Month 8 of our Race was Northern Ireland/Ireland for me and others who participated in PVT (parent vision trip… I’ll explain later.)
For this month we were working with Causeway Coast Vineyard church in Coleraine Northern Ireland. My team specifically was actually doing no specific thing. We assisted mostly with the behind the scenes working of the church, which includes things like sorting and organizing food for the food pantry and clothes for their wear house, which assists families in need, transcribing sermons, paining the lines in the parking lot, serving at a banquet for the regular church volunteers, handing out flyers and so much more.
That month we did two ministries in particular that impacted me personally, those were Healing on the Streets and Encounter.
Healing on the Streets is exactly what it sounds like… So how did the church go about that? For the past several years a group of church members would go into the city square, set up 6 chairs, and invite people to be prayed for in reference to physical healing. Now, before this month I would have said that I believed God was capable of healing people, but he would never do it through me. Before we went out on the streets the church gave us a sort or orientation/training on healing and what it could look like. During that training The man leading it showed us something.
Most, if not all, people have one leg shorter than the other. If you sit in a chair with your hips back all the way, hold your legs out and together, and turn your feet apart keeping your heels together it’s usually obvious, especially with shoes on. So our teacher for this showed us that God can grow legs. Sounds a bit far off, I know. I was certainly skeptical, but I thought ok we’ll just see what happens. Well, growth happened. Total legit growth. I saw it with my own eyes and witnessed it on myself as well.
That, however, was not the most impact-full thing that I learned that day. Above I said I never believed that God would heal another person through me, well he still hasn’t. What I learned though, and this sounds pretty basic but I never really understood it, is that 1. God heals in his own time and it’s ok that it doesn’t happen immediately and 2. that having the faith to continue praying for healing when it doesn’t come is far more important then the actual act of healing.
The next ministry was Encounter which in a nut shell is evangelizing on the streets. Something that is practiced on the race is actively listening for God’s voice in reference to yourself and receiving words for others from him as well. This is something I always thought couldn’t, or maybe rather shouldn’t be used on average people you meet in your day to day life. I thought this mostly out of fear because most people (even Christians) are unaware that God cares enough for us to work in this way and I didn’t want to be rejected or thought to be nuts. Practicing this with strangers on the street is also part of Encounter. We were only able to do Encounter once that month but I will never forget the example of faith and boldness that the woman we went with showed every time we approached someone. And also to see how open people really were to hearing it. Rarely were we scoffed at or rejected by people, and even if we were we remained faithful in sharing what God had for the people around us and He was faithful in return by providing us with good experiences too.
So PVT, let me inform you as to what that even is. PVT (Parent Vision Trip) is a trip designed for the parents of racers to come for one week, usually in month 8 or 9, to visit and get a taste of what their child has been experiencing for the past several months. While visiting parents are encouraged to fully engage in World Race life with their child through ministry, worshiping together, and various other things. I was lucky enough to have my mom come out for that week (and a HUGE thanks to those of you who donated flyer miles to make that possible!!).
This was quite possibly the highlight of the month for me. Not only because I got to see my mom, but also because I was able to share this part of my life with at least part of my family. If you have ever done missions work before you’ll know how hard it is to articulate what happens on these trips both personally, and with the work you do. You also will know the challenges of going home to people whose lives have continued on a very different path without you. Something people rarely talk about is how alienating missions can be from your family and friends. Having someone at home who has experienced it with you to some extent is a huge blessing. I was to grateful and proud to be able to show my mom who I have become in my adult life.
Also, I don’t know how to end this blog and have run out of things to say so here are a couple pictures of my mom and I to finish this off 🙂
This was part of our ministry working a sort of Easter carnival… No I did not gain 30 pounds, it’s just layers people.
