"Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" Isaiah 6:8I went on my first "international" mission trip in February of this year. It was a life changing moment. I knew I was going to El Salvador when I saw pictures of the kids that my friend Geri had taken on a recent trip there. Looking at her pictures I felt stirred. I got really warm and I felt a little dizzy and started to become emotional and cry. That reaction for me was the beginning of my confirmation. Later that afternoon as I was reading Pastor Rick's blog http://cuyahogavalleychurch.blogspot.com/ I noticed he posted a video titled "Send Me" encouraging people to think and pray about serving on mission trips. After watching the video on the very afternoon I felt nudged to go to El Salvador, I felt this was God's way of swatting me upside the head and saying "I can't make it anymore obvious...you're going." There was my confirmation.
I later realized that to get to El Salvador I needed to take a plane but regardless of my fear of flying I was going. There wasn't a thing that was going to keep me from loving on those kids. God provided the finances for the cost of the trip, I had my passport, goodies for the kids, peanut butter, bible and journal. El Salvador here I come! I purposely had zero expectations for the trip. All I wanted was to work, work, work and maybe get to know a group of women from my church a little better. A tiny part of me actually was hoping not to really connect with anyone from El Salvador. Weird right? I'm just being honest. I didn't want any emotional attachments...that would make it too hard to leave after a week. I wanted to be the girl that could go in, get dirty and get the job done. I'd rest when I got back.
I later realized that to get to El Salvador I needed to take a plane but regardless of my fear of flying I was going. There wasn't a thing that was going to keep me from loving on those kids. God provided the finances for the cost of the trip, I had my passport, goodies for the kids, peanut butter, bible and journal. El Salvador here I come! I purposely had zero expectations for the trip. All I wanted was to work, work, work and maybe get to know a group of women from my church a little better. A tiny part of me actually was hoping not to really connect with anyone from El Salvador. Weird right? I'm just being honest. I didn't want any emotional attachments...that would make it too hard to leave after a week. I wanted to be the girl that could go in, get dirty and get the job done. I'd rest when I got back.
God had different plans for me. Yeah, their names were Linda, Chamba, Herberth, Kevin, David Jeremiah, Lizzette, Ana Gloria, Julio, Carol, Diego just to name a few.
More to come...
2 comments:
I didn't realize that was your first trip to El Salvador... I thought you were a veteran there. Don't you love how God works?!
~kim
I hope to become a veteran!
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