Mission Trip Adventures

   

     About a week ago I got back from a mission trip to Grand Isle, LA. The Lord’s faithfulness was so clearly demonstrated and proven many times during this trip, and I would just like to recount and share a few of them.

     We left Kentucky on Tuesday, the 17^th at around 6:00 pm. My roommate and I had decided that she would drive the first half, and I would drive the last half (we had gotten certified to drive the school’s 15 passenger vans). I had never stayed up all night before, much less drove through the night. There were a couple times during the night where I was fighting sleep hard, but during those times I would call upon the Almighty grace of my God, and He always came through. Through this, He taught me to depend upon Him, that He is sufficient for every single need, and that He cares about every detail and wishes that we bring Him glory in EVERY area of our lives, even when we are driving through the night. We arrived safely in Grand Isle at around 8:00 that morning.

We just survived 14 hours of driving! 

     On Wednesday and Thursday evenings, we held youth services for the kids and teenagers that were a part of the church we were working with. Katlin and I taught a lesson on Thursday night. While we were driving down on Tuesday, we had gotten into a discussion about surrender and what the Lord has worked in us and is working in us. We both felt led to teach on us this Thursday evening, and it built upon what was taught Wednesday night well. The whole service fit well with the theme, and after the service, Katlin and I had the opportunity to talk with a girl about what surrender and faith look like practically.

Preparing for the lesson

      On Friday, a truck from the food pantry was supposed to come to deliver food to around 100 families. People started getting to the church about 2 hours before the truck was supposed to arrive. They sat in chairs that were set up, just waiting for the truck and food to be delivered. We (the volunteers) did not really have anything we needed to do until the food truck arrived, so I knew I had a choice. By this point in the week, we were all pretty tired and had not gotten much sleep, so just zoning out for a while or mindlessly hanging out with friends sounded like a good option. However, Jesus impressed upon me the need to be intentional and engage, denying my own feelings because this was all about HIS glory. I ended up having really good conversations with 3 women and getting to point them to Jesus. Every moment is an opportunity for the Gospel if we will just engage with an open heart and eyes.

     That evening we visited New Orleans. There is such need for Truth and Jesus in that city! There are booths and booths set up of fortune-telling and Voodoo. We went out to eat at an authentic seafood café, got beignets, then were waiting for the rest of our group on the steps in front of a cathedral. A girl was hula-hooping for money in front of us, and a guy around her age was sitting to the side. Veronica and I were burdened for the girl at the same time, so Veronica, Katlin, and I all prayed together about it and how to reach out to her. After we prayed, Blake got up and went to talk to the guy that was with her. We figured this gave us the opportunity to talk to the girl, so Veronica went over to get her, and we were able to share the Gospel with her (it turns out the guy who was with her is a Christian, so Blake was able to pour into him for a bit). I had no idea what to say to her or how to lead into the Gospel, but as I began to pray about it, God opened up the conversation and made a way.

(sorry for the fuzziness!)

      On Sunday, we went to two church services (one at the church plant the church we were staying at has). Saturday and Sunday both consisted of having a “lock-in” for the youth, so this time the Lord used to continue to teach me what it looks like to be constant and pour out and engage, no matter what my body may feel or want to do.

     I cannot proclaim enough how good our God is and how faithful He is when we will just simply depend  upon Him and let Him be God in our lives! Truly, He is worthy of ALL we are, and when we yield to Him, His grace goes to work, and His strength is proven in our weakness! 

Garrisoned by His Power

“Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” 1 Peter 1: 5

     The word “kept” is an easy word to pass over. It doesn't really look like it means much. When we think of this word, we typically think of holding onto something or just retaining something. However, the Greek word for this is incredible.

Kept- to guard, protect by a military guard, either to prevent hostile invasion, or to keep the inhabitants of a besieged city from flight; garrisoned

A garrison is a body of troops in a fortified town.

     This is what the Lord promises to do for believers. When God begins a good work, He brings it to completion (Philippians 1:6). If we are in Christ, no fiery dart of the enemy can touch us.

“If it can get through Jesus, it can get through you. Name one thing that can get through Jesus.” Eric Ludy

     Jesus doesn't just save us, and then leave us as prey for the wolves, expecting us to fight them off in our own strength. No, if we will call upon Him and let Him, He will garrison us in Himself. The enemy doesn't have to have any control or access to our lives. We are not intended to live under his thumb.

     So often I hear Christians talk about their “struggles with sin” or the “big” things they typically struggle with or have a weakness toward. Though it may be glossed over with nice-sounding “Christianese,” these things are really just enemy strongholds that we have not claimed victory over and have not let Jesus eradicate from our lives. Nothing of the enemy can touch us if we are in Christ Jesus. These “sinful strongholds” are not to be a part of our lives.

We are garrisoned, protected, fortified, and guarded by the Almighty power of God.

     The word for “power” in this verse is the word we get dynamite from.  Dynamite is one of the world’s most powerful explosives. It comes from the chemical Nitroglycerin, which is also used to treat heart conditions. Therefore, we have this dynamite power of God surrounding us, guarding us, protecting us, and fortifying us. Our hearts are garrisoned by Jesus Himself, so we should we ever give into fear, worry, anxiety, or any other sin when we are offered this dynamite level protection of God?

     Nitroglycerin can be desensitized to the point of being “safe” or no longer explosive. This is done by adding other mixtures to it or cooling it significantly. The same applies spiritually. If we allow the enemy access to our lives, other “mixtures” are brought in. If we compromise with worldly things, we are desensitizing the power of God within our lives. If we let our passion for His Word and prayer cool, then the power of God will not be as pervasive in us (in fact, prayer is the secret to maintaining this power). We then become “safe” Christians, the ones who go to church on Sunday and live upright, moral lives but have no impact on the world around them.

     About a year ago, a thought occurred to me. If we have the dynamite power of God within our souls, should we not also have the effect that dynamite would have in our environments?

     The early church knew this power. They turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6). Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:6). He does not change. So, if He is garrisoning us with this same Almighty power, the world around us cannot remain the same. It’s time for Christians actually to start living in this dynamite explosive power and thus turn the world upside down once again. 

Rescued in order to Return

I grew up hearing and believing that God rescued me and delivered me. He rescued me and delivered me from hell by dying on the cross for me. He rescued me from punishment by taking my place and dying for my sins. However, it wasn’t until the past couple years that I realized really why He rescued me.

Psalm 50: 15 says, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble. I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”

The word for “deliver” here means “to rescue, draw out, equip, and arm for war.” It’s the last two definitions that really stood out to me. Then, when I looked up the various uses for this word throughout the Old Testament, it’s used in regards to “arming for war” almost half of the times.

So why does God rescue us and deliver us? He brings us out of our sin and darkness, equips us, arms us, then sends us back into that same sin and darkness with His very Spirit indwelling us that we might pull others out! Most of us are content with living our comfortable lives, proclaiming that Jesus has rescued us from the horrible, sin-ridden lives that we used to live. However, His purpose in rescuing us is that we might go back into the darkest, most sin-infested places on earth with the bright light of His Truth and Presence to see those people radically set free also.

I’m reminded of Jackie Pullinger. As a young, single woman she gave up life as she knew it and sailed to the walled city of Hong Kong. This city was so dark and depraved that even the police refused to go there. Yet, Jackie walked in absolute confidence in her God, unafraid. She saw people completely addicted to heroin and other drugs radically set free by the Gospel. Jackie was willingly to risk everything, go where no one else wanted to go for the love that she has toward Jesus Christ. She went against all “common sense” notions of needing to “take care of herself” and “persevere her own life before helping others.” She was concerned with His glory. Not maintaining her comfort. As a result, God supernaturally surrounded her with His protection.

“The world out there is not waiting for a new definition of Christianity; it’s waiting for a new demonstration of Christianity.” Leonard Ravenhill

God has been forging this in me this past year. He has given me a burden for the darkest places. I can no longer sit idly by while the rest of the world plunges off a cliff into hell. He has birthed within my soul a passion to walk boldly and audaciously into what could be termed “hell on earth” in order to bring the Gospel to the hurting, lost, and broken.

Let us not be content where we are at. God has called us to spend and spill our lives, willing to risk life and limb for His glory. It’s a question of eternity. C.T. Studd said it well:

“Some wish to live within the side of church or chapel bell. I wish to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell.”

Not my Will but Yours

“God is greater than our heart and knows all things.” I John 3:20

This verse is the context of condemnation and assurance in Christ Jesus. However, as I was meditating on it, I realized that it can also relate to what we are prone to base our decisions and actions on: feelings.

It’s so easy for me to shift my focus from the cross to what I’m feeling currently. We all have desires and longings that are not wrong in and of themselves and may even be from the Lord, such as the desire to go overseas to spread the Gospel, the desire to pursue a certain degree or course of study, the desire for marriage/family, etc. However, God’s ways and plans are above and greater than all these.

His ways are perfect. We may have lofty, ambitious, and terrific dreams, even ones that He has placed within us. However, they must constantly be surrendered to Him. His plans are above our own.

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55: 8-9

“There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless, the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand.” Proverbs 19: 21

“The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue is from the LORD…Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.” Proverbs 16: 1, 3

The word for “know” in I John is “ginosko,” meaning it’s the most intimate, marriage kind of knowing. God knows every intricate detail about His plan for us. We must trust that His will is perfect and that He will work out His perfect plan for our lives in His own time and way. And even though we may not understand why we are at the place we are at right now or why these seeming God-birthed desires within us are not coming to fruition, He knows all things.

So, trust. Wait. Abide. Seek Him. And consume yourself without pouring out your life for others.

“For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside Thee, what He hath prepared for him that waits for Him.” Isaiah 64: 4

After all, it’s all about His glory, not our desires or feelings. So the only way for Him to get glory out of us is if we yield our wills completely to His so that His purpose would be accomplished in us. And when His will and ways are given the preeminence, the result will leave us speechless. He is worthy!

Waiting, Trusting, and Following: Reflections of the Summer

This summer has certainly been an adventure. Toward the end of April and very start of May, most of my friends around me at college knew what they would be doing over the summer. Many were going to be counselors at summer camp. Some were getting jobs back home. Others were going on mission trips. However, I was still waiting. I had been praying about it, certainly, but did not have any specific direction or leading.

I thought that it would be neat to stay in Campbellsville, and it made sense. A friend and I could live together and get jobs. Well, she ended up committing to something different, and we couldn’t find jobs anyway. So, I went home. The only definite thing I had planned for the summer was the Set Apart Girl Conference at the end of May. However, before this and after having been home for a few weeks and applying for jobs (to no avail), Nikki, Veronica, and I had the opportunity to go back to Campbellsville and visit for a day (with a delicious stop at IHOP along the way). 

Little J-Ron. So precious.

Also during the month of May, my grandpa was in the hospital, so I was able to help out my family and run errands for them. It was direct confirmation that I was supposed to be at home. 

Next stop was out to Colorado for the Set Apart Girl Conference. This was an incredibly edifying time and something that I definitely needed! Truth was spoken clear and direct and was convicting. An added blessing was that I got to fellowship with seven sisters from last summer (I think our semester was the most represented!). Plus, early morning corporate prayer at Ellerslie is always so encouraging and strengthening!

Got to help out with Ellerslie Prep Academy a bit. :)

His Little Feet performed!

A sweet sister! We had been trying to get together all year and were finally able to :)

Eta girls!

I came home from the conference and again pursued trying to find a job. After many applications, I got a job at the Arby's near us. However, just a bit before this, I had heard about a camp in Tennessee called Lighthouse Christian Camp. Many tweens/teenagers from all over Tennessee come and get to hear Truth for each week. After praying it through, I believed I had a leading from the Lord to be a counselor for two weeks for teenage girls at this camp. So I resigned the job at Arby's and left to go down to Tennessee. I cannot thoroughly describe this amazing time, but God taught me so much through it. I learned what it meant to truly rely upon Him in utter dependence for energy and strength. I learned what "No downtime!" truly looked like and how to appropriate it. I learned what praying through looked like at a deeper level. It grew me tremendously, and I got to see girls come to the Gospel who were so hardened before. And before starting my time at the camp, Nikki, my mom, and I got to attend the last few days of Cross Style Training Camp.

Downtown Lebanon, TN during the Training Camp

Ellerslie Alumni (and to be Alumni) represented at Lighthouse

Sweet sisters in Christ - such a blessing!

Girls' Camp :)

I got to celebrate my 20th birthday with family (whew! Glad to be done with those "teen" years!). Jesus made it so special, and He really hallmarked to me this year how beautiful He makes things when I take no thought for my own life or manipulating circumstances so that it goes as I would want it to. Things truly do work when He's at the center!

The last two weeks in July, my mom, sister, and I went to North Carolina, where Kayla attended a medical camp. My mom and I had a marvelous time exploring North Carolina and had some great finds at Thrift Stores and Consignment Shops (the best place to find adorable, feminine skirts!). 

Duke University Chapel

Bellarmin Mansion

Carriage Ride downtown Wilmington!

Morning walk along the beach with Jesus? Yes, please.

The beginning of August, Eric came to preach at a Men's Conference near us, so Nikki and I got to run the Ellerslie book table for that and be super encouraged by the incredible turn out! Lindsey and  Melody, my room mates from last summer also got to meet up with us, and it was such a wonderful reunion!

The summer was also marked by wonderful opportunities to connect with friends from high school and family and catch up...as well as some random, hilarious moments.

Barely any lines at Holiday World and got to spend time with lovely lady.

Cousin Time!

And the random...

So, God has done mighty works this summer. I certainly felt the pressure in April to orchestrate things on my own, take the pen into my own hands, and script the story for the summer. However, waiting on God is always the best option. His ways are high above our own. 

"For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither has the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what He has prepared for him that waits for Him." Isaiah 64: 4

"Waiting on God is the first step to moving forward." Ben Zornes

"God always gives His best to those who leave the choice to Him." Jim Elliot

God keeps bringing this up to me time and time again. He always knows what is best, and I refuse to manipulate my circumstances or push forward my own agenda. I only want what He wants and what will bring Him glory. Even though it may be extremely painful at times and require a death to my desires, it's all worth it. There are so many other things that happened this summer that just shows forth His will behind it all that I couldn't or chose not to share. Oh, He is faithful and so worthy of all our trust and lives! 

"I wish Thy Way. But when in me, myself would rise and long for something otherwise, then, Holy One, take sword and spear and slay." Amy Carmichael