Being Sent to Africa! A Journey of Trust

Hey everybody this is Ashley and I'm here with Christy our wonderful executive director and founder and we just want to share with y'all some exciting news that's I guess I must say quickly started very quickly developing and coming along but okay but let's give them a little sneak peek where are you going in a few weeks like naturally next week actually Monday I am going to Africa in just a few days and so what an incredible opportunity not only to I guess to minister outside of the US which you're so used to doing but tell us how that got started and even before that you've had a stirring in your heart to minister in Africa for a long time it's not and so like this just the way that God orchestrated this is beautiful it is very beautiful so what's really interesting is when I was a young girl the reason I was afraid to be completely sold out to God was because I was afraid he's gonna send me to Africa I'm not kidding I was so afraid and that really kept me like I like to say on a spiritual dock and then once I surrendered my life to God and realized how trustworthy he was and that he has all these adventures and if he's leading you on those adventures you you want to go you don't want to miss them so over the years it's funny I've had this stirring to go to Africa and I've God has shown me that our ministry is to be worldwide but it's not something I've ever want to just go make happen on my own so we in our ministry like to say we like things to be very organic and by that we mean we want it to be God ordained and we want it to just happen not that sounds force not feel force not us trying to make it happen but because we want it just because you have that in your heart yes so what was so beautiful is our team meets every Tuesday morning to do devotions and I shared what three four weeks ago I shared with the team my heart to go to Africa and one of our newest team members Julie Seals right here Julie said let's pray about that and man did she get after it and she's like Lord we just asked that you open this like now well be careful when you pray with Julie because straight line she got a straight line we all do but man there was authority and power in that and a week later I get a call a week two weeks later I get a call from one of Jack Brewer's team members one of

his actually his right-hand man Ivan and Ivan was talking to Pat Avery and he and they have a great relationship and he's like hey do you think Christy would want to go to Africa so not only did God open this opportunity to go to Africa but he opened up an opportunity to go with one of the top leaders in prison ministry Jack Brewer who is he has dormitories down in Florida with the Jack Brewer Foundation where prisons are just giving him the space because he's got such beautiful programs he has worldwide relief efforts he has orphanages and so when this invitation came I felt like God was showing me you know at the beginning of my prison ministry and adventure into prison ministry God immediately put Jack Murphy Murph the surf in my life Jack had pulled off one of the largest jewel heists in American history he'd become one of the godfathers kind of what I would like to say a prison ministry and that's who God put in my life to learn from and now I feel like God has brought this relationship with Jack Brewer for me another Jack to go and to zip it just go and be me and and have fun and to serve alongside this man and his team and God said go learn and not it's so amazing because the first night we arrive God has given Jack tremendous favor the first night we arrived we're eating at the former president of Malouise of the country's home and so it's like not only did God answer a prayer but he answered in such a beautiful way that you can't help but say okay this is God I get to travel with him and his family his wife his kids Elmo who's going to be on one of our covers and two issues and to get to know this team and work alongside of them well and I think it speaks to just how partnerships are so important and even since I've been on the team just how many other partners and our partner donors and our partner businesses and just these prison partners and how we've all come together and there's different things that we do and like you said be able to learn from Jack when he came and we had our event in Florida just a few months ago and one of the guys spoke about our ministry but also highlighted his and again about all the efforts that that Jack Brewer is doing in facilities is just just incredible and I want to touch

on what you said about Julie about praying and the devotionals that we do and what a spirit filled time that is and how we have fun but even this morning we were really talking about prayer and we went through a lot of scripture which we need to share with everybody about how we pinpoint in scripture about specifically about our posture of God our confidence and in how we pray and what we're asking for and just but Julie does that so boldly and that's what she did and then we're bringing that back around again full circle and how we're like no this is so important and we as a team admitted like we get lacks in that and yet it's so important okay so you've talked about going with Jack who are you going with what are you doing to prepare I mean that's a big thing it's a long journey it's a long time away well it's only been two weeks of being able to prepare so you're right on it but here here's I didn't give this part of the story over two years ago in April 2024 a gentleman named Joseph reached out to me from Kenya and if you're in a ministry in America you'll get a lot of emails from from African countries saying that they're pastors and they're wanting support and you sometimes don't know if that's legitimate or not so I did a little deep dive on him and his ministry and we had the opportunity to face not FaceTime but through messenger on Facebook and got to see him feel his heart our spirits and need immediately connected but for whatever reason I really didn't stay connected with him he reached out to me every month updating me on what they use sports behind bars which is right up my alley and so I had the the day I found out I was going with Jack Brewer I reached out to Joseph to say hey I'm gonna be in Africa like I thought Africa was a country didn't realize it's a continent so big and I'm like how close are you you're like it's huge like all of North America and other country can fit inside of this this continent but his country was I was supposed to be going to Ghana on the second leg of the trip he was in Kenya and so we weren't going to be able to meet and then all of a sudden my travel arrangement started changing and the next thing I know Jack Brewer's team's going to Kenya and we're two hours away from Navasha which is where he lives and

so he was just going to drive over for the day and we were going to meet because I didn't want to leave the team that had hosted me well then I find out that the whole team changed their plans that I'm the only one going to Kenya and so I laughed the morning I found that out because I could see how God I had been afraid to go and how God used the Brewer invitation to get me to say yes to get me out of my comfort zone yeah I felt confident like I want to meet the president and all this stuff and so I looked at the flights they were booked it wasn't that bad I had my shots and all this stuff and now all of a sudden I'm alone in Kenya and I reached out to Joseph I said well it looks like I have three days what do you think and he's like oh sister God's up to something the next day he had me an itinerary we're going into Navasha women's facility where there's 60 women in that prison and babies hmm there are I'm going to a medium facility with Joseph I will be at sports camps with Joseph and then he's like this is in two and a half days and then he said oh hey do you want to go on a safari and I was like oh sure he's gonna take me on a safari on my way on my way to the Nairobi Airport so I'm gonna be drooling when I get back so for me to prepare your original question you know we are a three-part being so it's gonna be deeper than probably what I'm glad we have this time to share this because we are a three-part being it's it's mental it's spiritual it's physical it's emotional so that's for actually but really mental and emotional go together a lot and well actually we have a soul have a mind and we have a body and that soul is your mind, will and emotions. It's getting all confusing here and our editor can cut that off if you'd like. But my point is if one part's out of balance, everything falls. So I was even meeting with my nutritionist this morning. Like what can I do over there to stay healthy? Yeah. Um, so preparing with shots, preparing with eating well now so I don't catch a cold. Um, getting supplies, our friends at Practicon, uh, Brad Griffin, they're giving us, oh,

five or 600 toothbrushes and toothpaste to carry, um, to gather supplies, uh, really money. If anyone wants to donate to that, because I'll be buying diapers and women's products and underwear for the men and they have nothing. They're, and they said, this is what Joseph told me. He said, when you walk in, first of all, being a white female that's come all the way from America, he, they said, it's just that alone. And we see that in America. Yeah. But that alone is going to rot their world and they're going to remember, realize they're not forgotten because their own family who lives across the street has forgotten them. They don't get food, they don't get supplies, they don't get hygiene items unless someone brings it in. It's not like these prisons in America where a lot of times people are reoffending just so they can get back in and have a bed and eat. That's not what I'm going to experience. You've like talked about so many things that, especially when you're describing about the mind and body and spirit and, um, the soul. And that's what we do as a ministry, as Victorious Living, when we're delivering hope, it's very intentional about how we're, you know, we want to develop the whole person. It is about that oneness and wholeness. And so when one of those is out of whack and out of balance, what that does and the chaos or the trauma, if you've been born into a lot of trauma and, or even now still experience trauma because you don't have to be inside prison walls to have that. But all of that changes kind of all of those pieces. And so then, like you said, you're walking into a space where they're forgotten. And again, it's so intentional about Victorious Living and what we do and how we're going

to see those that are forgotten. But now it's on such a deeper level because now you really get to see maybe what forgotten looks like. I mean, like you said, the people here are maybe re-offending or, you know, even when we talk to some of our incarcerated, they share kind of just their fears about when they walk outside, how they're going to be able to make it because here was so safe here being inside the walls. And so now you really are going to. Yeah. Get to go. I know I already have been preparing spiritually, which we should always be prepared, but really journaling, really trying to heighten my listening antenna to hear what the Holy Spirit. And you know me and the team knows that I'm one. I like to do things with excellence and I like us to be prepared. And we know what we're, we follow the Lord's leading, but we want to do all we can to be prepared. And so this trip's been really hard for me because one, I've had to use a travel agent, which usually I do my own stuff. And the travel agent just called, you know, wanting to secure me an aisle seat, which usually I go on and just buy it and press the button. And that's been really hard. And the Lord has been giving me an exercise to trust, but to not even other than the toothbrush, there's a lesson in there. There is a big lesson. And, but even like wanting to get supplies, I don't, there's so many needs. I really don't know what they are. And I just feel like for me, it's going to be a, I'm kind of going on a scavenger hunt and my own little safari with God to see where he, I know he's working, but where he wants us to work alongside of that,

because Joseph has an opportunity to go in every prison. He just got that invitation from the government, every prison in Kenya, but he doesn't have the partnership to do that. So what could that look like for victorious living? Yeah. It's easy for me right now. Cause my heart is, I want to just go fix it all, but the Lord's purposely, I think not letting me know a lot of the needs because we can't do it all. But there is something specifically that we and our partners are to do. And I don't know what that is yet, but that's what this trip's about. Well, and when we think about victorious living as a whole and all the different areas that we touch with all of our ways that we serve individuals, it is. You know, it's already breaking the U.S. boundaries and already going international. And so this is just one other, I'm going to say, a speck, because that's what it is when we have a dot of all the little places. And I wrote that down. You went right into it about you had mentioned about the journaling and that you don't want to, you don't want to miss what God is trying to teach you in this, because there's so many little lessons and just hearing his voice. And so you've already started that so that you can continue that, that journaling and that documentation of what, how this is going to wreck your soul, because obviously walking into a facility, seeing women, but also seeing babies, that I just, that. I was sharing that with the ladies in the Pitt County Detention Center yesterday. And, you know, these are mamas that are in there. And every week you go as well. Every week we have a local jail team that goes to Pitt County Detention Center. And we meet with these women and some are listening through the walls. Others are around the stainless steel tables. And yesterday, you know, I was sharing with them about the babies and the mamas there. And these ladies are mamas and they're there for different reasons. But I asked those ladies, it was so beautiful. And I'm still waiting for those prayer tags to be approved by the leadership at PCDC. But these are some that our staff wrote yesterday while we were in the jail. And so I carry the prayer tag.

So we always do this every week. And we have the women write their prayers down. We bring them out and then local churches here in Greenville, North Carolina, come get them and our correspondence team. And they pray over these. Well, yesterday I had the women at PCDC. I said, I'm going to give you an opportunity. You have an opportunity to minister to the hearts of women in Africa in the Navasha Women Prison. There are 60 ladies there. Could you write a message of hope for them? And so I have a stack of those women and what they wrote yesterday. And it was so beautiful. Like the same God that is keeping me is keeping you. And I know what it feels like to be away from family, but keep trusting God. He's got you. And I think that's what's so beautiful is that wherever we are, whether it's in Africa, in a little bitty women's prison where the people across the street have forgotten you. PCDC where the people a mile down the road have forgotten you. God has not forgotten you. And what a privilege it is to get to go in and let them know that their story's not over. There's still hope because the God of hope, you're never too far gone or you're never in a place that his love, it says in Romans, his love, I just said love in four syllables, his love can't reach you. Well, and it's, they get to minister now. They get to know what it's like with their prayer request to be able to speak that life into somebody else and which we know is so important. Okay, so we've talked about ways we can support, which is obviously always financial, not just that the ministry needs it, but just this effort in general. But let's talk about the prayers and the prompts and kind of what we're trying to do for our, for people that obviously can't go to Africa with you. I don't know if how many would jump on the board and go. I had someone yesterday, Tammy. Oh, I want to go. That sounds like her. She does want to go. But tell us about while you're away, some of the ways that we can be fervently praying for you and this journey and just what God is going to do. So my number one prayer is always from the time that I leave my house until the time I get home, that I will be positioned by God to be used by him, whether that's even being inconvenienced on a, on an airplane seat.

You know, I've had people sitting next to me who were in full blown panic attacks that I had the privilege of being the hands and feet of Jesus, even though I wanted to sleep, but to pray with them and hold their hand the whole flight. And so sometimes it's an inconvenience. I have to be careful when I pray that because I really want to sleep because we have days of I have days of traveling before I get to the first stop. But praying for God to use me for my ears. This is what I prayed the first time I walked into a federal prison. It was the first time I'd ever prayed this prayer that I would see with God's eyes, hear with his ears, feel with his heart and then be moved to be his hands and his feet. And that's a prayer I pray often, um, that I will have discernment because there is so much that I'm going to see. And I have a. really soft heart, and I like to fix things. And so that God will show me where He's working and where He wants Victorious Living and our partners to join in that. Of course, safety, long flights, highways and byways, protection. This is a predominantly Christian country, but still in that continent alone, there's, it's very, people see a lot of miracles because the supernatural is so thick there. God is, you've got this belief, they believe in the supernatural and you can experience demonic forces in a way that are, might be masked here in America that are flat out there. But also you'll get to experience God in a more powerful way. And that's really what I want to see God move in ways I never have. Because my faith can be in an environment where it can be so much stronger, where I feel like in America, I'm guilty of it too. Like our culture, we just don't believe. And that, like we learned this morning, that can hinder us. So pray for my faith to be strong. Oh, okay. Those are really good. What is there like one, I must say one takeaway, but what do you hope that God will teach you if you had an overarching theme? Is it just that how He can use you or is it just a listening or being, you know, I'm going to say the follower, even though that you're a leader for somebody else. There's so many things. Or just all the things. I'm going to cry. It's a privilege to be, it's not just me being chosen to be used by God. It's a privilege to be used by God. It is a privilege to be invited to go on adventure with Him. And my life, the one thing that I always want to do is to encourage, not just the unbeliever to just step out, just fall into God's arms, but for the Christians, like I was raised in the church and I didn't want to go with God because I didn't know God and I didn't trust Him. And I thought He'd lead me to some foreign land where I'd be attacked by mosquitoes, which may be true, but I've got bug spray for my clothes. I didn't even know it existed. But I just really, it's not about what I can go do over there. It's

about me just going and being, it's easy to be the hands and feet of Jesus and we make it so hard. And so I think that's what God's setting me up. It's just going and hugging somebody that doesn't smell like you or look like you. The hygiene I know in some of these places is going to be different. It's just stepping out and putting everything aside and just being willing to be. Well, and I think, again, we know God's timing is perfect and how He figures everything out, even when we're like, God, we want you to do it a certain way and He doesn't. But even when you think about how your ministry has grown and how your team has grown, you probably wouldn't feel as comfortable doing this years ago because I'm going to call it a safety net because that's what we are. But all of that, like your team being there and being able to just carry it on. So I just, I love that, that God has done that, that He's put all the pieces together in the puzzle piece of life and for this ministry. Okay, before, you're going to send us updates and you can watch them on your. Yeah, my goal is, I don't know if I'll be able to do it live. Okay. I'm trying to figure, still trying to figure that piece out, but to be able to post whenever I can a documentary of the trip and take y'all on the adventure. And we'll, I'll be filming while I'm there because one of the things we do for our incarcerated family is we create broadcasts that take them all over. You just took people to Greece. I have taken them to the Holy Land, to the beach, to Lake Christie, to all these different places. And so I'm really looking forward to that documentary being able, just like this video is going to do, go behind bars and where it will reach the people that God has sent us to love them. Okay. I love that. So you can check it out there. We're going to send an email out that has information that has prayer prompts, that has ways that you can give, and of course, ways to stay connected to just this, this developing story. But before we go, I'm going to pray for you real quick because. I think that we have to do that and it would be a missed opportunity. So Father, Lord Jesus, this is just an incredible opportunity and wow just how hearts, Christi's hearts, but how others will be open or broken to you Lord Jesus. And so God we are thankful. We're thankful for the blessings that you've given this ministry. We are thankful for the blessings of just being able to go and say yes. And for your provision, for safety, and for just miracles to show in your holy name. Amen. Okay, we're done. Cut. Thank you for watching our broadcast. Are you an incarcerated brother or sister

who needs encouragement? Write to us at Victorious Living Correspondents, P.O. Box 2751 Greenville, North Carolina 27836. Or email us at Hope at VLMAG.org. To view Victorious Living magazine in its entirety, please have your chaplain contact us at 352-478-2098. Or email us through our website at VLMAG.org. We are happy to provide our Victorious Living magazine free of charge, in bulk, with or without staples.