Not my camera, but the Lord is teaching me a lot through someone else’s.
This month in Ghana is cool. My World Race team (the 8 of us) is paired with another team from our squad this month (team Radiance). When we arrived to our host’s home the other day, we found out that we would be working with a team from California for our first week.
It’s been really cool to get to know the other WR team and the other team from the States and we’ve only had a short amount of time with them.
On Monday, we went to the gym near the beach and split into three teams. Each team approached ministry in a different way for the afternoon. I was on a team with Mady (from Radiance) and Jaycob (from the team from Cali).
Our team went out onto the beach to talk to people about events we have coming up, and the three of us started talking as we walked from group to group of fishermen on the beach.
One of our conversations encompassed my newfound (and still growing) ability to be bold for Jesus. As we walked and talked, Jaycob prayed for me and for continued boldness. We had known each other for less than 24 hours, and our connection through the Lord made ministry and prayer for each other flow naturally.
When we got back to the gym, we had a bunch of kids with us, so we got to hang out with them and play for 20 minutes. Mady spent some time rolling a tire back and forth with a few kids, Jaycob pulled out his phone with music and then pulled out his camera.
I started taking pictures on my phone a little bit (more of Mady, Jaycob and the back of heads, than anything else), and shared that I wasn’t ready to pull my camera out yet. I shared that I like to wait a little bit until I know the culture that I’m in, and the people I’m with. I want to start building relationships before I start taking pictures.
Fast forward to Tuesday morning. A group of us are sitting in the van on our way to one of the schools to share a devotional with them, and Jaycob asked me more about taking pictures. He asked if I would take pictures on his camera for the morning since he was doing other things for the devotionals. I was hesitant in my yes, but still said okay. For some reason, my confidence level in my picture taking ability wasn’t very high – not sure if I was looking for validation from other people or was afraid of using someone else’s camera or what the story there was (my need for validation is a whole different story that we will talk about another time).
After getting off the bus, I talked to Katie (from Radiance). She spent a couple of minutes encouraging me to be bold and unafraid in my yes and unafraid of doing what I am good at.
At the first school, I was still a little hesitant in taking pictures, but I went for it. I spent that time kind of scoping things out and getting a feel for the whole situation. By the time we got to the second school, I was very much in my element, having a ton of fun taking all the pictures.
We went to a third school right after lunch, and we both took our cameras. My confidence in taking pictures was exponentially higher by the afternoon, and the Lord has been teaching me so so much. From talking to Katie, and other conversations I’ve had on the Race, I need to embrace what I am good at, and use it for the glory of God.
One of the things I’ve been learning since starting the Race is that I sometimes hide behind false humility. If God has given me a gift, whether it be photography, or anything else, I need to not be afraid to share what He has gifted me with.
The gifts I have been given have the ability to build others up and build the Kingdom, so why keep them to myself? What good does that do for anyone?
