For the past few days we’ve been sitting in sessions for training on our journey that we embark on. We are on a first day of travels!!
For those who don’t know this is not only a mission trip to go spread the Love and Light of Jesus and His Word, but this is also a discipleship program where we will learn ourselves as a team to live in community amongst one another as the disciples did with Jesus. They lived, ate, slept and prayed together. They walked throughout the market places laying hands on people, healing the sick and casting out devils. They learned to do kingdom life with eachother. Family life and discipling one another.
Some of the sessions I have sat through have been absolutely brilliant in teaching us practical skills on how to communicate with one another and build intimacy with one another. This has always been my heart, but not how I grew up and with technology in America and in the American church we seem to know very little about intimacy and vulnerability.
Many don’t know how to communicate their thoughts and feelings and rarely do they know how to just sit and have a face to face conversation to resolve things. We shove things under the carpet and act like everything is all good when really we just end up deceiving ourselves, and giving place to the devil to cause divisions between one another in our thoughts.
They are teaching us to give feedback to one another and not just feedback, but healthy feedback. I thought it was so amazing when one of the instructors said that encouraging people is how you build trust with them.
I thought that’s so true!! If someone is always encouraging me I feel very safe and open to them to share my weakness or something I’m struggling with because I know they see me through non jugmental eyes, and proved they already see the greatness in me. I know personally people that bring correction in my life and they do not encourage me, I’m closed off to and don’t trust them. And I’m now learning that it’s because there is a healthy way in building trust in relationships and your not supposed to open up and trust just anyone.
This ministry is really teaching me how to live kingdom life with eachother so that we can build the intimacy we are meant to have. People these days are afraid of intimacy because that means vulnerability, and vulnerability means being naked in front of others. Letting others know your weakness or even just your feedback that doesn’t agree with them. Talking about things that you don’t think are working and discussing to find a common ground to resolve things. I’ve never been a part of something like this and it’s a beautiful thing- nothing I ever grew up with.
We are being taught as a team to build an atmosphere of love and wide open communication because where there is lack of communication, lack of intimacy the devil can have more place to build lies in people’s minds and cause division. The church was never supposed to be a deal on Sunday where we meet and then live like hypocrites during the week. The Body of Christ is supposed to be a family a community that are involved in each other’s lives daily growing in love together so we can go out into the world and be a force to be reckoned with.
Of course we can not do this without intimacy with our Father that is first and foremost the most important relationship we have!!!! Intimacy with Him is what I am all about!! Trusting the Father because He is so good and never fails is one thing, and has always been easy for me because He always comes through, but learning how to work with imperfect people that are at different stages in their walks with God is whole different story.
But just the practical ways I have learned this week mixed with the love of God and word of God what beautiful unity and intimacy we can have with eachother. Healthy relationships.
Today we start our flights to Cambodia. We will be able to explore Korea for the day since we have a 16 hour layover. Wahoo!! Might as well get an extra country in!!
In Cambodia our team will be staying with our ministry host which I just found out her husband is in Oklahoma at the moment! What are he chances!! Haha. This month our ministry will consist of working in orphanages, teaching English, church building and planting and feeding programs.
We also just found out our last month will be in Spain!! What a treat to go out on!!
Here are the countries in order for those who have asked…
Cambodia
Thailand
Malaysia
Philippines
Zimbabwe
Zambia
Malawi
Ukraine
Albania
Romania
Spain
Love you and thank you for your support and prayers!!!
