What does it mean to renounce your rights? A question that I was confronted with the first weekend we were in Argentina. At first, I would have said that renouncing is all about giving up. But, now I think the emphasis is more on what I GAIN when I do the giving up.
The first Friday we were in Argentina we were told that we were leaving in a couple hours for the whole weekend (72 hours) and received a list of 10 and ONLY 10 items we could bring for our trip. The list included a hat, sunblock, water bottle, under garments (but no additional clothes), toothbrush/toothpaste, deodorant, a warm jacket, comfortable shoes, and a sleeping bag. We had no idea where we were going or what we were doing. And that ended up being a pretty consistent theme throughout the whole weekend.
Here are a few thoughts from the mind of Jen that weekend:
“I cannot utter a word because I need to conserve energy and focus on simply putting one foot in front of another”
“Who is this Vanessa chick from YWAM? She intimidates me. But I know she also seems so cool and incredibly wise”
“Is that a McDonalds? I WANT THAT … wait what? Did I really just think that? I must be starving”
“Are we sleeping in the park tonight?”
“Really it’s 1am and we are still walking… WHERE / WHEN are we going to bed?”
“Okay what I REALLY want is Starbucks. Or just coffee in general. Yeah I need caffeine”
“Wait, I love talking to random strangers, who knew? People have such interesting stories”
“Butttttt I HATE not being able to communicate in a language I cannot speak. Yep, definitely gonna do Spanish Rosetta Stone when I get home”
“How are my tennis shoes going to last me a whole 11 months if I keep on walking 10+ miles a day”
“What is the point of this really – is this just World Race training camp all over again?”
“Ooooo so many cool coffee shops and restaurants and parks … I would die for a free day here”
“Walking again…where are we going this time”
“I cannot wait to eat something other than crackers and jam”
“I definitely smell … I’ve been in the same clothes for three days lol”
“Okay, we can do this because God is our strength and provision”
“Thanks for answering my prayer request for wanting growth Lord, this is really testing me”
Let’s back up a bit. On that Friday afternoon, we took a bus to one of the main parks in Mendoza where we met up with another team and where our YWAM (Youth With A Mission) Staff shared a few details for the weekend. And then we got our first task: getting dinner without using any money. We prayed and prayed and asked the Lord where to lead us. He took us on an incredible journey, with every step and corner and image we saw, there was a purpose and a direction. We finally ended up at a pizza restaurant where we believed was the final destination. Alli and I explained (in our broken Spanish) to an employee, Leo, what we were doing. He ended up offering free pizza if we would help clean some dishes. So 30 minutes later, the dishes were washed and the pizza was ready. We walked back to the park where we met the other group. It was already about 11pm and our bellies were READY to eat. However, once we were all together, our YWAM leaders informed us that the food we had just SLAVED over, we were going to give away. They explained that we had been blessed with free food and now it was our turn to be the blessing. We were frustrated to say the least, but the Lord still allowed for this time to be a time of growth and reliance on Him. This time we asked the Lord to lead us to people who truly needed food that night. We had conversations and lots of prayer with park performers, homeless people, and street vendors. And even though our bellies were empty, the Lord filled our hearts. He reminded us of His promise that “whoever loses his life for HIS sake will find it” (Luke 9:25) and that dying to our own desires is the door to abundant life.
A person on YWAM staff recently told us, “the only rational reason to follow Jesus is that you are convinced that what you GAIN is far more valuable than what you LOSE”. The rest of that weekend, we did similar activities that tested us, challenged us, and forced us to GIVE up our comforts. Comforts of independence, selfish desires, control, entitlement, reputation, and pride. And while that was (and is) so incredibly challenging, I was reminded that Jesus indeed IS better. Better than everything, good and bad we will experience on Earth. And I’m learning DAILY over and over again what it means to renounce my rights for the sake of the Kingdom and the Lord is showing me how SWEET and PURPOSEFUL a life dying to oneself can be.
ALSO — our team is headed tomorrow to Chejje, Bolivia, a remote village north of La Paz, where we will be partnering with a church doing VBS and ministering to surrounding villages for the month. Prayers for safe travels and that we would be a blessing to the church there would be so appreciated!!
