Coming on this trip I thought that our main scheduled ministry was going to be evagelism and house visits and praying over people. I became very discouraged because that’s not what was happening. I almost gave up on it all together because it felt like what we were doing wasn’t useful. It was at our mid-point debrief when our squad mentor reminded us that the ministry we want isn’t always handed to us, sometimes we have to create it for ourselves. That was such a needed reminder, so when we got back from debrief our squad got together to see this come into action.
On Tuesday this looked like a couple of us getting together and praying before walking out onto the streets to see where the Lord would lead us! As we walked we would stop at each crossroad and individually pray to see which path to take. We ended up going down this street that we had never been down and we met this older man on the side of the road. We introduced ourselves to each other and found out that he is a Christian as well! We talked for a bit and then asked him what we could pray for him about. His prayer request was so amazing and humbling; he asked that we would pray that he would live his life in the way that best glorifies Christ! We prayed over him, said goodbye, and walked back down the road.
One of my squad mates saw a sign with the name of a church on it and asked if we wanted to go in and pray over it; we said sure! We walked in and the people we first saw didn’t speak English, but they led us to some people that did. Turns out it was the pastor of the church and some other people that work at the church! He told us about their ministry, which was so amazing! They go out into villages and evangelize seeing many people come to Christ. It’s been a bit discouraging for them right now though so we were able to pray over them and their ministry. It was such an encouraging time for both parties!
As we were sitting there the Lord showed me that it is our job to encourage the church while we are here. We may not see salvations firsthand, but we can be a part of it through encouraging the local chuch to do so. Which is honestly better because one day we will leave this country but the church will stay and be able to disciple them!
It only took us four and a half months to realize that we can create our own ministry outside of scheduled ministry, but the Lord is so patient and kind that He would show us this and be faithful in our obedience!
