It’s month three and we’re now 3 countries in. Enough time has passed now that some walls have come down, many of us formed lifelong friendships and we’re doing this thing called life, walking alongside each other come what may…
Some days it’s rainbows and butterflies, you’re all on the same page, life is grand and ministry is good. You meet people from all over the world, gain perspective on different cultures, learn about different beliefs and you get to see and meet people right where they are. Sometimes it’s brokenness, sometimes it’s a longing or need for acceptance, other times it’s just a lost soul, seeking something greater than themselves but they don’t exactly always know that what they are missing is Jesus.
& sometimes, you have to see and meet people where they are on your team…
Just because we are on a missions trip and we all have a desire to serve the Lord, it doesn’t mean that we are perfect people. It doesn’t mean that we didn’t all bring some baggage on this trip aside from our backpacks. In fact, if we’re honest, we’re a mess! But what shouldn’t be a mess is our relationships with one another, especially if we want to have a strong relationship with the Lord.
It’s been on my heart to share a blog post so bad about what my time in Thailand was like and I promise I’ll blog about that soon, but today I felt God impress on my heart to share what is really going on.
& actually, my devotional today said this: “When we fail to lean on one another for help in solving our problems, we miss the relational benefits of actually doing ministry together. This, of course, perpetuates more division. We build walls instead of bridges.”
I won’t go into any details on the issue that has caused conflict but what I can share is that right now, as a team, we are divided. Things have been done or said that have hurt the dynamic of the team. A correction was attempted and because of this, it’s been difficult to minister to others when we aren’t in a good place. But that doesn’t mean that it’s all been in vain either, God has been faithful to show up and I’ll share more about our minsitry opportunities in the next blog post.
Despite everything, however, God did reveal something to me about it and today I’m choosing to just let it go. Regardless of if I believe I addressed something in love or not, at the end of the day, God is the only one that can and will correct whatever needs to be corrected, whether that is in me or any other party involved. Everything that needed to be addressed was addressed and it’s not my responsibility or anyone elses to be expectant for any kind of admission of wrongdoing to happen. I want to be the one to build bridges. I want to extend the same grace that God meets me with daily. As hard as it may be to accept that we are not in one accord or “in Harmony” – God has still used this time of trial to grow us and for that I am thankful.
I guess more than anything, I am sharing in our struggle, because what we need now more than anything is prayer. Prayer for unity, prayer for revelation, prayer for perseverance and prayer for trust and restoration. So if you would so kindly join with me in prayer for my team, I would greatly appreciate it.
Thank you all so much for your love, your support, encouragement and prayers. I love y’all greatly!
Finally, I’ll leave y’all with this excerpt from 1 Corinthians. I hope it encourages you, as much as it has encouraged me. Enjoy!
Amor y Paz! Siempre, ANA
