For the "Not Yets"

Cue drumroll, as promised I present to you my heart for missions, details for my upcoming Brazil trip, and something a little extra I believe can be applicable to all of us. All I ask, is you read with a tender heart.

So, without further ado, I was first introduced to international missions when I fifteen. I had begged my mom for years to take me to Africa, but her response was always not yet. Finally, we had an opportunity to serve the people of Nicaragua. So mom and I boarded a plane, and gave a week to loving neglected and abandoned little hearts. I don't think I fully releazed what would happen to me on the Nicaraguan soil. All I can really remember from my very first trip is it felt so easy, so natural, to give endless hugs, kisses, and smiles (as my Spanish consisted of "hola," "gato," and numbers 1-10 at that time) to those sweet little faces. I also remember driving out of a community, my head sticking out of a bus window, and my heart being left behind. As we drove away, so many emotions rose within me I could only cry, which eventually turned into weeping. And at that point in my life, I wasn't even a cryer!

I can actually still see this whole scene in the movie theater of my memory as I write. I didn't have the language for it then, but now, I think I would describe this trip as a first time dive into my destiny. When I went to Nicaragua in 2010, it was as if I found a piece of myself that couldn't be expressed back home. Some things in life mark you so deeply, they become a stepping stone for your future. This was one of those moments.

Since 2010, global missions has become part of my heartbeat. Personally, my heart in this area looks something like desiring to be a living encounter of the person of love, a walking carrier of living hope, and a sprinkler of everlasting joy. This translates differently each trip, but my heart and mindset remain the same. Sometimes this looks like going hut to hut praying for families, and others it looks like playing Duck, Duck, Goose with slum kids. Sometimes the gospel looks like praying for the sick and watching as they leave well, and sometimes it looks like cleaning toilets. Other times the message of heaven looks like street evangelism, and in some cases it just looks like sharing a treat with someone as you listen and they tell their story. The gospel has no formula, but a yielded heart with Jesus inside sure has a lot to offer the world.

Pause. (Cue moment where my "Lizzie McGuire" bitmoji comes interrupting your read.) And if you're too old or too young to understand that reference, give it a Google or just keep reading. However, if you're reading and so far you're having any of the following thoughts: "Awe, what a sweet heart," "So inspiring, but what does this have to do with me," or "I could never do anything like that," then frankly, you're missing the point. I think we, the western church, or maybe just So. Il., have done a really good job for far too long of slapping a "missionary" label on people we read about roughin' it in third world countries or video testimonies from people of Lottie Moon. And yes, while they are most definitely missionaries, whom we value and honor, this view paints a "them" and "us" mentality. This view allows us, those who don't fit the idea we have in our mind of a missionary, to sit down, disengage, and be passive.

If we take a look back to some of the original missionaries in Matthew 28, we see this concept is camped around the phrase "go." And the truth is we're all going. Regardless if we go to work, the grocery store, pick up kids from school, travel across the country, or a different nation, it's the same principle. We're all going, and we all have something to give. This is the gospel, and this is what you, follower of the gospel, does. So, don't count yourself out if you've never been out of the country, and don't assume someone else will do the very thing Jesus asked you to do. I'd propose he whispered an act of kindness, planted that thought to be generous, or is the tug to go, and he did it to you because he likes what you bring to the table. The Lord loves to love though YOU, shiny one.

Play. Since my first trip to Nicaragua, I believe I've been on ten other international trips. It's a strange feeling to describe to those who haven't been on global missions, but once you get you're feet wet, you just want to swim in the depths. The mission field is a place of stretching and growing for me. It is the place where I can lay aside all other agendas, and do what my Father said do. It's the place where my heart gets shattered and filled all at the same time. And it's the place where I learn to love the best. To cultivate a pure love that sees differences and only intensifies.

I've been growing this love overseas yearly for the past seven years. Yes, since 2010 I've had the opportunity to go on a mission trip once a year, and sometimes twice in the same year. That is until 2017. Last year was an unusually year for me. It was the first time in six years I stayed in the ole U S of A. It may not sound like a big deal, but it felt like my world was crashing in. You see, missions isn't just some nice deed or cool opportunity for me. I think God must have given me an extra pair of "mission genes" or forty, because it's actually harder for me to fly back home than it is to go.

To be completely, a year without opportunity was really though to navigate. I mean I was willing to go, and didn't my heart align with heavens? How could God say no to a good thing? While I don't have all the answers, I do know God didn't say yes. And it was more of a "not yet." Which weren't exactly the words I was looking for. However, I learned better in this season, more than any I'd ever had, what it looks like to be vulnerable with the Lord. I chose to believe his timing was best, and believe he was and is still good.

Are you in what feels like a season of "not yet?" If so, I encourage you to press in. Don't allow frustration to cause a great divide. Allow the truths about the nature of God to persuade your heart. Then, lean in. I've found the not yets are a great place of learning and growth.

Signal the trumpets of transition. (I hope you heard them in your head as I did when I typed that cleaver line.) My not yet mission minute is over, and the Lord's yes is caring me to Brazil in April. I kind of feel like a child laying eyes on chocolate cake when I think about it. Not just because I'm excited for the trip, although that's true. But also because I'll get to tread the soil of my heartbeat once again. I have so much expectancy and faith for what the Lord is going to do! (I cannot wait to share stories!)

BRAZIL DETAILS:

So, here's what Brazil might look like. I say might because mission trip plans are always bound to change. I'll be gone April 5-17 with a team of about thirty. My team will consist of my trip leaders and a mix of 1-3 year BSSM students. We will be ministering primarily in the city of Campinas. We plan on loving on street kids, doing campus ministry at some local universities, telling people at a hippie fair about the love of Jesus, aiding in a conference at a local church, praying for the sick, and partnering with a local anti-human trafficking organization.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

I'm a firm believer in sowing into the Kingdom. It's a principal Jesus liked to teach a lot about. So, I trust it's a keeper, and try to take as many opportunities as I feel the Lord highlighting. So, if something inside of you sparked while reading this, I would love to provide an opportunity for you to partner with what the Lord is going to do in Brazil.

With that being said, the final portion of my trip still needs to be funded. For my payment deadline is quickly approaching on February 23. There are two ways in which you can support me.

The first is to give to my missions account. This is a secure way to give, where 100% of your donation will go directly to my expenses. This is also tax deductible giving. Just click here:
https://trips.ibethel.org/transactions/new/24158

The second way is to purchase a CPark creation. I recently opened on online Etsy store where I've been crafting my heart away. Until my Brazil trip is fully funded, all profit will go towards my trip. You can purchase something cool and crafty here:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheMessyCreativeCo


To you I say thank you, thank you, thank you! Thank you for taking the time to read my heart, for supporting what the Lord is doing in my life, and for sending me to Brazil!



Jesus,
Bless the sweet hands and pockets of those cheerful hearts on the other end of those giving wallets.
I ask they'd taste and see of the freedom, love, & breakthrough that's going to invade Brazil.
I ask you'd empower them with your love and boldness.
Father, I release an ease as they go, & a peace in their not yets.
Amen!

I love you & I'm squeezing your guts out!