were asked to write a blog about how we were called to this mission trip.
favorite Sundays at church was when the missionaries came to speak. Maybe
it was the change of speakers but looking back now I think it was God opening
my eyes and preparing my heart for what the future held.
Every summer my uncle from New Jersey brought a group to
Mexico to build houses for a week. I went with one summer and fell in
love…I fell in love with the excitement of traveling to a new place; the feeling
of accomplishment when the cement was laid, the walls went up, and the when the
house was finished; the utter joy of the children when we held VBS, gave them
piggy-back rides, or let them help us stucco the house; the feeling of LOVE
when the mother of the house hugged us with gratitude; the act of giving
everything to God and letting Him do unfathomable things in me, my team, the
whole group, and the people we came in contact with. I ended up going
back to Mexico the next summer but for 2 weeks this time. It was equally
amazing, life changing and God worked in my life again but to be completely honest
with you, the 2nd week completely drained me. I left feeling
not cut out for long term mission work and I had it stuck in my mind that God
would never use me long term but I was ok doing this short term stuff…as
long as it was under a week.
Fast forward a few years to college when I finally started working
on my relationship with God. I had joined a small group of women who were
between 6 and 30 years older than me. These women worked wonders in my
life. I learned so much from their life experiences and guidance
throughout the year. In the spring, one of the women called me up and
said that her brother’s church in the Twin Cities were planning a mission
trip to Poland to teach English. She was planning on going with 2 of her kids and
another girl from our small group. I prayed about it and decided I would
go. This was the complete opposite kind of mission trip than
Mexico. This trip was more mental rather than physical and I’m
definitely a more “get your hands dirty” kind of girl. From
Day 1 of being at the camp, God was saying, “Trust Me”. It
takes a LOT for me to fully trust someone (which was confirmed in my strengths test!),
even God. And although my trust in God has increased tremendously, it is
something I struggle with to this day. But from Day 1 of being at camp,
He helped grow my trust. When we got to camp and I found out I was
working with the kids without a translator I freaked out. It was an
internal freak out with a smile on my face so others couldn’t know, but
God knew. The leader of our trip, Mike, took me aside to chat about the
week and I broke down. I was scared, frustrated, nervous and I was too
stubborn and embarrassed to tell anyone. God used Mike to help me to
trust Him more.
and moved back home and started working as a personal assistant for the woman
my brother works for. After many incidences that verified I needed to
switch jobs I began job searching again. I randomly would look for
mission trips to Africa because I have always wanted to mission work in Africa
and I thought there was no better time than now to do another trip! Well,
then I got interviews at 2 jobs and I got an offer for a job in Duluth which I
took. Exactly one year ago today is when I started my job. When I moved
back to Duluth I decided it was about time I took up cross country
skiing. I bought b
rand new skis, boots, and poles and my 3rdtime ever skiing I fell and tore a ligament in my knee (my MCL) and spent the
next almost 3 weeks in a full length brace on my couch and the following 4 weeks in physical therapy. If you know me, you know that being active is my life. If I can’t be out running or snowshoeing or lifting or whatever I go crazy. Needless to say, sitting on a couch watching movies or knitting for weeks on end wasn’t as fabulous as it sounds. But God does everything for a reason…in this case, He made me immobile to finally get me to listen because CLEARLY I wasn’t getting it on my own. I used this time to read the Bible, pray, and actually listen to God…which I’m terrible at. Well, this lead to me searching for mission trips in Africa again and lo and behold I found the World Race. Never in my wildest dreams did I EVER think I would do a long term mission trip but God obviously had another plan.
Psalm
16: 7 I will praise the LORD, who counsels me; even at night my heart
instructs me.
When I got to work my sister called and told me about dream she had where she got a facebook message from a friend saying that she heard I was doing the World Race and that she had a friend who did it and she said it was amazing and I should definitely do it. I was stunned because of the verse I had been stuck on. Well, a few weeks later I sent my cousin-in-law a facebook message to see if she knew anything about the World Race and her response was basically the same as the dream my sister had. Two, the same night of my sister’s dream, I had my own dream that I was supposed to go to a church that was not my “home church”. I went and that weekend the pastor preached on John 20:21 and on the importance of mission work. Three, I emailed my former pastor’s wife who is the biggest prayer warrior I know to have her pray for my decision on applying for the trip. She emailed me back saying she had already been praying for exactly that for a week! There were a few other confirmations so I applied, interviewed, and here I am today.
