New Year’s wishes from abroad

By Keia Blair

The end of Month 4 is here, and soon, I am heading to Malawi for two months.

After a 48-hour bus ride, I will arrive at a weeklong debrief, where my squad will debrief the last three months, have team changes and enjoy a week of resting in the Lord and with each other.

Zambia has been a quick month, and it’s hard to believe that it’s already over. I have celebrated Christmas and New Year’s here, so it has been a special place and a place that my team and I have come to call home.

New Year’s Eve was so special this year. Being surrounded by a community of girls who love the Lord is one of the sweetest things I have ever experienced.

This year on New Year’s Eve, I had the opportunity to sit down and thank the Lord for 2017. It was a year that nearly changed my whole life — a year of many trials, tribulations, sadness and excitement. It was a year of growing, going deeper with the Lord, experiencing him in new ways and saying “yes” and going wherever the Lord leads me.

The Lord taught me a lot in 2017, more than I can even begin to explain. But one of the biggest things is what it looks like to be a prayer warrior, what it looks like to be in continuous prayer and conversation with the Lord daily and what it looks like to go deeper into the things the Lord has called you into. 2017 was a year of redemption, freedom, sacrifice and steadfast pursuit of the Lord.

Before 2018, I sat down and prayed about goals, expectations, hopes and words that the Lord wants me to live by in 2018. It will be a year of boldness, commitment, self-discipline, transparency, sacrifice, rooted, victory and new. This is what the Lord declared over me for 2018.

My team brought in the new year by doing an all-night prayer. This was a special opportunity to pray over 2018 and such a cool way to spend New Year’s. I prayed for protection, safety, good health, blessings, my family, friends, supporters, church, community and my squad. It gave me an opportunity to sit down with the Lord and declare what 2018 would be for me.

It is hard to believe that I have already been in the field for four months. 2017 was a sweet year, but what the Lord has in store for 2018 is more than I can even imagine. Thank you for joining me in this journey, and thank you for standing by me through every good, bad, hard and sweet time of this journey. I am so blessed to have so many people and a community that supports and loves me.

I hope 2018 is a blessed year for each of you and is full of pursuing the Lord each and every day. Be praying for an upcoming travel day, new teams and the two months I will be spending in Malawi.

Happy New Year!

Keia Blair is a Seymour native who attends Cincinnati Christian University. During her nine-month mission trip around the world, she is submitting a series of blogs that will appear in The Tribune. Send comments to [email protected].

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