I arrived in Sucre on Saturday afternoon, after one last short flight from Santa Cruz, where I had spent the night. Finally I got to meet the family face to face for whom I had prayed for back in college (they were our dorm missionaries one of my years at BJU! Another small world experience...) and been emailing the last few months.
I know God is always working all things together for our good, but sometimes getting to see that is just plain awesome. And that's how I feel about this trip. Ever since starting a job and knowing I'd be getting vacation time this year, I'd been thinking about how I was going to spend it. I'd tossed around several ideas - going to some Spanish-speaking country and working on my Spanish for a week (definitely not long enough to reach fluency, I know, but I wanted the immersion since that's impossible in my hometown), to visiting different people here in the States, to going to see some missionaries. Since travel to somewhere Spanish-speaking was at the top of my list, and I'm pursuing "full time mission-work," my mom suggested finding another ministry would probably be the best idea in helping me narrow down where God seems to be leading me. Deciding I wanted to visit another place than Honduras, I started looking at different ministries in different countries... but nothing really jumped out at me. Then my parents got to talking, and Bolivia came up - our church just started supporting the Maries a year or two ago (I'm not exactly sure when, as it was while I was in college). Now that I've made a long story even longer, I will tell you that I finally emailed them to see if going was even a possibility. And for some reason, they said yes! But I know why now, and that's where I get off the rabbit trail/background story and get back to how God really was in this trip.
My time in Bolivia was more than anything I could have imagined. Besides all the different things we got to "do" - from seeing the city, to times of ministry such as going to the deaf school and the boys' home - I also got to take in a lot of insight/information/advice/encouragement. And that is really where I feel that God was working way beyond what I could ask or think. It was the moments sitting at the kitchen table talking, or listening while standing there helping to wash dishes, that were so helpful. And Luke and Jessica graciously put up with any and all the questions I had or thought of about mission boards, deputation, and mission work, as well as telling me about their experiences and things to consider as I try to figure out how God is working in my life. I thank God for them, for the time with their family, and for all the words of wisdom that came my way.
Another area I saw God's working was through His Word. God promises that His Word will never return void, and there were multiple times during the week that something talked about during time spent reading/going over a Bible passage together directly applied to something later in the day, whether it was something I was thinking about, or something that happened. And to me, that is just plain exciting. One of the thoughts that arose from one day is that it's worth it to sacrifice all for God and service to Him, and it's actually something I'm still chewing on. Because as I consider where God has for me, there's going to be areas where I might need to be willing to give on a few things, and I don't know that it will always be easy. But giving up something small in this life - though in reality it may seem huge to me - is worth it for the sake of others coming to know my precious Lord.
No comments:
Post a Comment