My first ministry to do for the year is backpacking in New Zealand. When getting this assignment I was a bit nervous. I have never been backpacking or camping before this trip at all, and my assignment was to do this for 16 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What!!!! However, since I have never done this before I had no idea what to expect!!!! So the mission is to talk to people and to spread the gospel to tourists on the Hilary Trail! I’m so pumped and ready and gearing up to go, little did I know what I had gotten myself into! The first thing the team does is take half of our stuff out of our packs and leave them with the ministry contact. Because of that, the first thing I learned was to simplify and I learned that quickly especially in my stomach because food has been very little and water as well. Nonetheless, God has provided and has given me strength!
So we had been camping for a while and have been isolated with only the team and farm animals out in the middle of nowhere and I thought to myself, “Do I share the gospel with animals?!?!?!” At that time a little frustration set in and while I’m hiking I heard God tell me to follow and be patient. I asked him again to make sure that it was God and he said follow and be patient. So, I figure that God wants me to keep following and just have patience. The next day we continue to hike, and finally we come to our camp site, set everything up, and sleep. The next day we decided to go to the river and wash up, because these camp sites don’t have showers. However, we find a small restaurant on the way to the river and it turned out to be a nice place to hang out. So, we decide to sit down in the small restaurant and we met people and had a nice afternoon. On the way back from the restaurant, while I was walking, this woman out of nowhere pops up beside me and walks down the street with me. She stayed right beside me so I decided to talk to here. I came to find out that she was aspiring to be a nun but they wouldn’t let her because of her poor English skills. So, she decided she wanted to go back to India and go to school and get her master’s degree. We talked for a little while longer and she asked me what I was doing. I told her I was a missionary and I was travelling around the world to share the gospel! We talked a little while longer and then she left and the funniest thing happened. God told me to go get her. I was like, “what!?!” He said again, “Go get her!” So not knowing what’s going on, I go back and get her and she tells me she has to go! So I leave her and I go. Then God said, “Go get her!” Then I go back to get her again! So I call out, “Mira, Mira!” She says, “Why do you keep calling my name?!?!” I told her, “Honestly I don’t know what I’m supposed to tell you!!!!” Then everything goes silent. The next thing you know, she has a tons of questions to ask me about what I was doing and why I was living in a tent! We had a great conversation and it ended with her asking me to pray for her! God knew the entire time why I’m in New Zealand and what he wants me to do. Just like God knows what he wants me to do, He also knows what he wants you to do. You can always trust and depend on God! You may have to go through many obstacles, but in the end God has the plan and we must follow it!!!
