Hi friends & family,
To be able to update you on my journey is such a joy. So much has happened in the last month as I packed, prepared, and left to start this amazing journey at training camp. We have officially completed our first week of training and boy was it a long week.
I’d love to give a little bit of a peek into our daily life this last week. Every morning we woke up and had personal devotional time, breakfast, worship & sermon. Each sermon was given by a different person on a variety of topics which helped crack open and cultivate soft hearts. In my personal experience this week I learned that some of grief I thought was processed had actually turned to anger that I pushed down so far it felt like it wasn’t there, but it pushed me to a point of surrender and to lay that at the feet of Jesus. The Lord is so gracious and His timing is so perfect, here at training camp i’ve had a lot of feelings and emotions rise to the surface but I have been surrounded by people who love the Lord, are praying over me and encouraging me as I process these things and grow. The Lord has broken down walls in my heart that I had grown numb too which was so extremely painful but it’s a beautiful thing to walk in the freedom of christ while continuing to heal. I’m learning how to listen to the Holy Spirit, to pray about everything and walking more in line with Him.
As i’ve gone through this week I’ve been going back to read Psalm 63:1-4
“O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry & weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power & glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands.” This psalm has been a place of refuge and to remember my need for the Lord as well as giving Him the praise He deserves.
A highlight of this week was that our team had the opportunity to do a prayer burn. The prayer burn started at 11pm and went until 6am during which there had to be at least 3 team members awake for as little as one hour or as many as they want. At the prayer burn we prayed for anything that was on our heart, from family members at home to countries & ministry hosts that we will soon be with. I among a handful of my teammates chose to stay awake the whole time and wow what an amazing experience. The Lord truly is the sustainer and gave us strength for the evening. We spent time in worship, reading the Word, sharing testimonies, & of course praying. I have seen myself grow in my prayer walk so much this week and i’m continuing to pray that it will be a consistent pattern in my life. A desire i’ve had since I was a bit younger was to a prayer warrior like my mom and I have seen the Lord beginning to sprout this in my soul. I’ve seen a change of heart and my view of prayer. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced and I am so grateful for that time to come before the Lord and lay my heart before Him. Of course I was so tired as I was awake for 40 hours but it really felt like a real life experience of being stretched for the glory of God.
All of these things happened alongside my team! There are 10 girls, 1 guy, and both a guy & girl leader! We have done everything together from meals to chores and fun bonding activities that have all helped prepare us for life on the field. We are learning our strengths, weaknesses, insecurities, and how to communicate with each other. It’s been so cool to see how quickly our team has been unified since the very beginning, i’m so excited to see how God is going to use our team as I have already seen him this past week.
As we walk into the next week i’m going to ask for prayer for some specific things!
- Rest for our whole team
- Safe travels as we head to Brazil (9/12-9/13)
- For our ministry host Andy as he prepares for us.
- For me to have humility to serve my team well
- That I would daily surrender my anxiety to the Lord as I grow in my prayer life
- That God would continue to provide the rest of the funds needed for me & my squad
Thank you all for your continued love, support, prayers, & encouragement! I am so blessed to be here and to let God use me for His glory!
In Christ,
Mikayla
https://adventuresinmissions.servicereef.com/events/adventures-in-missions-3/august-2025-world-race-3-months-south-america-25r09bre/participants/mikayla-runge
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