Happy Friday guys!
I have been home from training camp for two weeks now and I am currently, 30 days 16 hours 53 minutes and 15 seconds away from launch. While I have been home I’ve been trying to process everything I learned from training camp. My last post said what I did, but did not really get into what I learned. After sitting in my thoughts for two weeks I believe these were the five most important lessons I learned.
1) Importance of your story
Day 5 of training camp was spent teaching us the importance of storytelling. They separated us by gender and gave us different workshops. Adventures In Missions (AIM) is partnered with an organization called Beauty For Ashes. Beauty For Ashes holds women ministry workshops in various communities around the world. During this workshop, I really learned why people sharing their stories is so powerful. It’s not the person’s personal struggles or what they went through that impacts people, but the impact of Gods story in us. How God uses circumstances to shape us. How shame does not have the power to control you and giving other the knowledge that they aren’t alone. ISNT THAT CRAZY!!!! Guys….I loved this workshop so so much.
2) Community living is the best and should be the only way to live
Okay, so for all of you who know me pretty well you guys know I’m a pastors kid and I have people in my house all the time. So, you would think, “DUHHH you should already know this Lilly”, but guys I really love to rely on myself. However, I learned, again, that I really can’t think of everything, however, if you didn’t think of it somebody else did and they got it. Often, a community can be stronger than the individual, and we all need others to help us get where we are trying to go.
3) “Thank You for Sharing”
Feedback and compliments. I don’t know why, but when I hear those words I want to run the other way. Like far, far, far away. I never know how to respond to people holding up a mirror to my face and saying “LOOK! I admire how you do this and encourage you to keep doing that, but I really think you can grow in this.” Since I just always had the lack of knowing what to do in situations like that I try really hard to avoid the situation altogether. However, our team leader gave us a really amazing tip on how to respond to any situation. Either if someone shared something heavy or someone just wanted to give you some feedback. Just say “thank you for sharing”. It makes them feel heard and you avoid the awkward silence. Just having this tool has really helped me be more open in allowing other people to speak in my life.
4) “Soft Heart, Open hands, and a Yes in your spirit.”
If you have been following my blogs I wrote about a little mantra that I have been telling myself while I’ve been preparing for this trip. “Here I am Lord send me, and help me to be still and know that you are God” During the first day of training camp, I told myself this mantra a lot because man, I was struggling. We were in the middle of our first sermon and all at once a million questions just jumped into my brain. I’m about to minister to communities I have never experienced. I know very little about each countries cultural customs. What if I offend someone? How am I suppose to know what to do? How do I minister to them? And then the person speaking, as if they knew the last question that went through my head said, “Do not be afraid, all you need is a soft heart, open hands, and a yes in your spirit.” and I freaked out in my seat. I reached down for my journal as quickly as I could and wrote it down.
5) Listening to the Holy Spirit.
Let me set the scene for you. We just came out of a workshop on listening to the holy spirit and are about to do an activation activity off of what we learned. I’m in a circle with my team with my eyes closed trying to listen for words, scenery, really anything to speak over someone that was tapped in our circle. May I add that none of us, beside the person who was tapped, knows who we are speaking words over. As I’m sitting there I feel a little useless. Like, nothing is coming to me. My mind is just blank. But then I kind of see a cliff looking out in the ocean. In my mind, I was thinking “Lilly stop thinking about the beach, I know you’re missing the water, but you’re trying to think about what to speak over your teammate man, focus.” But the more I just sat there the same picture came to my mind, but now there was some guy walking towards the edge and it looks like he’s gonna fall right off the edge and this feeling of panic comes because he’s going to fall. But of course, I think my mind is just playing games because I’ve never done this before. I’m not the person who gets visions. So I’m still sitting there silently telling God, “What words do you have for us to tell” And again the same picture and feeling of panic comes into my head. This man walking towards the edge of a cliff that looks out to the ocean. It looks like he’s trying to get at something he cannot quite reach and he looks like he’s going to fall. So, after a while, I just say what I see out loud because if it doesn’t mean anything, it just doesn’t mean anything. I got nothing to lose, but a little piece of my own pride. But, as soon as I said it someone else said they were seeing the same picture, but something was telling them that they were going to be alright. That God’s got them. As we sat in that circle there were so many ways that God spoke to and through all of us. Either it was through food, small memories, little pictures, straight up words. It just really showed how God knows us so well that he knows what will actually make sense to us as individuals.
Believe it or not guys I leave in ONE MONTH!!! And through you’re guys generous hearts and God’s grace I am so close to being fully funded. I am hoping to be able to be fully funded before I leave the States. Literally, any amount helps. I am also available to do any housework, tutoring, college application prep, SAT prep, Babysitting, yard work, literally anything for anyone who needs help with anything.
Love you all like crazy!! Again, thank you to everyone who has supported me financially, through prayer, and sponsoring gear. This would not be possible without all of your support.
Sincerely,
Lillian Son
