Hello everyone! I’m coming on here to share why I’m committed to going on this mission trip. First off, I never expected that I would be planning to serve God in another country, let alone another continent. My sister, Catherine, went on a mission trip for almost a full year and I would always say how out of my comfort zone I would be doing that. I consider myself to be more introverted and I tend to like sticking to the same routine.
It was actually over these past several months (when the pandemic started) that I started to strengthen my relationship with God even more. I made sure that I was always made available to listen to what he had to say to me. At first I was just wondering to myself what I should be doing right after I graduate. I started to pray about this asking the Lord if I should jump right into two semesters of paralegal classes, if I should just be working, or if there was anything else I should do.
Out of curiosity I looked up mission trips, not too convinced that it would be something I should do. There were just so many things to think about: would I be able to make friends, how would I adapt in another continent, and how would I even afford to do this? It is always very clear that God has everything in his hands and he will have his way, but the thought of all these things were a little scary. I’m going to be honest they still are kind of scary to me.
I started to hear God’s call for this mission trip one week at church during a message based on Jonah. There were many things that stuck out to me almost like God was directly speaking to me. I still have the notes that I took that week at church that talk about how we need to continually obey God even when we don’t understand what He’s doing because everything is in His control. God also puts us into strategic places to win the world for him and spread the gospel in a way that is appealing to those who don’t know him. This last point was an is very important to me; God puts us in places where our own comfort and desires are pressed. An example of this is how sometimes we are too worried about our own physical comfort, like Jonah, instead of what God has planned for us.
This stuck with me so hard because I was, and still am a little bit, worried about my own physical comfort. I was worried about making friends, adapting in a new environment, and raising enough donations for this trip when instead all I need to be thinking about is how God will provide and support me through this entire experience. These things were reiterated to me again from God when I was with some friends doing a Bible study and they chose the story of Jonah to talk about. At this point it felt as clear as day that this is what God was telling me to do, no matter what my comfort level was with it.
I am so thankful that I have this opportunity to serve God and spread his love with my wonderful squad. He can move mountains as we head to southern Africa and he will provide! It will be so amazing to work with these communities and spend time showing God’s love to the children in those communities.
