Go.
Just over 3 years ago I got back from a trip that picked my life up, flipped it 180 degrees, and dropped me back to earth to sort out the pieces. I didn’t know then how many pieces there would be to put back together and I suspect I am still finding them.
Go.
Before this trip it was like I had put together a puzzle but I had done it wrong so that the pieces didn’t fit quite right and there were pieces left out. And now, 3 years later the image on the puzzle is becoming clearer.
Go.
The trip that I took was to Brazil with a team of 6 other amazing people. We were going to help with a youth camp down there for a week but we turned it into a 2 week trip instead. We had time with the church before and after camp but we also set aside some time for the beach of course.
Go.
Campers lives were changed during that week of camp but, looking back, I am shocked at the amount of change that I have experienced because of this trip. It wasn’t immediately apparent to me. I was at the US version of this same camp (Faith Ministries International Network at FMIN.org) in July only 5 months previous and that was where the real shake-up happened for me. I knew that that camp experience messed me up, but in the best way possible. This time, in Brazil, it was much more subtle and drawn out.
Go.
In Brazil our crew was put in charge of running the camp games for the week (which were awesome by the way). While running these games it was noted that I had a certain aptitude for this sort of thing. Which turned out to be quite convenient as the US Camp was looking for someone to be a co-leader of games the next year. Handy right?
Go.
So in addition to all of the relationships that I was developing with the Brazilian’s we were working with I was strengthening and deepening these new relationships that I had with my team. Remember I had only met the rest of my team (except for Alex) 5 months earlier during one week of camp and I had not seen them since.
Go.
As wonderful as all of the relationships were with my new Brazilian friends it was the deepening relationships with my team that have so positively impacted my life. As I said above, this experience led me to help run games at US Camp the following summer. But I was also able to secure a spot on the camp worship team. And that’s where things get real interesting.
Go.
But let me first back up. Back up 5 months to that first year at a new youth camp. The whole week flew by in a blur of joy, laughter and love most of all. And then on the last day the speaker was talking about a trip that he was taking in January. A trip to Brazil. He wanted us to pray and see if God wanted us to go. Immediately Alex (see above photo) and I turned to each other and both said, “Dude. Let’s do it.” And we meant it.
Go.
We were excited. Something had woken within us that wouldn’t go back to sleep. So we put money in the offering for the trip and we wrapped up camp. But while the week had ended, the journey was only just beginning.
Go.
Fast forward 5 months again and we are sitting in the airport in Dallas. We are very tired after a 9+ hour flight but we are happy to be back in the States and still riding enough of an emotional high after a wonderful 2 weeks spent with each other and with Jesus to behave sanely. As we eat our McDonald’s breakfast in the airport I sit thinking about a wonderful 2 weeks with no idea of the times to come.
Go.
I am convinced that my life would have played out very differently had I not listened to that prompting from the Holy Spirit on that last day of camp.
Go.
Let me draw a brief chain of events for you to illustrate my point. I attend my first year at a new youth camp in 2011. I hear about a trip to Brazil and hear a voice in my spirit tell me to go. I listen and pursue the trip. I go on the trip and grow the kinds of relationships that last a lifetime. This leads to a more prominent role at the next US Camp in 2012 where I help to run games and play in the worship band. The next year at camp in 2013 I am still helping with games but now I am Co-Worship Leader on the worship team. I am gaining more responsibility and more confidence to go along with it. In November of that year, the camp speaker decides to come to Kansas to speak to a church since he now knows me and my friends and family that also went to camp. Alex, myself and one of Alex’s friends that I had not met previously are enlisted to play the worship set. Her name was Hannah by the way. It goes great and the three of us had such a great time that we decide to play some other events in the next few months. Fast forward to June of 2014 and there is a worship leader at a church close to where I live who needs an acoustic guitarist for his set on Sunday. He texts Hannah, who knows every musician between the Mississippi river and the Rocky mountains and she gives him, among others, my name. He, Brandon, texts me to see if I can play. I have to work but I hear something in my spirit saying, “This is a good opportunity. You can find someone to work for you.” So I do. I get someone to work for me and I go play with Brandon. He was impressed and when he needs a guitar again about a month later he contacts me. I play with him again. It’s right after this that I attend my 4th year of camp where I am the sole worship leader on the worship team. Then Brandon tells me in late August/early September that he is taking a job at another church in Florida. The church needs someone to lead worship on an interim basis while they look for a permanent solution. He recommended me. So in October I start as the interim worship leader at New Anthem Community Church in Park City, KS. It goes well for the first 2 months and the church asks me if I’d like to apply for the permanent position. I actually turn them down citing silly reasons that seemed valid at the time. I think and pray about it over the next few weeks and realize I turned it down because I didn’t think I was qualified. But God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called. So I apply. I get the job and start the first Sunday in January as the official worship leader. I find out about The World Race shortly after and I hear the voice again. “Go.” But I just started a new position. Can I really leave? Well the church I am at has a mission to bring people in, build them up in Christ, and send them out again. They want to be a church that sends. This is perfect! I talk about it with my Pastor and, while reluctant to see me go, he is totally on board.
Go.
It’s amazing what one decision can lead to isn’t it? 3 years ago I hear God tell me to go to Brazil and I listen. And now here I am, ready to embark on a trip spanning 11 countries and 11 months. God used that trip to completely change my life. I am beyond excited to see what will happen this time around. And all because I listened to that little voice. It was just a whisper, barely even a sentence. Just one word. A word that contained a promise. A promise of love and of change. And maybe God is speaking it to you as well. Are you listening?
Go.
