Wow… it’s still hard for me to believe that God has called me to be a part of His work worldwide through the World Race. The last week has made this more real to me than ever. As my squad has begun to grow, we have all started chatting and getting to know one another through Facebook and Whatsapp. Already I see God working in our lives, beginning to weave our stories together. So I wanted to take the opportunity to share with you 3 things God has taught me/reminded me of through the wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ that I have the honor of being on this journey with.
1. You are not alone
Being the only person in my family and friend group with a calling to missions has been really challenging at times. Recently God has blessed me with the opportunity to meet many wonderful people who want to someday go into the mission field, however I still feel as though I am alone in the immediacy of God’s calling. In the beginning of this journey, there were many times that I found myself questioning if I was completely insane to have a desire to go spend a year moving from place to place, leaving behind everything, to answer the call God has put on my heart. Over the last week, God has reassured me of two things… one, I am absolutely exactly where He wants me… and two, I AM NOT ALONE! If going on the World Race makes me insane, then there are 20 other people who are just as insane as I am, and they are all going through the same fears, hardships, excitement, and joys that I am.
2. “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” John 13:35
Within the first 24 hours of us beginning to chat with one another, I had already found myself caring so deeply about my squadmates. I was so overwhelmed (in a good way) by the ways that they would send out encouragements and reminders to recognize God in the little things, or to spend time in The Word. Whenever someone was feeling discouraged or had something happen in their life, we covered one another in prayer. I have been reminded that my family is so much bigger than just the people who live in my house, it is bigger even than my home church. I have brothers and sisters in Christ all over this country, and all over the world, who without a second thought, will take me into their hearts and will love me the way that Christ loves us. My squadmates have been such an inspiration to me, and I have grown to love each of them so dearly in such a short amount of time, and I so look forward to getting to know them better in the coming months and on the Race.
3. The mission trip is not The Mission
If you are anything like me, you probably have a crazy sense of adventure. I hate staying still! I often feel like if I am not out in Africa working with orphans, or helping with the homeless in the inner city, then I am not fulfilling my mission. But that is precisely the problem, in those moments, I have made it “MY” mission. I lose track of God’s Mission because I run it through the filter of my mission, thinking that if it is not some grand adventure that pulls me out of my comfort zone it is not enough. Through my squadmates, God has reminded me that my mission should be God’s mission, which is to love others and to shine the light of Jesus in everything I do, even the things that seem like the mundane everyday occurances. While mission trips are a great tool for accomplishing the purpose we have here on earth, they are not our mission. They are merely one way of living out the great commission and being Jesus to the world, and they are not any better or worse, they do not hold any more value, than going to the office and doing my very best in everything, or loving my coworkers. God has used my squadmates to remind me of this, reminding me that there is need everywhere and I don’t have to travel to some far away land to love and to be a light in the world.
If you would like to get to know the amazing men and women that God has brought into my life through this squad, I encourage you to click on the “Meet My Squad: July 2015 (1)” tab to your left and check out their blogs, and as always, if you would like to partner with me (or any of my squadmates) you can click the “Support Me” tab and follow the instructions.
Lots of love,
Maria
