Hello family and friends!
I arrived at training camp in Gainesville, GA on Thursday January 24th after a early morning and very little sleep. After meeting my team of 6 lovely women and an amazing team leader, my excitement for these next couple months has quickly escalated. Training camp has been full of delicious, cultural meals (they cook meals depending on where each team is traveling to), strict 15 minute shower schedules beginning at 5:45, sleeping on portable mattresses with 60 other women in the same room, and luxurious porta pottties, BUT it has also been a time of preparation, worship, and knowledge.
As we learn more about ministry, I am reminded of why I am going on this trip. In today’s society, when “mission” or “mission trip” are mentioned, pictures of people with children, people doing manual labor, and lots of cool naturey instagram posts come to mind (here’s a funny video they showed us during our session on this topic that put this into perspective https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcAYeKMJbgY). It’s crazy how much society has made mission trips about glorifying and prioritizing ourselves and forgetting what the real mission at hand is. John Piper said, “Missions exist because worship does not.” What does this mean? Basically, God’s plan is for every nation, tribe, people, and language to worship Him and this trip is my opportunity to partner with Him to go make disciples of the world. The amazing part is, we can do this in our everyday lives too!
Since officially being here, I’ve had a lot of doubts in regards to the trip (I’m not qualified, I won’t be there long enough to make an impact, etc). However, all these statements go away when I remember that all the Lord wanted from me was a simple yes to go. It doesn’t matter if I change someone’s life or not, it’s about planting a seed in people and showing them that there is a love that comes with no strings attached. These next few months and beyond, sometimes I’ll get see the growth of the seed that I planted and other times, I won’t but that is ok. I know the Lord will be rejoicing just through my simple acts of obedience.
This blog post has basically been an opportunity for me to process what has been happening these last couple days. Since graduating in December, applying to grad schools, waiting to hear back from them, and preparing to leave the country for three months, my mind has been racing at million miles per hour. I apologize for its length but it feels nice to finally take time to pause, reflect, and remind myself why I’m going. I know how easy it is to get into the routine of life and become passive to the things and people around us. This week, I challenge you to live out God’s purpose for us and bless a stranger or someone in your life through a simple act of kindness/obedience (buy someone’s coffee, do dishes without being asked, buy flowers, show your appreciation for someone, donate to a shelter, prayer, etc).
We will be leaving Georgia to embark on our journey on Monday and will arrive in Cambodia on Wednesday (my birthday!!). Please keep my team and other teams in your prayers and thoughts as we travel all across the world to live out our purpose. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this post, I really appreciate it! Until next post…
–Steph from Gainesville, GA
