Going to New Zealand last summer was a total game-changer and heart-transformer for me. The goal and purpose of our team from Campus Outreach was to help in the continued launch of the new college ministry at the University of Canterbury called “Engage.” Most of our time was spent meeting students, building relationships with them, inviting them to check out Engage, and ultimately sharing the gospel with them. The main highlights of the trip include making pancakes for students on Thursday nights at one of the halls, Wednesday nights with Engage, playing rugby on an intramural team with students, the church barn dance, one on one lunch with students, the coast to mountain trip, and our Olympic going away party!
I learned so much and God did a huge work in my own heart and life. Matthew 9:36-37 is a passage that stood out to me while on the trip. Matthew writes, “When [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
I grew up in what some call the “Bible belt of the South,” where most everyone went to church or at least had an understanding of who Jesus is. While in New Zealand, I had never been around so many people who had literally never heard the Gospel before. It was such an eye-opening experience to be immersed in a culture where the Gospel was such a foreign thing to so many people. This verse in Matthew 9 instantly had so much more meaning and I really saw the HUGE need for laborers all over the world to go share the Good News of our Lord. While I was there, I was given the opportunity to share my grace story with several guys and plant many seeds that I am praying will come to fruition. God opened up the doors for our team to connect with almost 150 students, many of whom got involved with Engage.
Matthew 6:19-21 is another passage that the Lord put on my heart. In these verses, Jesus said, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
The Lord also showed me where I need to be storing my treasures. It was so easy for me to get caught up in the “American dream,” wanting so many things to make myself better off for my life here in this temporary home called earth. My eyes were opened to see that there is so much more than temporary possessions and “success.” My true purpose is to honor and glorify God with everything that I do and to pursue my relationship with Him daily. My priorities have changed radically since I have gotten back and I have truly realized where I need to be storing my treasures.
My heart for missions grew tremendously while I was in New Zealand, and for the first time I heard about this thing called the World Race. My first thought was, “dang that would be so cool to do that, but no chance I would ever actually do it.” On my plane ride home the girl sitting in the seat in front of me was on her way to training camp for the World Race…coincidence? I think not! We talked all about it and I asked her lots of questions. As soon as I got home I did more research about what it was, and over the course of the next few weeks I ran into a few more people that had some type of connection to it. After much prayer and sensing God’s call, I decided that I absolutely wanted to do it. So, I applied and went through the application/interview process and got accepted!
I believe the World Race is an incredible opportunity to go to the other side of the world and live out the Great Commission and share the Gospel with every tribe, tongue, and nation! I want to be a light for Jesus, make His name known to those who have never heard it, and show love and be a servant to those in need. I am so excited about this opportunity and cannot wait to see the things that God will do through me and my team as well as what He will do in my own heart.
