for us. In hindsight, these expectations are somewhat outlandish as I only have the same experience as my fellow squadmates and have not completed an entire World Race. Going into Kosovo as a new team without a plan was scary, but God was with us. Kosovo was a brilliant month and God showed up big time for us as a team, a squad, and for me, personally. My last post goes into more detail about Kosovo. Georgia was a bit of a different story.
We arrived in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia after a long travel day starting in Kosovo with an 8 hour layover in Istanbul. After Sabbathing the following day, we met as a team to discuss our time in Georgia and where the Lord was leading us. No one had any strong conviction or revelation as to where we should go or what we should do. We seemed to lack direction. After attempting to plan a trek, we faced some disunity as a team and knew it was time to take a step back and reevaluate our thought process for ministry this month. We moved from our Airbnb to a hostel in hopes of naturally meeting more people. This was good. We immediately ran into some people and were able to have good conversations with them. We shared our faith and were encouraged in the opportunity God had given us here. However, the idea of venturing out into the vast and wild country that is Georgia still dominated our thoughts. We planned to head west to the city of Batumi. Planning to walk/hitch hike was quickly met with resistance when we took the route that was along a secondary highway with no vehicles that would willingly transport four americans for any significant distance. I thought we had a great plan, and our team was excited, but alas, we had ended up back in Tbilisi after about 36 hours. It felt like failure, but we regrouped in a different hostel and happened to run into one of the all-girls teams, Triple W. We planned to stay for only a couple nights but starting with myself we got sick. Praise the Lord we weren’t in the middle of nowhere facing physical sickness. The Lord had really been watching over us even though just a few days prior it felt like our plans fell through for no apparent reason. But now what? Most of us are sick and we still had no clear direction for ministry.
A little later in the week, three of us were able to attend a cell meeting that we had been invited to by a friend we made at a local church, Love Dominion Assembly. We showed up and enjoyed awesome fellowship with brothers and sisters. We were with a group of believers our age who were primarily medical students studying in Tbilisi before heading elsewhere to begin practicing medicine. It was so encouraging just to be with people who had an intense desire for the Lord and were relentlessly pursuing Him. Royal, one of our friends from LDA asked us to share some testimonies with them from our time on the field so far. It was an honor that they valued our stories and experiences and that we were able to encourage them. This reminds me of a verse that Travis, our newly raised up Squad Leader, shared with me at training camp, Revelation 12:11. After we shared, Royal began to speak, to preach about our relationship with the Lord and how important it is to walk in pace with God and not before or behind Him. His timing is perfect, and we flourish best when we act in His timing and not our own. He continued, talking about God’s perfection. He said, “Nothing we can do can do one for God. If He is infinitely perfect and holy there is nothing I can do for Him.” One might ask, what is significant about these statements? Obviously, as Christ followers we know these things to be true. For me, it wasn’t this simple. I had been praying that the Lord would break me down and cut away the things that distract me. I think in some way, our time in Georgia was an answer to this prayer. We didn’t have clear direction and seemed to not have anything significant to point to as evidence of ministry. Or at least that’s how I felt at the time. But that’s the point. It’s not about me. It’s not about what I can do for God. Ministry is about being available to be used by the Lord as he sees fit and in His timing. God works through us. We are instruments for His service and to build His ministry; He is not an instrument to build our ministry.
This is when I encountered God’s love. Royal continued preaching and dove into the Gospel. From my notes: “I can do nothing for God because He is too perfect. Where are your sins? Point to the cross. Jesus became sin. 2 Corinthians 5:21: ‘For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.’” Simple, right? I have heard countless messages similar to this one preached before. But this was the first time that I truly understood. God literally sent His Son to become sin so we don’t have to bear that weight. This bit of truth is so simple, yet so profound. I could feel this piece of knowledge shifting from a mere rational belief to something that I understood in my heart. Multiple tears rolled down my face as this deeper understanding washed over me and the joy of the Lord overwhelmed me (for those who know me, any amount of tears is a lot for me). It’s hard to put into words how much this experience meant to me. Since this encounter with the Lord, He has continually been showing me the plethora of ways He loves me. From reading the book of Proverbs to just listening to worship music, God has been wrecking me with His love and I am unable to express my gratitude. Ultimately, we are all undeserving of God’s love. It doesn’t make sense that He would love any of us. I am grateful that He’s given me just a small revelation as to how much He loves us. To me, now it’s more than words on a page. I know that when I open up the word of God, I am reading words spoken through the spirit of the living God who deeply loves and cares for us and wants to guide us into truth. I am humbled to be on the Race and am excited for the remainder of this journey abroad with my brother and sisters and chiefly, the Lord.
With love through the Holy Spirit,
Nathan Schubert
P.S. I don’t plan to make a practice of deep internal examination in my blogs. I have more stories of how the Lord has been working to post soon.
