Q squad learned pretty quickly at training camp that we love to sleep, but I think what my team has been learning these past few weeks is that we don’t rest well.
We are finishing up our first month and I’m just now trying to write my first blog about my experience here. Why? Because I didn’t want to let everyone down. When we arrived three weeks ago we had our first day of ministry on a Tuesday and found out we didn’t have ministry for the remainder of that week. So we set out on this journey eager to serve/minister to people in other countries and we start with a week off, never really leaving the house. It became pretty discouraging to do so little having prepared for a year of so much. I felt like I was letting my supporters, my host and most of all, the Lord down.
But this month has taught me so much and I didn’t see that until now:
Serving. This month we have been staying with Pastor Gregorio and his family in Zolano. We have a running joke “All they do is love us, feed us, and serve us.” We say this because we cannot go anywhere without the Pastor and ministry is less than 5 minutes away from our house. My mom and dad would love this I’m sure, but my team and I did not. We have been going stir crazy staying in the house most of our days. This family has done nothing but serve us from the moment we got here. They make every meal and show us off at church. They bring us “COCA” and say “My Pleasure”. This family has taught us what it’s like to truly be served. It was a rough adjustment for me because being served is not the position I signed up for. How cool is God though? He showed us through the most amazing family in Honduras that this is what the body of Christ looks like! We serve and love one another every single day.
Intimacy. This was the best possible way to spend our first month. The Lord wanted my attention and He got it. The Frosts’ said it best in their book, “The greatest commandment always comes before the great commission.” Our team started asking the Lord what He wanted us to get out of this month and he gave me the word Rest. Not the kind where I binge watch shows and become mush in my bed. But the kind where I invite the Lord in. The kind where I look to grow in intimacy and relationship with the Lord. These past few weeks I have done just that. I’ve found true Rest in the Father and it is a beautiful thing!
Ministry. Last night we had a guest speaker, Pastor Julio, who was quite the little firecracker. He preached the sermon in Spanish and tried to translate along the way for us. He spoke about missionaries and the heart behind missions. But he got my attention when He spoke about reaching just ONE. Where have I heard this? Training camp, launch, and only every other year of my life. But it sank in last night. We may not have left the house much to evangelize or spent enough hours with the children. What we did do was from the heart and purely out of love. We tried to reach who we had in front of us and if it was just ONE then that is enough!
So reflectiving back on the past few weeks I don’t think it was a waste. It was so much more and I wouldn’t trade it for anything else. Start seeking what the Lord is trying to tell you in this season before you miss it!
