We were asked to write a blog about how we were called to this mission trip. Here is my story …
My story is less like a calling and more like a slow revelation. More of a process and a building of a foundation and less like an adamant call to go! I became a follower of Christ when I was in college. The whole Christian thing was new to me – the lingo, what was acceptable, etc. So, when announcements went up around campus that BSU was going on a mission trip for Spring Break, my curiosity was peaked for sure. It was a trip to a different place, all in the name of Jesus. It spoke to everything that I loved – adventure, friends, and this Jesus I was getting to know. Yet, I never made it on that trip. And it wasn’t until about 4 years later that I dipped my feet into the mission pond!
My first trip was one state away, but it took me to a place deep within me that felt like home. I was on my feet all day sorting through shoeboxes, with Samaritan’s Purse, searching for illegal contraband or candy that would melt on the long journey across the world. My feet ached but my heart swelled as I began to realize what serving was all about and what little effort it took to make a big impact on someone’s life. I also began to realize what happens to people who serve together. Four of those people on that trip are some of my favorite people to this day. Oh yes, missions was stealing my heart.
You can imagine my excitement when I got to be a chaperone for the youth on their mission to Guatemala. I remember two things about that trip, besides the precious people I went with. One, was how big God is and how small I believed Him to be. Words can’t describe what happened to my heart the day I heard the girls at the orphanage sing “Shout to the Lord” in Spanish as we were singing it in English. I had read the verse in the Bible about every tribe and tongue, but that day it came alive and I got to actually experience a bit of heaven and it was something I won’t soon forget. Two, I remember how sad I was to be home. The wheels hit the runway and instead of being glad to have my own bed, I was sad that my life seemed to lack purpose.
And so I pursued other journeys to serve and help. And somewhere along the way, I learned that missions wasn’t a trip – it is a lifestyle. The let down of returning to American soil was because I wasn’t living each day with a mission. I remember, on the heels of a return mission trip from Scotland, praying and asking God to let me go back and love and teach the kids we built into that week. I felt him say to stay and do what I do well. In reluctant obedience, I did and learned that I could help and serve people right where I was. Novel concept, considering I work at a church! But as soon as I hung up the cleats of trying to only serve him in other countries, he allowed me to use my passion for serving others right where I was. He allowed me to teach kids that “the church isn’t here to meet our needs, we are the church here to meet the needs of the world.” (Erwin McManus)
And in allowing me to bring kids along for the journey of joining God in His work, we took some kids on a mission trip to New Orleans. It was right after the hurricane. I went in October to check it out and they came back with me in April. It was quite a lovely experience to watch families serve and pray together. But perhaps the image that stayed with me the longest was from the October leg of the journey. Even more than the mass destruction and chaos, was the image of the team that I served with that left a mark on my heart. The very first World Race team. I believe it was part of their training to help the people of New Orleans. And as they did, I watched and soaked in the concept of this crazy idea to go around the world. That was almost 4 years ago and it surreal that my name will grace the pages of this blog. I kept up with them that year and am still baffled that God invited me in to live it and not just live it vicariously through others.
This was a hard decision to leave a job that I love and people that I love more. But I feel like this is the next, right thing for me on this journey called life. Perhaps a quote from Princess Diaries (yep, I’m a dork) will sum up how this crazy notion turned into reality. “Courage isn’t the absence of fear. It is believing that something else is more important than fear. The brave may not live forever but the cautious do not live at all. You are at a crossroads of who you think you are and who you can be – you must allow yourself to make that journey.”
Here’s to the journey!
