We were asked to write a blog about how we were called to this mission trip. Here is my story……………
I guess I don’t know exactly when it was that I was called….but I’ve known for a long time that I wanted to reach out to people in need. I got started with missions when I raised my hand in church (2006) to volunteer to go with my Pastor to Belize. He had been going, as a part of a prayer team, with a medical team for quite a few years and that year they needed some extra hands. It was amazing and something I will never forget…..it was also my first contact with a third world country. My first contact with people who really had nothing.
I was hooked and I knew that I was forever changed, forever “infected” with a need to do more. I went the following year with them and would of kept going, but they stopped. I tried another trip on my own after that and resigned myself to take some time off of them. God has been continually poking me and reminding me of my “infection”…..the desire to help more.
I heard about the World Race from a man at church. I went home right away, researched it, and got the application. The whole decision has been a whirlwind…..and I think I am still in the shock phase:) Perhaps even the insecure phase, like I won’t be effective on this trip. How can I bring hope to someone who has lost everything they own and is dying of AIDs? How can I convince a prostitute that she can get out of the life she was forced in to? Me, a klutzy redhead from Colorado who has had her share of mistakes and still needs a lot of improvement in her own life.
I guess we don’t really know how we can help until we are thrust into a situation. With faith in God, he will give us the words to say. Prayer is universal and done in so many different ways, but one thing that is the same is the hope that it brings. So, though I feel insecure and inadequate, like the words I say won’t make sense, but I know they will give hope through Christ. Insecurities shouldn’t stop us from our calling. I was called to do missions, because God has given me a servants heart. He called me at birth, it just took me awhile to figure it out. I had to step outside my comfort box and realize that leading my day to day life wasn’t enough. I think that many of us are called at birth, but the world gets in the way….it blinds us to it. Well, I have opened my eyes as I’m sure the rest of my teammates have. This is our calling…..it’s our time to strip off the world and see what God has planned for us.
I guess I don’t know exactly when it was that I was called….but I’ve known for a long time that I wanted to reach out to people in need. I got started with missions when I raised my hand in church (2006) to volunteer to go with my Pastor to Belize. He had been going, as a part of a prayer team, with a medical team for quite a few years and that year they needed some extra hands. It was amazing and something I will never forget…..it was also my first contact with a third world country. My first contact with people who really had nothing.
I was hooked and I knew that I was forever changed, forever “infected” with a need to do more. I went the following year with them and would of kept going, but they stopped. I tried another trip on my own after that and resigned myself to take some time off of them. God has been continually poking me and reminding me of my “infection”…..the desire to help more.
I heard about the World Race from a man at church. I went home right away, researched it, and got the application. The whole decision has been a whirlwind…..and I think I am still in the shock phase:) Perhaps even the insecure phase, like I won’t be effective on this trip. How can I bring hope to someone who has lost everything they own and is dying of AIDs? How can I convince a prostitute that she can get out of the life she was forced in to? Me, a klutzy redhead from Colorado who has had her share of mistakes and still needs a lot of improvement in her own life.
I guess we don’t really know how we can help until we are thrust into a situation. With faith in God, he will give us the words to say. Prayer is universal and done in so many different ways, but one thing that is the same is the hope that it brings. So, though I feel insecure and inadequate, like the words I say won’t make sense, but I know they will give hope through Christ. Insecurities shouldn’t stop us from our calling. I was called to do missions, because God has given me a servants heart. He called me at birth, it just took me awhile to figure it out. I had to step outside my comfort box and realize that leading my day to day life wasn’t enough. I think that many of us are called at birth, but the world gets in the way….it blinds us to it. Well, I have opened my eyes as I’m sure the rest of my teammates have. This is our calling…..it’s our time to strip off the world and see what God has planned for us.
