I had the blessing of getting to go to San Ramon, Costa Rica for a 1-week missions trip last month. first off, can I just tell you how awesome it was to watch God provide the $$ for me to go on this trip?? I’ve been on a lot of mission trips, but I can only recall 2 of them that I signed up for knowing I did not have enough $$ in my bank account to cover the trip in case I wasn’t able to raise the support. all the other trips I signed up for knowing that if the money didn’t come in, I could cover the difference (now THAT’S called faith, right? goodness…please sense the heavy sarcasm there).
what’s kind of funny is that the trips I signed up for knowing I had the money to cover any lacking financial support, I think I always ended up having to pay quite a bit of my own money to go. however, the trips I signed up for knowing I didn’t have enough money and needed God to provide, those were the trips that were fully paid through generous financial support from family, friends, and random people I didn’t even know.
it’s like the trips I had a “backup” plan for in case “God didn’t come through” (although I would’ve never admitted that was my mindset, but really…it was), God was like, “if you don’t think you need Me, then fine – spend your own money.” and the trips I needed Him to provide, He delighted in giving and giving generously.
He delights in giving good gifts to His children. (check out Matthew 7:11)
ugh. why does coffee get cold so fast? I just went to finish my cup and spit it out as soon as I realized it was cold already. sad.
off topic. coming back…
anyway, I signed up for this trip needing God to provide the funds and He totally did! and for our entire team!
our entire team of about 24 (I think) split into 5 smaller teams for the week. 4 teams each had a church/community they worked with every day, mainly doing door-to-door evangelism and leading a small group at night (I AM SECOND groups). the 5th team was the sports team, AKA SportReach, and I was on that team. we traveled each day to a different church/community and met up with our team that was there. we did sports camps for kids/youth in the morning and afternoon, teaching them volleyball, basketball, futbol (soccer…although they totally knew more than we did and a lot of us decided it was safer to just give them the ball and we’d stand on the sidelines and cheer – haha), and one day we taught them ultimate frisbee, which was a hit.
every night, our entire team would gather together and debrief over the day, sharing stories of what God had done or was doing. I loved these times. but after a couple days, I was starting to get discouraged. we’d hear all these awesome stories of how all these people were coming to know Jesus through the door-to-door evangelism. but on the sports team, we really didn’t see a lot of decisions like that. we would take a break in the morning and the afternoon and share the Gospel with the kids using a multi-colored soccer ball (red, green, yellow, black, and white). we’d share one of our testimonies. but then when we’d ask if anyone wanted to accept Jesus as their Savior, they’d all stare at us. then we’d ask if they already knew Jesus…and they all said yes. :) a lot of them came from the churches we were working with. but whether or not these kids actually knew Jesus, it didn’t really give us the opportunity for a lot of deeper, one-on-one conversations with the kids.
so I was getting discouraged. I was thinking, “man…all we do all day is play with the kids and have fun…I haven’t seen anyone come to know Jesus yet…how can I be more faithful with this week God has given me here?”
I went to bed Tuesday night discouraged by this. Wednesday morning, I woke up and had some time with Jesus on the porch, wrapped up in a big soft blanket and drinking coffee. :)
(my view)
God really spoke this to my heart that morning. “It’s not about what I accomplish – how many people I share the Gospel with, how many people come to know Jesus, etc. – it’s about being faithful and obedient with what God has given me to do.”
I thought about that awhile. I thought about what He’d given me to do that week. He had placed me on this sports team for a reason (and not just because I love sports). He was giving me the opportunity each day to meet kids and spend my entire day loving on them. spending time with them, playing with them. showing them they have worth and value by giving them my time and attention. and through that, the love of Jesus is shared with them.
a couple pics of friends I made and miss very much in Costa Rica:
(our sports team)
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