“Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints; but let them not turn back to folly. Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him, that glory may dwell in our land.”
Psalm 85:8-9 ESV
And so I come to the end of this amazing experience. With just 4 days left until I’m back on American soil and 9 until I’m officially home, my mind is flooding with emotions, fears, praises, and thoughts of the future along with reflections of my past. I can’t believe I’ll be hugging my family, visiting friends, and living life alongside y’all in a number of days I count on just my hands. God has done so much this year in me and through me, and I am still continuing to process and praise him for all that he has done and will do in these seasons to come. However, before I zoom out on the year as a whole, I’d like to just write a little on these last 2 weeks and what I’ve been doing at the end of this time of ministry.
While my first two ministry stops, we’re spent in more Christian settings firstly being a church and its surrounding community and secondly a Christian orphanage, the following destination to these two was quite the opposite. After returning from the orphanage and resting for a few days, we booked our flights and headed out to a small island just a short hour trip away. Our goal for this visit was to take on the role of tourists and look for opportunities to share the gospel while praying for these islands that have little to no Christian presence on them at all. The week overall was successfully filled with beautiful views and fun team moments, but on the spiritual side of our trip we were left feeling the darkness of the place and the absence of the gospel. However, even in our short time there, God was sovereignly working. And through several divine appointment (including a man randomly saying hi to me in the airport bathroom) we were able to share the gospel with a handful of people, while also interceding for the lost that were around us. One thing God reminded me of in this time was not only the responsibility of carrying the gospel to the lost, but subsequently God’s heart for the nations. As I prayed to see the people around me like he did, I found a deep impression of God’s desire to intimately have a relationship with every broken individual on this earth. I saw his love for them, even as they ran away from his loving arms, and it filled me with the same love and desire for those prodigal sons to come back to the father as I have. God truly wants us to be involved in this rescue plan. His love for the lost did not end at the cross, or even as it met our hearts. God’s love advances forward with the purpose of winning every nation, tribe, and tongue to the worshipping of Jesus as their Lord and savior. God has shown me the need and his heart for the world, and his love continues to grow in me as I prepare to carry it back to the states, and Lord willing out again to the nations in the next couple years. I’d like to also challenge and encourage you that this call to serve him, to advance the gospel into the nations, is not something special God has singerly placed upon me. God call to go out is so often confused with an expectation of something supernatural, while the reality is much more simple. If you need money, you get a job. If you see someone drowning, you jump in and help. If there is a need, you take action. And this is the same for our spiritual lives. If there really is such a great need for the nations to know the gospel, then simply we should take action. That is our call, the spiritual screams of the lost cascading over the cliff into the depths of torment and separation from God in hell. If this isn’t making sense, or maybe I need to unpack this a bit more I’d love to talk with you when I get home, but until then know simply that God’s love is not something to be contained but instead passionately overflowed.
While this smaller deployment has taught me much and allowed me to more vividly see the ways that God has personally grown me, this whole trip has done so much in my heart as a whole. As I’ve spoken to in past posts, one thing I’ve taken away from the entirety of this trip is a heart of dependency and trust. Whether it be spending time with God in the word, to long intervals of prayer, to sharing the gospel with a stranger on the bus, to preaching in front of a large crowd, to whatever task God is placing before me that seems greater than my abilities to bear, I’ve found that God is able to do it in me. The more I surrender to God and seek him, the more I find his ability to work in me and around me. The more I trust him in prayer and praise, the more I see him working in the lost and the saved. I continue to cast all my burdens upon him, including now as I struggle with the stresses of returning home, and know that he is in control and that he will work all things for his glory as I seek him and surrender every day to his hands. Again, many things that have happened on this trip I still cannot comprehend, but I know that he has done them and that as I continue on, he will remind me of his faithfulness and love towards me. I don’t know fully what this next season holds but I know that whatever comes he is fully and completely in control. What a peace our soul can find in that promise.
While I continue to work through these thoughts, on a more fun note some awesome activities we got to do these past few days and are going to do in the next upcoming days are/have been:
-Waterfalls, rainbows, and beautiful beach sunsets
-Moutain views and car singing tunes
-Island day
-Movie nights and testimony times
-Team worship and preaching at my last Asian service
-Thrifting and wardrobe building lol
-More kids ministry and some billiards on the side
-Boat day and Snorkeling
-Bali day layover
-Debrief in the states
-Seeing all of you again 🙂
So many fun experiences and so many to come! Crazy that it’s just a couple days left. While my ministry is practically over, I would appreciate final prayers for;
- Safe and uneventful travels home
- Good debriefing and encouragement from fellow saints
- Continued intentional times with God
- Peace with all that is to come
- Continued trust and dependency on God
And with that, I come to the end of this post and the blog unofficially as well. Though I may write from time to time as a means to work out my cultural adjustments and update others of my walk in faith, this is the end of this joined gap-year experience with you all. However, while this may be the end of this connection, I know many connections are awaiting me at home and I look forward to meeting and talking with many of you very soon. God has so much in store, and I look forward to living in all that is to come this next season. As I return, I continue to pray persistently for all of you. That God would keep you set apart from this world and that you would walk in his way that is right. As he has done much in my life he has much in store for you. Trust in him as our author and perfecter and continue to serve him with all that you have. Again, I greatly look forward to serving along side you all soon. So until I see you again, I leave you with these lyrics from “Fall Like Rain”;
Knowing You is everything
I let go of lesser things
You alone are worthy of my praise
So, stir in me a passion for Your Name
And fall like rain
Holy Spirit, fall like rain
Holy Spirit, have Your way
Let Your glory fall down
Let Your glory fall down
Till we meet again soon, God bless 🙂
