EH! O, From Canada!
Hello family! So it’s been a while since I’ve talked to anyone in the States, this is the first time I’ve had the opportunity to get on the computer & share about the trip thus far, Mom & Dad, I STILL LOVE YOU, I’m not ignoring you and miss you A LOT AND A LOTS. <3
So, no one would know this because I didn’t tell anyone but the days leading up to the trip I was NOT looking forward to going, my family could possibly attest to that slightly because of my horrible attitude. I was nervous and anxious and was so selfishly close to picking up the phone and calling Lisa LaGeorge the day before the trip to pull out and tell her I couldn’t go on the trip. I wanted to stay home and be comfortable in my room for the summer, not having the pressure to be uncomfortable and go out of my way to evangelize the lost, do things I’m not used to and don’t find particularly “fun”, and I didn’t want to have to be other’s centered. I wanted to selfishly use this summer to please myself, to do what I want, to tan, read, hang out with friends. All of these were super sinful desires on my part, I realize now. Thanks be to God all of these desires have been completely destroyed since we arrived and have been in Canada.
The Lord, through the past week has made me realize how selfish these thoughts and desires were, I was wanting the summer to be about me, as if I was “obligated” and “deserved” a break from ministry and being spiritual for the summer since I go to a Christian college. This is completely opposite of the truth, as believers we do not ever get a break from being missionaries essentially. We are called to, no matter wherever we are, in the United States, in Canada, in Africa, at a Christian school, and even in church, to be disciples and to be gospel-centered. This means that even if I had called Lisa and stayed home this summer as a true believer I would have been commanded to do exactly the same things that I am doing here, serving in the local church, continually devoting myself to working out my salvation, exhorting other believers, and doing all I can to rely upon Christ and further the kingdom. So, for those of you back in the States, if you’re sitting on the couch all summer, or even looking at your summer vacation as a break from Master’s and “being spiritual” I would seriously recommend you evaluate your position in Christ and just really how dedicated you are to the Lord if that’s what you want to do all summer.
The first thing that the Lord has taught me since I’ve been here is essentially that I have a corrupt view of what a mission trip really is. We as believers do not simply GO on missions trips we LIVE missions. The things we have been doing here in Canada have not been outlandish acts of service, they have been super practical things I could easily do at my church back home, or any other church. I thought that I was going to go on this grand mission trip where I would be involved in evangelizing random strangers, the lost, and seeing people get saved left and right, but our main mission field while we are here is essentially evangelizing those who have heard and know the truth in their minds, but have not allowed the gospel to permeate and saturate their entire being and heart and soul. The trip has at times been slow getting off the ground, as we are still trying to investigate different areas that we want to serve in during the 6 weeks we are here, but it has been so amazing and I already feel closer to God than I have ever felt before, by His grace and mercy.
My experience with missions thus far have been going to a third world country, where English is not the primary language, and the main ministry is evidencing the goodness of God and faith through actions rather than words and relationships with the people there. Here however, that has been completely different! Even the people who I told about the trip beforehand were super skeptical, thinking it weird that we would send a missions team to Canada rather than say Africa; they were confused as to what our ministry would look like because Canadians seem to be pretty “well off” as the world would describe, which is true indeed. Canada, though as I have started to come to realize, though they have heard the gospel for the most part, and understand the gospel, they have not truly taken it to heart and allowed it to permeate every aspect of their life. The people here speak English, obviously, and they have grown up in a place where the truth of the Bible and the Gospel is easily accessible, but their hearts have seemed to become calloused to the emotional nature and all-encompassing nature of the true Gospel. I guess you could say that though they can logically understand the gospel, they do not comprehend the heart and soul implications of the gospel. Their lives do not match up to the truth by which they claim to live.
So, our duty then, is to as Matthew 28 says, not only aim to preach the gospel but more importantly, disciple those whom we encounter, teaching them and being faithful to establish relationships. Our essential mission while here in Canada is to establish relationships with people in the church, meeting with them throughout the next 6 weeks, being discipled by the older and discipling those younger than us. We’re hear to revive the faith of those who we come in contact with, to show them the passion that comes with having a relationship with Christ, and showing them that loving God is not a mundane, task-oriented thing, but rather it’s a life transformation that begins with the heart and manifests itself through joy in all areas of life and relationship with Christ in general.
Our main ministry, you could essentially say I guess, is going to be to love people, encourage people, and exhort others to a life of love, joy, peace, comfort, and trust in Christ. This doesn’t mean that those of us on the team claim to be able to do these things perfectly, without fault, but we acknowledge that Christ has made us each a new creation, has purified us through the death of His Son on the cross, and has begun and will finish the good work He started in us when He saved us. I personally have been so overwhelmingly encouraged with the interactions I have had with the people here so far, from people at the grocery store to people in the church and children in the youth groups we have been participating in. Though we have only been here for about 8 days now I have been more involved in ministry than I ever have before; this is the most church activity I have been included in. We have done everything basically, from helping lead elementary chapel at school to high school chapel in music and the guys in preaching, we have helped with a lot of youth group stuff, Bible studies, a lot of fellowshipping, cooking, planning events, cleaning, painting, administrational things, playing with kids, we’ve done a little bit of everything so far, it’s been wonderful. I’m looking forward to the abundance of additional areas we will have the opportunity to minister through in the weeks to come.
PERSONAL ENCOURAGEMENT
So far, I have felt more loved and more apart of the family of God than ever before. I have gotten to meet so many amazing younger and older people in the church, as well as people in town and along the way. I have met many people who know more about the Bible than I do, I’ve met people who know nothing about the Bible, I’ve met a lady who has almost an identical testimony as me and so on. I think the thing that has been the most encouraging to me thus far has been just how ministry is so over-arching, and more than just preaching or singing in the worship band. I have gotten a picture of just how expansive serving in church can be, it can be anywhere from working the sound booth for chapel/church to singing, to visiting people in their homes, to simply discipling in the church and hanging out with people. I have been encouraged by the fact that church ministry has so many faces and requires so many different kinds of skills and peoples, whereas before I thought I wasn’t as useful because I can’t sing as well as most or play an instrument ridiculously good. That is not the only type of service though, it ranges to all things, as I’m finding I’m somewhat gifted in hospitality and fellowshipping with the younger kids, and it doesn’t even feel like serving, because I enjoy it so much and it’s so encouraging to see that’s how Christ has personally gifted me. As each day passes by I think I am confronted with my spiritual gifting and God’s grace more and more, I get to see the ways that God so uniquely and specifically gifted myself, personally, and how different the gifts I have received from Christ are from the people on my team. God is so amazing and so sovereign and encouraging in how He has gifted us, and it is also encouraging to see how those gifts are so clearly ONLY from Christ, they are not of ourselves or our own doing, but they are GIFTS from God. He has given them to us so that we can love others, so that we can live mission-minded, so that we can serve the body more efficiently, so that we can glorify our Father in heaven. Even more encouragingly God has gifted us spiritually so that not only can we serve in the church or in general, but so that we can enjoy serving, so that ministry will be something that gives us pleasure not only because it is what we love doing ultimately, what we are passionate about, but because it gives God the most glory and can only be done through Him.
Some things you can be praying for while I’m here, for myself, that in all things I remember that Christ is the central importance, He is the reason that I am here, He brought me here, so ultimately my goal and aim is to please Him and keep Him at the center of everything I am doing while I am here. Pray that I can remember to incorporate the gospel in every conversation I have with people in town, in the church, amongst my team, and for the rest of my life. Pray that this trip doesn’t become about me and having fun, but that it would be primarily about Christ and spreading the gospel in the midst of having a good time and rejoicing in my salvation. I want to be as purposeful with every minute of every day as I can while I am here, so pray that God will show me exactly how to do that. Also, mostly, pray for my pride and tendency to worship myself, that I will die to myself every single day and surrender all that I am, want, and expect from this trip to Christ, because He is in control and He is the only one worthy of my worship and honor and praise. I deserve none of the glory, none of the praise, but all is through, for, and to Christ while I am here as well as in the rest of my life. Also, pray for the general humility of the team, that we would all serve out of hearts that long and thirst to glorify God in everything we do and not be puffed up by other people’s praise and compliments to us; pray that all of our minds would be focused on the grandness and surpassing greatness of Christ so that we cannot think for one minute, more highly of ourselves than we ought, and that WE are doing a great work or are so holy, because we were once lost and wicked and separated from God too until He reached out and saved us, we were once unable to do anything good because of our sin nature, but God, being rich in mercy, made us His children and adopted us so that we could have purpose, meaning, and could rejoice in salvation and an eternity with Him.