Leaving Costa Rica, I entered Jamaica with internal tears. Though tears were no longer streaming down my face, they were streaming down my heart. I missed the jungle and my brothers and I hadn’t even been gone for a week.
God broke my heart for these beautiful people and if it were my choosing I would still be there. But you see, I signed up for a mission trip that went to ELEVEN different countries – not NINE. I still had THREE more countries. That means many more opportunities to see Christ move, to grow in Christ, to try new food, to meet new people, to experience new cultures, and to partake in crazy adventures. But even with all that, I found myself wanting to stay in Los Chiles, Costa Rica, with my sticky, Deet-covered skin in my twin-sized bed that my feet hung off of, communicating with only broken Spanish, shoveling yet another spoonful of rice and beans into my mouth, building relationships and loving my brothers when the rest of Costa Rica shunned them because of their criminal records.
But just as we leave one country, we enter another. And Jamaica was up next. I gave God my “yes-spirit” and plunged forward. I entered the upbeat Reggae country NOT with the mindset of “3 more months until I’m home” but thinking that these last 3 months in the Caribbean are just as important as the first 3 in Africa. Why decide to just survive now and not give the Lord my all these next few months? I don’t think so… my “yes” is my “yes.”
This month I am with a team doing what the race calls Unsung Heroes. Our goal this month is to research potential organizations for Adventures in Missions (AIM) to partner with. Organizations that are already doing kingdom work, but are…well… unsung. We are looking for the kingdom soil so that future teams can come through and serve in hopes of seeing the harvest come!
So…one thing with Unsung Heroes is that your schedule….your everything….is totally reliant on hearing God. We have no assigned ministry. No assigned lodging site. No assigned meals. Zero – Zilch – Nada. 24-hours upon arriving into the country of “Yea-mon’s” and Bob Marley’s face everywhere we didn’t have a place to stay. Per usual, the Lord provided. Escorted directly from the airport to our comfy home for the next few days, we were ecstatic to get this month going and to see the Lord continue to open doors.
Unsung Heroes month has a very different look to it than the past EIGHT months have. We have been sitting behind computer screens researching not only potential hosts, but lodging as well. It gets quite comical when you call the number of a friend of a friend of a friend to ask if you and SIX other girls can crash at their place for a few days STARTING TOMORROW. But can I tell you something? I serve a God who loves when we are obedient and – thus far we have stayed at 3 different private homes in 3 different cities. We have been welcomed in as if this is just normal life – beds provided, meals prepared, and our dutty (dirty) laundry washed. I promise you we don’t look like homeless Americans … God clearly spoke to these people and they were obedient. One of our hosts said that she wasn’t sure if she was supposed to allow us to stay with her and her husband, but when we unloaded from our taxi with big smiles wiped across our faces, she said that it was confirmation that we were supposed to be there.
I have been able to witness the Lord work in ways that I haven’t seen before. He has spoken so clearly to my teammates and me. We have made connections with different ministries and are a tad bit jealous that we won’t be the ones that serve them! We continue to live with a kingdom mindset – striving to never miss an opportunity to share the Gospel and to point someone to the foot of the cross.
God has shown me how much of a process Unsung Heroes is. Researching – Emailing – Researching – Phone Calls – Appointments – Researching – Submitting hosts to AIM. He has constantly encouraged me with the words, “Trust the process.” Every step of this is meaningful and needs to be completed … and in the end we will see His kingdom advance.
I can look back and see the process of coming on the race – I had to trust His process. I look to the future after the race and it still appears a little blurry as to where and to what He is calling me but He keeps whispering, “Trust My process.”
So here I am, bobbing my head to One Love, emailing ministries, asking strangers to house 7 girls, wishing I had dreads for a split second, realizing that 30 SPF is not strong enough for this white gal, partnering with Christ and others, and downright loving my life.
It has been amazing to see the work that the Lord is already doing across Jamaica and the lives that are being changed. Please continue to pray for MORE ministries and MORE lodging sites for my team this month. And, most importantly, pray for MORE lives that choose to follow the ONE who saved each one of us.
