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(Not pictured: Jeff & Justine Nelson, Nicole Sloan, & Scott Harbur)
How do you prepare for a trip? If you are anything like me, then you do a mental rehearsal of everything you are planning on doing and then follow that up with a list of things you need to bring. You might also start researching the cost of the trip and any adventure you might go on. Now what if I asked you how do you prepare for a life changing trip? Many of us would roll into vacation planning mode and do the previous preparations mentioned because we are creatures of habit. However, if we do that we miss something truly important about missions.
Our July team is finding the task of preparing for our trip to Costa Rica to be a combination of excitement and feelings of nervousness. We're excited for the opportunity to be a part of something greater than ourselves. We're excited to have the gospel take center stage and not be something we merely believe in, but act outwardly as a result to what it has done inwardly. We're nervous because we have a vision of what we want to happen, but are uncertain as to what will happen. Uncertainty has a tendency to leak in creating moments of frustration and doubt, none more than finances.
We hope to learn through feelings of uncertainty that there is certainty in what God has called us to. It is a certainty that Christ is sovereign over all, which includes our finances. I’m very grateful that the Lord was gracious enough to allow me to walk with an amazing team through these feelings. I feel honored and blessed to be a part of this team.
Along with the process of building a solid well-oiled team there has been one thing the Lord has been working on in me, and that is the gospel. I know, right? You grow into your spiritual walk being able to recite the life, death and resurrection of Christ like your favorite cooking recipe, but as I'm learning, there is more to it than that. The gospel I’ve come to learn is more dynamic, because it is more than just a personal note of good news. The reaches of the gospel dare us to go into the darkest places in the world, partaking in God's glory as He "reconciles to himself all things” (Colossians 1:20). The same gospel that saves us is the very same gospel that sends us.
Thank you for your prayers as we prepare to be sent!