Where in the World?

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to sort travel + housing logistics for the next leg of my trip to London!

As I continue to ask God about his plans for this time, I have decided to visually curate some of the many locations that have been dominating my dreams.

In order to sort this information, I did a little engineering…

Visualizing Nations

1. First, I reviewed my transcribed revelation spreadsheet to find names of regions. The document has ~1800 rows, but luckily I’ve been grouping the themes as I go.
2. Then, I created a word doc, listing each nation.
3. To count multiple dreams for the same country, I wrote the country name multiple times, hyperlinking each dream separately.
4. Finally, I copied the hyperlinked-nation-labeled dreams into another spreadsheet, to form the appearance of bar graphs. I added colors that I felt corresponded in the Spirit to each region, and took it from there.

Latin America

By far, my greatest pull in the Spirit relates to Latin America. From childhood friends, to my Salvation experience, to my teaching workplaces, neighborhoods, and more, I have been thoroughly infused with the cultures of Latin America. I’m looking forward to having my feet back on a continent where I was radically saved and delivered, speak the language, and have had so many friends.

You will notice that I have grouped the American Southwest (Texas to Arizona, areas that are heavily Latinized) as part of Latin America. Culturally, this part of the United States (along with Miami and parts of California) is more influenced by Latinos and feels like an extension of the Southern Hemisphere. I spent a significant period of time in the American Southwest as a child and teen, and it holds a special place in my heart.

Asia

Another great influence on my life is Asia. My Chinese Sister-in-law has been a major influence on my life, since my early teenage years, and we have become relatively close. As an auntie, I’ve taken responsibility to make sure that my mixed nephews see a vibrant partnership between their North American family and their Chinese family. Based on that goal, I was able to spend 2 months in China in 2017 with her and my eldest nephew, traveling throughout the countryside and absorbing a ton of information. Selfishly, I’d love to return to China because my multiple entries visa doesn’t expire til 2025, and I do love the culture. Through childhood friends, adult friends, and supporting Asian American Christian ministry in college, I’ve learned much from East Asian, Southeast Asian, and Middle Eastern communities. I love the purity of Asian worship music (especially Awaken Generation out of Singapore).

North America

To be honest, returning to North America (except for seminary) isn’t on the top of my list for this season. I have heard several specific things from the Lord about what he’s doing in Texas and California. I’ve also been tracking with how he is redeeming robbery against Native Americans in the US and Canada, and specifics about how to support the Navajo Nation. The Navajo have land in the American Southwest, and again, that land is close to my heart.

Europe

Likely for school and potentially for friends, I’ve been receiving some dreams related to Celtic nations. I am still working out details on dreams God has sent about other European nations, since those have been on the increase.

Africa

Among the Southern Hemisphere, the majority of my new learning is centered on Africa. Given the regional diversity of Africa, I have had to take getting to know this continent one life season at a time. In college, I knew many East Africans (from Kenya, Tanzania, and other nations). Living in DC, I had various opportunities to learn from my Ethiopian students’ families and West African Friends (especially Ghanaians and Nigerians). As a teacher, I’ve also had students from Egypt, and Morocco (North Africa). Finally, in supernatural training courses, seem to have encountered a variety of people living in South Africa (as a nation). I love the playfulness, confidence, joy, and celebratory nature of West African worship music (especially Ada Ehi’s stuff).

Languages

Beyond just nations, I love languages. I’ve begun receiving prophetic words as dreams in Spanish. As I focus on knowing Jesus’ voice, I’ve been hearing other languages (like Korean and some West African dialect) as part of the textures of dreams. Both in worship and in general life, I love the Kiswahili language like a close friend. Some friendships are just easy, warm, and full of freedom, and that’s the effect Kiswahili has on me.

Apostolic Fusion

Beyond just individual nations, the Lord has me dreaming about Apostolic partnerships between regions and nations. There is not one thing on this entire post that makes me more excited than this topic! The idea of healthy Apostolic exchanges between regions, the idea of being able to godparent one another’s spiritual sons and daughters…Hallelujah! This is the Kingdom of God.

And so?

For my own benefit, I arranged these images as steps in a ladder. I used the symmetrical imagery and color scheme of the Golden Road that God keeps taking me on. Without realizing it, I seem to have arranged Latin America closest (earliest in my experience) and the Apostolic last (the most unknown and exciting). Especially when God must be the one to open doors and the timings are in his hands, visual representations like this feel medicinal and clarifying. What joy!