If you have ever been on a mission trip you know that there is nothing better than serving and experiencing God every day for a straight week. This was actually my first mission trip… crazy I know, because I’m going from one small mission trip in Florida to 11 months all around the World.
Our theme of the week was unashamed.. To bby the God that you worship, the person he has made you and the Gospel he has given!
I just wanted to share a few things I learned on this amazing spring break! God not only taught me that he is present all the time, but that he is always working. He never stops working, even if you feel like it. I saw that clearly through this week in Vero Beach, Florida with Epic Missions. We served everyday through the food banks, thrift stores, schools, after school programs and a dog shelter in Vero.
Story 1: On tuesday morning after painting and cleaning for around two and a half hours at a dog shelter, about nine of us got back into the van covered in paint, exhausted and ready to eat. On our way back I was driving the 12 passenger van through an intersection that had a blinking yellow light, when out of nowhere a car came across the intersection (going through a red blinking light and a stop sign). There was nothing that I could do as someone continued to scream “hold on” or maybe that was me, I can’t remember. After it all happened, two of my friends continued to jump out of the car to instantly help the woman in the other car and pray with her, as I pulled over and two of my other friends grabbed me and sat me down to pray and console me.
Everyone was okay, but how? We were going 45 mph and only three out of the nine people had their seatbelts on. It was all God… I saw him through that entire situation. Through the amount of prayer of all that were involved the instant it happened, to the kindness of the police officers and firefighters, through no injuries, to my reaction to the crash in which I could have made a decision that would’ve left someone seriously hurt, but God had the wheel. You know… Carrie Underwood’s song “Jesus take the wheel” is soooo real, if you trust him with your life he will take the wheel, literally!
Story 2: One of the first days we were helping out at a thrift store, providing any kind of help they needed such as stocking shelves and cleaning up. There, we meet a few people who were volunteering as well, I met a kid around the age of 17 there. He was very shy and standoffish at first guarding himself as I continued to talk with him. As time went on, he opened up about his life and all that he had been through, continuing to explain how he was kicked out of high school, about his mom didn’t want him so she got rid of him and how he was on probation (and that’s why he was there volunteering). We got to talking about his passions, and his love for music and creating “beats.” He shared some with me, he was really good. But, I could see his need for someone to really care about him and his desperation for good in his life.
I kept encouraging him that he could do anything he set his mind to, and although this life throws hardships at us, there is always good. Towards the end of our conversation he said “you’re creepy nice” and I looked at him and was like “well I’ve never gotten that before” and he smiled. I thought about what that meant and realized that the boy was not used to people being nice. It broke my heart to see his hurt, yet I realized very quickly that God’s kingdom is meant to love on others, to be the hands and feet. In that moment I knew that God was working through me and that the kindness was from Jesus’ love. I learned that with Jesus we can show everyone that love and kindness are real.
Ultimately, what I learned from this is that if we show the littlest bit of kindness and love towards others, they will open up. Not only that, but that Jesus is always working in these situations.
It’s cool to see Jesus in others around us, and how much our group reminisced on the “When I saw Jesus moments” during our week in Vero beach. There were more than we could count. Not only did God teach me that he is always working in our lives, but that his plan is better than ours. He wants us to be unashamed of him so that we can spread his love and Glory. It’s cool to see how God is preparing me for this World Race! Love you all!
Stay tuned for fundraising options next week!
