Our lives in Haiti last month were nothing of what we would have considered “normal” before the Race.
We lived in a house full of about 40 people. We ate 2 meals a day. The water and electricity had minds of their own (even though we were in a bustling city) and would turn on and off seemingly when they pleased.
But, I loved every second of it because being in Haiti taught me about how to live at home.
We had an assigned host for the month but with the exception of organized church services 3 times a week, and an additional prayer and worship night 4 nights a week with our “family” at the house, we were given free reign with regard to what ministry we wanted to do for the month.
Our host said we could do whatever we felt the Lord wanted us to do.
So, we prayed. We began dreaming with God about what He had for us, how He wanted to use us, and who He wanted to reach.
By the end of the month, we had had multiple prayer burns (praying throughout the night), put on two women’s events, evangelized, preached, hosted a movie day for the orphanage down the street, held a field day, invested into, discipled and lived life alongside those in our house, taught classes (English and Spanish), prayer walked, had game nights, and more.
Haiti, for sure, ended up being one of my hardest goodbyes on the Race.
With no real “assigned” ministry for the month, we woke up every morning with a choice: to choose- in or not. To listen for God’s voice or not. To press past language barriers and into relationships or not. To push past tiredness, feeling physically or emotionally uncomfortable, to let the Lord speak into our own feelings of inadequacy or not.
To say yes to all God was calling us into or not.
My teammate Katie (in her Godly wisdom) pointed out that our lives at home are exactly like our month in Haiti ALL THE TIME.
We live a perpetual “make your own ministry” and we are continually presented with the choice: Are we going to choose-in or not?
A wonderfully kind, wise woman we met in Jamaica, once told us that living “radically” as a Christian, is nothing more than simply being OBEDIENT.
What would the Church look like if it simply began saying yes to what the Lord was calling it to do in everyday moments?
The last 11 months, I have hesitated to use the words “missions trip” or “missionary” for the connotations they bring to many people.
When many non- churched (or, let’s be honest, even some churched) people think of missionaries, they think of white savior- complexed people who swoop in and out of impoverished countries, take too many selfies with small children they don’t know, smack people with the Bible and maybe build a home.
But, what if we redefined what it meant to be a “missionary”? What if every Christian began taking the teachings of Jesus seriously and began actually LIVING MISSIONALLY?
Whether that is in your house, hometown, the city next door or in a country across the world.
This last month, this year really, has asked me to redefine how I see ministry, missions and following the Lord.
It’s in the everyday moments.
It’s in the small yeses.
It’s in the “what are You doing right now and how can I partner with You?”
It’s in the war you wage in prayer.
It’s in choosing to intentionally love the person standing right in front of you.
If we are getting technical, sure, I guess I’m a missionary. However, my life is not defined by the current ministry that I am “assigned” to do.
It is so much more than that.
My life is about choosing to live deeply loving and being obedient to my Father. So, I guess you can call me a missionary. Or you can really just call me a woman who loves Jesus and is saying yes to choosing-in.
