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!