As I sit here in my living room drinking some hot tea with a little cream and watching my new show obsession, I can’t help but reflect on the past ten days I spent at training camp for my mission trip.
It was an incredible week! Full of laughter, cheers, and new friends. My squad of thirty guys and gals along with three other squads camped, hiked, praised God, and prayed fervently together. We learned more about the different cultures we would have the privilege to serve soon. For instance in Asian cultures meal times are an important time to connect with each other over good food. You never serve yourself, either your host or the person next to you serves you. If you eat all the food on your plate, it means you are still hungry and your attentive host will serve you more. If you are full, you leave some food on your plate to indicate that. We got to practice this ourselves our second day at camp.
So much happened during this time as new friendships were formed and strengthened. Our leaders did a wonderful job of preparing our hearts, minds, and bodies for what we could expect to encounter in the upcoming eleven months. I watched the people around me pursue intimacy with God. I watched as a light came into their eyes and their hearts open to all the ways God was pursuing them and inviting them into His will. The whole time I was there, I had an unshakable sense of peace. I was right where I was supposed to be.
I could just go on and on. Please reach out if you want to talk more about my experiences. For now the parting thought I wish to share with you is about the theme I saw this weekend. God works in wonderful and mysterious ways. For about the first seven days of camp, it rained off and on. It was a wet time, but we did not let it dampen our spirits. Oh contraire, I saw it as part of the story God was weaving that ten days. The theme of water persisted in the songs we sung, and on that first night as we sung about our God who is like a mighty Lion, I had this vision of a parched and dried up ground receiving a refreshing and long awaited spring rain. It was an accurate vision for how my soul felt that night. I don’t think I’m far off to say my fellow missionaries felt similar. As the rain came down, I could see growth and renewal happening all around me. I saw it not just in the trees and blackberry bushes but in the hearts and minds that surrounded me.
We are stoked to be part of a team of liked minded individuals who are running towards the finish line of God’s big plan for all of our lives: to be reunited with Him and His son, Jesus. In the bible Matthew 28:19-20 says: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” We are taking this call seriously. We are choosing to go out of our comfort zones and reach out to others so they know there is a God who cares. So that they will know that we care also. We are choosing to care for everyone who is on our team to build one another up.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope you will continue to follow my adventure. I hope you will support us in any way you feel lead to.
