Assignment: Unsung Heroes
Cyprus. He we are. What does mission work in Cyprus look like? There are many different avenues of ministry here. For some teams on my squad it has been work with refugees. For another team, it was working with people who have been rescued out of human trafficking. Another team has had the unique opportunity to serve in a radio broadcasting studio, reaching unreached people groups in other regions and nations. God is MOVING in this beautiful Mediterranean gem. My team’s assignment has been a little different from the others. Our assignment: Unsung Heroes.
The heart behind Unsung Heroes is to meet men and women of peace in unreached regions, and establish relationships with those who are living with a Kingdom mindset. This means that they seek the Kingdom of God, proclaim the Gospel, and are sensitive and obedient to what the Holy Spirit is moving them to do.
We entered as the only team in North Cyprus, and we did not know anyone. While still in North Africa, we prayed fervently and asked the Lord where He wanted to position us. Kyrenia, a STUNNINGLY BEAUTIFUL region was highlighted for us. After my team searched online for an apartment within budget, the Lord dropped a miraculously good deal onto my teammates phone. We found an apartment starting at 10 USD per night. Ten, TEN, tennnn USD!!! Can you say AMEN?! And if you saw this place, the view, the amenities, you would not believe there is any way possible way this could be $10. Again, AMEN, PRAISE GOD!
Anyway, continuing… so God provided this unreal apartment right in the middle of the city we believed He was preparing for us. Once we got here, (which was after nearly 70 hours of traveling from Africa), we took a Sabbath, slept, rested, took in the surrounding beauty. Thursday morning two days later, we were sitting in a church service with 20 other congregants over the age of 70, all of British background, who call themselves ‘Swallows’ due to their seasonal lifestyles of travel between the U.K. and Cyprus. Filled with excitement and questions, we joined the Swallows for tea and coffee at a very British cafe. They took a liking to us, and we completely fell in love with this precious and seasoned congregation. While they were as sweet as can be, we sat patiently, hoping, waiting, praying that one of the members would begin sharing about some fantastic ministry that they were involved on the island. We dreamed that they would reveal how they had been waiting for God to deliver the workers who were ready and willing to be a part of the harvest season! But that moment did not come. We returned to our apartment, excited about our new friendships, but still seeking and asking the Lord where the people He was leading us to were located. And we continued to wait, continued to pray, and continued to explore the community and region that God placed us in, faithfully stepping forward into interactions, believing that He had something for us here. We hoped to meet people on trails through the mountains, on walks through villages, sitting by the ocean, walking into gyms, anywhere! Though none of these interactions looked the way we anticipated, we still believed God.
We strolled into church the following Sunday morning, and were somehow Shanghaied (jk no force or coercion, singing is essentially our day job haha, it was more of a last minute surprise choir performance)into the choir for this adorable church! Following church, we were invited down into the basement fellowship hall for lunch. Between the five of us on my team, we made nearly 20 new friends, and had two potential new ministry contact opportunities to pursue! (Side note, the Swallows have seriously been overjoyed with our presence there. Truly, the joy of the Lord has been bubbling up and overflowing, unexpectedly bringing a fresh outpouring of His Spirit in the church.) One potential contact was a pastor at a local university. After more prayer and some internet research, we sent him a message in the late afternoon, and received a response at 5am the next morning. He asked us to meet that day! Shocked and thrilled, we prayed over our meeting with the pastor, and watched God do the rest.
Less than 6 hours after he responded to our message, we were sitting in his office at the university, with two other church leaders, discussing our mission and purpose here in Cyprus. He then began to share… and what he shared began to bring tears to all of our eyes. He told us that for six years he had been praying and asking God to fulfill a promise that He had given him in a vision. In his vision, God provided workers to come into the land of Cyprus, then He began to fill the land with water, the flood water rising higher, representing a saturation of the land with the Good News of Jesus Christ! Every member of my team began to cry. The pastor was so encouraged, exuberantly asking us what we wanted to bring to the people within his congregation and in North Cyprus. “Feed us!”, he proclaimed, a minimum of three times. He was hungry for what God was doing, excited at the potential of our partnership. This story and relationship is still unfolding, but I am so in awe of God’s fulfilled promises to us.
That evening, we visited a local coffee shop and bar that caught our attention day one of exploring Cyprus. That evening, my teammates met the manager, a follower of Jesus! He then said he wanted us to meet his friends who were also missionaries here! Come through Jesus!
So here we are today, drinking coffee, sharing about God’s goodness, the blessings of being a part of the Church, God’s family, singing and blasting worship music, sharing testimonies, and praying over each other.
Life is an adventure. EVERY SINGLE DAY is a miracle. I’m bursting with songs of His power, love, and majesty. Surely, I cannot wait to see and hear how future teams benefit from these further developed relationships with the Unsung Heroes we encounter here. What a privilege to be purposed to participate in universal reconciliation, at every step in the process!
