Are you one of those people who likes the unexpected? Or someone who thrives in an environment without structure or plans? If you are, there’s a part of me that envies you…because I am in no way like this.
I like plans, schedules, outlines, details, expectations, & lists. [I got these awesome characteristics from my wonderful mother (who I miss dearly!) Love you mamma!]
As I mentioned in my last post this month is somewhat uncharacteristic of how our other months may look….& for the first several days our team wasn’t quite sure what our ministry was. There was lots of unknown & a lack of structure which sent my organizational brain spinning.
Yet, in the midst of this place I had a sense of peace….because I know my Heavenly Father is orchestrating it all.
While this month isn’t necessarily what I expected, I’m thankful for the ministry opportunities we’ve had thus far. Other than going to Sunday services we have also been able to attend prayer meetings & a Sunday evening ‘concert’. Our group has even had the opportunity to perform for the church. We have a few talented squad members who can play guitar & sing while the rest of us just try to act natural in the back 🙂
On Monday (August 22) our team planned to do evangelism with our ministry contact. Unfortunately it didn’t work out for them to meet with us. I was disappointed & somewhat frustrated.
“More changing plans”, I thought to myself….
But oh how sweet the conviction of the Holy Spirit is….just 30 minutes earlier I had “surrendered” the day to the Lord, trusting He would have His way no matter what. How quickly I had forgotten….. I’m thankful for the Lord’s gentle reminder as I knew I needed an attitude adjustment, & there was still purpose in this day!
Our team got creative & made small slips of paper that had phrases like “Jesus loves you” & “Jesus saves” in French. We also wrote out John 3:16. After lunch our team started walking along the street to find a place to minister. We picked a spot along the road where several kids were gathered, & one of my squamates got out her guitar. We sang, danced, & praised Jesus despite the fact the kids didn’t know what songs we were singing – we were still singing praise to our Heavenly Father!
No, ministry didn’t look like I what I expected it would that day…but it sure was beautiful.
On Tuesday (August 23) our teams were able to do door to door evangelism with some staff from the church we are partnered with. This time the unexpected came in the form of a prayer request. The women my group was speaking to was a Christian, & we asked how we could pray for her before we left. I immediately expected the women to ask us to pray for her health, a job, or some type of material item for her modest room in the apartment complex.
Oh how wrong I was… the women spoke to our translator saying she wanted us to pray that she would have a stronger prayer life with Christ. That was not what I expected to hear at all. My eyes were opened because I can honestly say that wouldn’t be the first thing that came to mind if someone asked to pray with me.
I’m thankful for the way the Lord used this women’s unexpected prayer request to help me reassess the things in my life that have top priority.
From all of this I’m learning to find beauty in the unexpected….
…& I’m learning to find peace in the sovereignty of my Heavenly Father because for Him there there’s nothing unexpected.
