10 Ways to Avoid Becoming a Missionary

"A tongue-in-cheek look at some sure-fire ways to avoid becoming a missionary"

Taken from http://home.snu.edu/~hculbert/10ways.htm

1. Ignore Jesus' request in John 4:35 that we take a long hard look at the fields. Seeing the needs of people can be depressing and very unsettling. It could lead to genuine missionary concern. (John 4:35 "Do you not say, `Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.")
2. Focus your energies on socially legitimate targets. Go after a bigger salary. Focus on getting a job promotion, a bigger home, a more luxurious car, or future financial security. Along the way, run up some big credit card debts.
3. Get married to somebody who thinks the "Great Commission" is what your employer gives you after you make a big sale. After marriage, embrace the socially accepted norms of settling down, establishing a respectable career trajectory and raising a picture-perfect family.
4. Stay away from missionaries. Their testimonies can be disturbing. The situations they describe will distract you from embracing whole-heartedly the materialistic lifestyle of your home country.
5. If you happen to think about missions, restrict your attention to countries where it's impossible to openly do missionary work. Think only about North Korea, Saudi Arabia, China and other closed countries. Forget the vast areas of our globe open to missionaries. Never, never listen to talk about creative access countries.
6. Think how bad a missionary you would be based on your own past failures. It is unreasonable to expect you will ever be any better. Don't even think about Moses, David, Jonah, Peter or Mark, all of whom overcame failures.
7. Always imagine missionaries as talented, super-spiritual people who stand on lofty pedestals. Maintaining this image of missionaries will heighten your own sense of inadequacy. Convincing yourself that God does not use ordinary people as missionaries will smother any guilt you may feel about refusing to even listen for a call from God.
8. Agree with the people who tell you that you are indispensable where you are. Listen when they tell you that your local church or home country can't do without you.
9. Worry incessantly about money.
10. If you still feel you must go, go out right away without any preparation or training. You'll soon be home again and no one can ever blame you for not trying!

The Pilot

"Seeing that a Pilot steers the ship in which we sail, who will never allow us to perish even in the midst of shipwrecks, there is no reason why our minds should be overwhelmed with fear and overcome with weariness." -John Calvin

Yesterday and today have been much less stressful. In church yesterday, our friend Saskia, who is very active in the CVJM, shared about the ten months she recently spent sharing the Gospel in Tanzania. At the end, she challenged the rest of those present to think about Acts 1:8 and telling others about Jesus in their Jerusalems. For the rest of the afternoon, I enjoyed doing nothing productive. When evening came around, I play a game of soccer with Jörg, Tim, and Jan. (I'm getting better, but I need to work on kicking the ball inside the bounds.) Afterwards, Jörg and I drove around Heidelberg, visiting Stift Neuburg, a monastery in Heidelberg, and the Königsstuhl, which is the largest mountain in the area and has an incredible view.

Today, our team continued construction on the third story and exterior of the CVJM. We started the day off with a prayer and a story about how the CVJM came to Meckesheim and the founders desire to reach young people. The construction started off very frustrating because I was asked to make the scaffolding (which I built Saturday) less safe. To avoid unnecessary stress, I switched tasks and worked on laying plywood and securing beams. We ended work early and spent time getting to know Mary and Alan better. We ended the night with a dinner that Mary cooked for us.

I'm beginning to feel much better about this week. While no human day is ever without frustrations, I've felt much less stressed today and am almost looking forward to work tomorrow. I can only trust that God, who guides my life, will continue leading me where He wills and that He will keep me safe until I go home to Him.

I would asked two more specific prayer requests: 1) One of the missionaries has an extremely ill family member. Please pray for the family member, the missionary, and the family 2) My mom is now in Kharkov, Ukraine, leading a VBS team there. Please pray that the Spirit will work in the lives of these children and that the government will not hinder their ministry.

Weariness

"My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." -God, Exodus 33:14 NIV

I've been feeling exhausted physically, emotionally, and spiritually since Thursday evening. Yesterday and today were both construction days, and construction leave me feeling very frustrated on top of of everything else. I'm glad to help, but I'm very thankful that tomorrow is a day of rest. I need time to pray and read my Bible more. Starting Monday, four of my friends will be starting language school, and I will have afternoons off. This will give me more time for street evangelism and other responsibilities, mainly promotional videos for the CVJM.

Please keep the team in your prayers. We need physical rest, spiritual fortification, and strengthened unity.

The All-Consuming Fire

"How can people have faith in the Lord and ask him to save them, if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear, unless someone tells them? And how can anyone tell them without being sent by the Lord?"

-Paul, Romans 10:14-15 CEV

Me in the attic above the sanctuary

There has been much going on the past two days. Tuesday, we continued working on the CVJM's new third floor. Unfortunately, there was a fair amount of usable and unusable stuff stashed up there that we had to move before laying any more flooring. Sorting through, moving, and throwing away composed the majority of our workday, save for some end-of-the-day drama. I had to climb up into an attic area above the sanctuary, and Josh and Alan brought me box after box of some heavy metal construction pieces. It was my job to arrange these ten or so boxes. (Given the 90°F, high humidity weather we've had this week, the attic was more like an unfinished sauna.) While I was arranging boxes (and almost done for the day), Josh looked over to the far side of our property, where a farm equipment business's building connects to ours. He said, "There's a bunch of black smoke coming from over there. I'm going to check it out." A few moments later, Josh came running back, shouting something like "Fire, fire!", which prompted me to yell to the others in German, "Help! Fire! Call a fire truck!" I quickly climbed down from the attic an went to find the CVJM's pastor. There was a large plume of dark black smoke coming from what looked like the back adjacent corner of the two buildings. I was very worried that our building had caught on fire. Although the pastor seemed to express little concern about the fire, some people driving by stopped to call the fire department.

The tractor that caught on fire (right)

After making sure everyone had already left the building, I went to take a look at the fire, and I found a large tractor engulfed in flames. Two men from next door were fighting the fire with fire extinguishers, and in spite of the tractor turning itself on and off during the process, the men were able to put the fire out before the firemen even arrived. Thankfully, no one was hurt, and only the original tractor and the one next to it were damaged. (However, my nose randomly started bleeding while waiting for the firemen to arrive, and they kept asking me if I had inhaled smoke.) No one saw the tractor catch on fire, but it is believed to have suddenly started burning. To my knowledge, no one knows the actual cause of the fire.

Of course, I had to pose with the German fire truck.

There is a well-known verse from Hebrews 12 that states, "Our God is an all-consuming fire." (My two favorite translations describe the fire as "destructive" and "unstoppable".) I've already learned that the Lord has quite a sense of irony; after yesterday and today, it is evident that this tractor fire symbolized the fire of the Spirit that consumes us and that would soon be poured out into the streets of Heidelberg.

Tuesday night, I went with Jörg and Petra to their monthly prayer group meeting. There are typically about twenty people from the five churches in Meckesheim, but there were only ten at this meeting. Although I didn't understand everything, the group prayed for several things, including an end to sex trafficking, a political situation with the school system, and that the Lord would be with us Pioneers and would bind Satan's hands. The prayer group meeting was in St. Martin's Chapel, an old Roman temple from the second or third century A.D. The temple was later converted into a cathedral. Today, the chapel is long out of use; all that remains is the alter area and a small wall. The area were the congregation would sit, as well as the area surrounding the chapel, was at one point a cemetery, although I only found two grave stones.

Singing worship songs outside the entrance to public pool.

Wednesday, I woke up earlier than usual for the 6:30 train into Heidelberg. Our team met with other believers from Heidelberg and a missions group from Pennsylvania to eat breakfast and pray. (The breakfast was supposed to be sponsored by the International House of Prayer, but no one seemed to know anything about IHOP when I mentioned it.) Because we did not have a set plan for the day, the six of us partnered with the American group. They were working with an American missionary, Jesse, in Heidelberg. With it being another 90°F day, we all stood outside the public swimming pool in Heidelberg for about three hours to hand out material or sing worship songs. Jesse had brought along a large collection of Gospel tracts, small books of John's Gospel, and cheap, mass produced Bibles. The Gospel tracts contained samples of either citrus drink mix or olive-oil lotion. I passed out many of these. I also gave out four or five Gospels of John. After running out of those, I talked to people walking by and even went up and down the line to the pool entrance, giving away as many Bibles as I could. (I think I gave away about ten.) One man to whom I offered a Bible kept asking if the Bible was a "catholic Bible." I didn't understand the question at first, thinking he was asking about the translation. When he kept pressing me, I finally said "no", because the Bibles did not contain the eleven books of the Old Testament Apocrypha. The man stormed off, seeming upset that I would take away his time by offering him a non-catholic Bible.

I was amazed that so many Germans turn down free things, but one of the Germans with whom we were working explained that they feel there must be a hidden motive whenever something is given out free. Still, Jesse said I had a great success rate and was very proud of my work. Of course, I can't take the credit for this. It was completely the work of the Spirit, who was poured out on us. Only through Him was I able to speak German as clearly as I did. (Germans open up much more to foreigners who speak some German.)

Singing worship songs on the street car.

Thursday morning, we again went to the prayer breakfast and met with Jesse and the American group for a time of extended worship and prayer. For three hours after that, we all hopped on and off streetcars, telling everyone on the train about Jesus, as well as everyone getting on. There was also about ten of us who would congregate in the middle of the streetcar and sing worship music. The Germans didn't quite know what to think of any of this, and we emptied out our first train completely. At one point, we were asked to stop playing music. This was no problem for us; we simply got off of that train and hopped on the next to come by.

I took along Gospel tracts and a few Bibles. A typical conversation would go like this:

Me: (Holding out Gospel tract) Do you know Jesus Christ? (German gives blank expression) You should get to know Him. (German glares at me or moves away) Jesus loves you. He died for you.

German: OK, OK. (25% chance accepts tract)

Despite the general German attitude towards sharing the Gospel, I know the Spirit used us to impact lives. At one streetcar station, there was a middle-eastern-looking couple. I went up to them and asked if they knew Jesus. To be honest, I can't remember their exact response, but I wound up giving them a tract and a Bible. The husband looked at his wife with a smile and said, "Do you want a Bible?" The already smiling wife's expression became ecstatic, and she nodded her head excitedly. They were so excited to have their own Bible! Isn't it awesome to know that God used you to possibly change someone's life eternally? If nothing else, I think we have managed to convince all of Heidelberg of two things: 1) Americans are insane and like to ride random streetcars singing worship music 2) Those lunatics who follow Christ-and do so even outside of a church-are crazy in love with that Jesus guy.

Despite being so tired yesterday evening, I played a game of soccer with me, and Jan against Tim. Even though we lost, it was still fun to get out and spend some time with them. Tim and Jan have been begging me to play soccer with them, but I haven't really had the chance until last night. Afterwards, we had our second Coffee House Social at the CVJM and discussed some fundamental questions about God. I had researched "How do we know there is a God if we can't see Him?" and "Why can't we see God?" I chose to explain the  answers in German, and as an added exercise, Mary made me translate myself into English! While I didn't have as long to talk as I wanted, I still feel the discussion last night was awesome! Mary, who was the moderator for this session, was so passionate about explaining these questions. Even though all present seemed to be Christians, it was good that we could explain these things so that others can learn to defend their faith.

Overall, the Spirit has definitely been at work in Heidelberg and Meckesheim over the past two days. I have to go start construction again on the CVJM, but I'm super excited to see what else He has in store for this summer!

R&R

"Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop." -Ovid

I'm very thankful for yesterday and today. Yesterday afternoon, about ten or fifteen of us younger people in the CVJM went to a lake to swim and rest in the shade. It was a lot of fun. My teammate Josh was rather nervous about getting in the water, so two of the big guys and I together attempted to pull him in. Unfortunately, he resisted all three of us, but we succeeded in getting him sandy enough that he had to come into the lake and rinse off. After the lake, Nicole (teammate), Josh, and I went with Danijela to her host home. (Danijela's host sister, Tabea, is a very sweet girl and is very hospitable, even though her parents are out of town.) We talked, ate, and watched The Walking Dead until ten o'clock.

Today being a much-needed free day, I got to sleep in. Since I ate breakfast, I've been researching an answer to some questions for this Thursday's coffee house social: 1) How do we know there is a God? and 2) Why can't we see God? I'm just thankful I know enough to write my answers in German. Even though I haven't finished, I feel like I've knocked a good chunk of it out.

In conclusion, yesterday and today have been much needed. Even though I still somewhat worked, I was in need of doing something other than construction.

Earthly Work & Heavenly Struggles

"Finally, let the mighty strength of the Lord make you strong. Put on all the armor that God gives, so you can defend yourself against the devil’s tricks. We are not fighting against humans. We are fighting against forces and authorities and against rulers of darkness and powers in the spiritual world. So put on all the armor that God gives. Then when that evil day comes, you will be able to defend yourself. And when the battle is over, you will still be standing firm."

-Paul, Ephesians 6:10-13

Waiting for more building materials to be offloaded
Left to right: Nicole, Beth, & Alan

I apologize for the long time in between posts. We have been extremely busy this past week and feel physically and spiritually drained. Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and yesterday have been work days at the CVJM. We are slowly making progress laying the floor for the loft. Between two days, a few of us carried up over 5500 sq. ft. of plywood and subflooring material. I hope that the entire job will be finished by late July. The spiritual warfare here is very discouraging and leaves me frustrated and angry. Please keep this in your prayers the next few weeks. I know Satan wants Heidelberg to remain in the complacency of uncertainty.

On Wednesday, we spent a few more hours conducting the surveys at the University of Heidelberg. Students seemed to respond in a more positive way when I conducted the survey in German rather than English. Still, out of the maybe fifteen students I interviewed between two days, only two said they already had a personal relationship with Jesus. Twelve others said they would be interested in this relationship, and I'm kicking myself for not having then shared the Gospel with them. (The primary purpose of the surveys is to start students thinking about the big questions and generate interest in our coffee house social this summer.) I had to clarify to at least half of these students what it meant to have a personal relationship with God ("knowing God as though He were a human"). Still, many had trouble understanding the idea, and one student told me he would not want this sort of relationship. It is evident that the Devil is doing all he can to keep these students in darkness and not allow them to question even the basis of their existence. Please pray that the Lord will work through us to impact their lives.

The coffee house social kicked off Thursday night. There was a total of about twenty people who showed up between the CVJM members and their Christian friends. Despite being an all-believer group, we compiled a long list of questions our non-born-again friends would ask. I'm excited to see what God has in store for these next few weeks. I pray that He can use these weekly meetings as a time to bring nominal Christians, atheists/agnostics, Muslims, etc. to Him. We will start our first apologetics session this Thursday night exploring the topic "Mere Christianity" which will be roughly based on the C.S. Lewis book. I'm sure the angels of Hell will do all they can to prevent people, especially non-believers, from coming; however, our God is more powerful than any force of evil, and I trust He will provide according to His will.

After the construction work yesterday, some of the younger people in the church cleaned up and met for homemade dinner (bacon-wrapped pork kabobs, steak, small sausage links, tomatoes and mushrooms, and bread) followed by dessert (birthday cake made entirely of gummy candies and marshmallows). (I'm not quite sure if this is a typical German dinner, but it was nonetheless delicious, although I'm starting to really miss vegetables.) Afterwards we went to a neighborhood park and socialized. It was quite a fun yet relaxing evening! I really needed that after the exhaustion of last week.

The neighborhood park where we hung out last night

Right now, I must hurry to church. I'm helping teach the kids this morning, and I'm not sure what we're doing. This afternoon should be relaxing. I'm planning to go to the lake with a few of the young people from church. Because of how stressful this week has been, Mary has given us tomorrow off. I think the day will consist of Jörg and me sleeping in and then leisurely enjoying the day at home. I definitely need some time to pray about this next week and about the spiritual warfare we will certainly encounter.

Hiding from the Light

"A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell." -C.S. Lewis

I'm not sure how to describe today. It started off rather badly. I went to give my host family some strawberry preserves that my mom had cooked especially for them; when I unwrapped the jar, I found it with TSA tape wrapped all around it. As if to clarify that the preserves were inspected, the glass jar was busted into a million pieces-which is hard to do when it is covered in a thick layer of bubble-wrap. (Since I know the NSA will be monitoring this blog, I just want to say I'm ashamed of the you and the Obama administration. Even Europe thinks you all are crazy.) Needing to travel into Heidelberg for the language placement exam, I ran to the train station but missed the train, because I did not know that the train doors did not open automatically. I finally arrived in Heidelberg 30 minutes late, and following the missionary's directions, I boarded the correct bus to the school, but it was going in the wrong direction. I found this out after several stops and got off bus. Fortunately, I ran into a member from the CVJM who gave me directions back to the school. I finally arrived, only to test so well that I cannot take the intensive language course. Instead, Mary will arrange a time each day for me to converse with a native German speaker from the church. Man!

After leaving the school, my friends and I went to the University of Heidelberg cafeteria to conduct evangelism surveys. It basically consists of an oral interview with an individual about their beliefs on big questions such as "What is the basic problem of mankind?" or "What do you believe happens after death?" The survey is intended to make people start thinking about God, Jesus, Heaven, etc. The second person whom I interviewed was a senior religion major. (Studying religion or theology in Germany is usually seen as a entry into a profession, and most either atheist/agnostic or do not understand what it means to follow Jesus.) She followed the stereotypical agnostic beliefs of uncertainty of God and truth in science. This belief is far too common in Europe and is a primary reason why American missions planning should not ignore Europe. Especially among the young people here, the ideas of "entlightenment" and relative "truth" are rampant. The Europeans make effort to hide themselves from the Light of the Good News. This girl told me she had never really given much thought to the questions I asked. However, she is interested in hearing about other's beliefs, so that opened the door for me to quickly present the basics of the Gospel before I had to leave. Please keep her in your prayers. She expressed interest in our discussions of these questions on Thursday nights.

This evening, we had dinner with Mary and Alan and discussed responsibilities for the summer. I will be doing most of the things involving technology as well as preaching one Sunday.

Please keep my friend Cathy from my home church in your prayers. She will be having surgery tomorrow.

Kein Englisch Mehr!

"When I am with the Jews, I live like a Jew to win Jews. They are ruled by the Law of Moses, and I am not. But I live by the Law to win them. And when I am with people who are not ruled by the Law, I forget about the Law to win them. Of course, I never really forget about the law of God. In fact, I am ruled by the law of Christ. When I am with people whose faith is weak, I live as they do to win them. I do everything I can to win everyone I possibly can."

-Paul, 1st Corinthians 9:20-22 CEV

A view of the street where I'm staying

I have been spending the past two days adjusting to life in Meckersheim, Germany, which is in the countryside surrounding Heidelberg. After our arrival in Frankfurt on Friday morning, Alan, one of the missionaries here, picked us up in the church van.

The church is rather unconventional in that it operates as a ministry called the CVJM, which stands for "young people's Christian club." It is similar to a small YMCA. Unlike the YMCA, however, the CVJM makes a continuous effort to reach out into the surrounding community and lead locals to Christ. In addition to Sunday worship, Friday evenings feature drama and musical activities for students from preteens to early twenties. The group is known as "Ten-Sing." This summer, the CVJM will also have "coffee house socials" where students from the surrounding towns and particularly from the nearby University of Heidelberg can come to hang out and discuss basic life questions, such as "Why are we here?" or "What happens after we die?" The CVJM discussion moderator will use this time to present the Biblical answers to these questions.

After our arrival in Meckersheim, Alan and Mary, his wife and also a missionary here, gave us a tour of the church property and showed us some of the construction we would be doing. (I found out that the church also operates a Christian bookstore!) Afterwards, I met my host family, the Hofmanns, who live about a quarter mile from the CVJM. They are very polite and keep insisting I make myself at home. (I'm sure they wouldn't say that if they knew that making myself at home means wearing no pants and eating all their food.) The parents, Jörg and Petra, speak a little bit of English, but I mostly try to speak German because I want to learn the language better and they insist my German is better than their English. They have two elementary-school-age sons, Tim and Jan, who follow me around the house where I go. They are typical little boys, constantly on the move and teasing each other whenever the opportunity presents itself.

Playing ninja

Heidelberg castle garden fountain

Friday evening, we met with Ten-Sing and sang, danced, practiced a play, and played Ninja. Saturday, I went into Heidelberg with my four American friends and new Croatian friend, who is working with us for a month. We visited the castle there and wondered down the main street taking in the sights. Although we didn't get on the right train back to Meckersheim, I still made it back in time to go to a monthly worship meeting with Jörg and Petra. There were probably about forty people at the meeting, and they all came from different churches around the area. Although I didn't understand all that was going on, it was a blessing to be there, plus I learned some uniquely German praise songs. On our way there, we had passed a castle in the countryside, and I had remarked how much I like seeing the castles in Europe and how most things in America are relatively new. As a surprise after the worship, the Hofmanns took me to the castle and we walked around. There was a beautiful view of the villages below.

The vineyard and villages below the castle.

This morning, I woke up and got ready for church at the CVJM. I had the opportunity to help lead worship, and although I was asked to do it with only ten minutes to practice, I felt my singing wasn't too bad. The songs were mostly in English, although one whole song and another chorus were in German. I noticed they have a wide variety of English worship songs published with German lyrics. I know of about forty songs like this, but there were several of which I did not. After the service, we all ate a meal together and visited. However, I was starting to feel sick (probably from dehydration and lack of sleep), so I walked home and took a nap.

At the dinner table tonight, Petra mentioned her disapproval of a mother who allowed their preschooler to wear a shirt saying "I'm a little devil." It opened up a conversation with Tim and Jan to discuss who Satan is and why I am here in Germany. I'm hoping it can lead to further conversations about the Gospel with them. It's certainly never too early to share the Good News!

I'm hoping I can get over jet-lag soon. I've napped every day I've been here and intentionally skipped breakfast to have more time to sleep. I've also never been hungry. I'll eat perhaps one and a half meals each day instead of three, but I never really feel like I need to eat something. I need to start joining my host family for meals, however; if I keep up this not-eating pattern, they may start to think I don't like the food here and be offended. In reality, I love the food. I just never want any for some reason.

I am very blessed that I have not really had culture shock these past few days. The strangest thing has been adjusting to speaking only English with my teammates and only German with others. It's also rather strange that I can only understand about half of what is being said in German. The people speak so fast, and many have heavy dialect flavoring. These small adjustments are the inspiration for the blog title "No More English!" However, I do like that the sun sets around 9:30 P.M.

I would appreciate you prayers today. Tomorrow, I'm taking a placement test so I can begin an intensive German language course. It will last four weeks, and class will meet weekdays for four hours. Most importantly, this class will have people from various backgrounds and presents the opportunity to share about Christ with unreached people groups.

To the Ends of the Earth

The Germany & Japan teams after being soaked from a rain storm on the
way to and from breakfast. The middle five people are the Germany team.

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." -Jesus Christ, Acts 1:8 NIV

I'm sorry I haven't been able to update my blog in a few days. We've been staying very busy and sleeping very little in preparation for our departure today. Tuesday, we learned about the realities of the increased spiritual warfare that we will be facing overseas. (It is my prayer that would proclaim the Good News so boldly upon our return to our hometowns that we would experience that same increased warfare in America!) We also discussed gender relations in other cultures, although this topic did not apply as much to the European teams. At the end of the day, the 120 Edgers were divided into groups and taught different methods of prayer:

• praying with incense while reading the Bible aloud
• meditation on spiritual questions (e.g., "What is God's will for this summer?", "What am I still holding on to that I should turn over to the Lord?")
• writing prayers out
• kinetic prayer (e.g. walking, running. One girl spun around the room like a helicopter yelling her praises.) While I don't have a problem with this method, I found it distracting to do it with about 25 others.
• praying by reading scripture (e.g., praying a psalm)
• prayer mapping, where one lists the powerful things of which God is capable (e.g., saving an entire nation, ending sex trafficking, healing the terminally ill)

Yesterday, we discussed possible security issues and how to handle them. This did not apply as much to the European teams, but there was still information that everyone should know. I then went down to the beach for about 45 minutes and read a book about prayer on the shore. (You can't go to West Palm Beach and not see the beach!) At our final worship service last night, the minister preached about putting our "yes on the table, so God can put it on the map." For the alter call, the minister asked us to write "yes" on a note card and place it on a table at the front of the chapel. Afterwards, we took communion with our individual teams, and the Pioneers staff laid hands on us and commissioned us with a final prayer. The hours that followed that special worship service were filled with an ice cream social, washing my clothes, and saying goodbye to all the friends I've made in these past few days.

Today, I woke up early and packed my bags and said still more goodbyes. Right now, I'm on the train from West Palm Beach to Miami. We will fly out today from Miami and arrive in Germany about 1 A.M. CST. I'm very excited to finally get to Heidelberg and see the great things God has in store this summer!

The Cross With Our Sins Nailed To It

I was able to get a picture of the cross I described in yesterday's post.

Plunged Beneath That Flood

"There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains."
-- William Cowper, "There Is A Fountain"

Today was the first day of our orientation, and it started out uneventful and rather boring. We were lectured about developing a missionary attitude, encouraged to avoid temptations on the field, and given the results of our personality test. However, God had bigger plans for this day than I could have ever imagined.

My team, including myself, has been struggling with feeling spiritually unprepared for that to which we have committed ourselves. We know that our God has redeemed us from the bondage of sin and has given us the power to overcome temptation  We also know that no person in the Bible was ever adequate for the task to which the Lord called the person. However, knowing and believing are completely different. I cannot comprehend why God would even consider me for this task. However, our Lord does not operate by fundamental human logic, but rather by the incomprehensible love that compels Him to pour out His grace and mercy on His children; any human attempt to understand the full mind of God will ultimately fail.

The speaker tonight had stressed repeatedly about turning our lives completely over to the Lord. At the end of the sermon, the speaker invited us to write on a note card the sins that made us feel inadequate to serve God this summer. We took these index cards and nailed them onto a large wooden cross as we prayed that the Lord take upon Himself the guilt and emptiness from these transgressions. It was during this time the Spirit began to move among us, reminding us of how our Savior's blood covers us, washing away all of our past sins and regrets. The speaker also asked that we raise our hand if we would like other believers to pray over us. In a move unusual for me, I raised my hand and was soon surrounded by my teammate and three other students who prayed that the Lord would give me peace and give me the strength to resist whatever temptations might come this summer. I sat in the chapel afterwards, so stunned by the presence of God and the love of my brothers in Christ that I didn't know what to do next. At this point, I feel compelled to tell anyone who will listen about the freedom and salvation found in following Jesus.

The Point of No Return

"No reserves. No retreats. No regrets" — William Borden, millionaire-turned-missionary who died at age 25 while preparing for ministry in China

I spent all yesterday visiting with my cousins. It's been really good getting to know them. We used yesterday as a time to relax and enjoy each other's company. They donated some DVDs from their church's movie ministry for use in Germany, and their granddaughter (posing with her mom in the picture to the right) asked that I give one of her favorite stuffed bears to the missionaries' daughter, who is about the same age as her. I sadly departed from my cousins' house this morning.

After a four-hour car ride to West Palm Beach, I arrived for our orientation. It was really exciting to meet my other teammates in person as well as to start building relationships with them. I feel like God most certainly has a plan for us, although we may never know it in this life.

As I hugged my parents good-bye, I realized that I've reached the point of no return. I'm nervous about being away from my family for such a long time and about possibly not being spiritually adequate for this trip. However, a teammate reminded my team tonight that God doesn't call those who are equipped, but rather equips those who are called. Any notion that God can't use us comes straight from the mouth of Satan. While none of us are perfect and we often disobey His commands, the Spirit will work through us in ways more powerful than we could ever imagine. (Take Samson, for example.) I pray that this quote from William Borden will become my attitude for the next ten weeks.

The Lady & Sons and Visiting with Family

My family spent the majority of yesterday traveling from Savannah to Ocala, Florida, to spend two days with our cousins. Before we left, however, we ate a buffet lunch at Paula Dean's restaurant, The Lady & Sons. I tried her fried and baked chicken, fish, green beans, butter beans, and collard greens. Except for my Aunt Nell's, the collard greens were the only greens I've ever had that didn't taste bitter to me. My favorites, however, had to be the cream corn, sweet potatoes, and made-from-scratch banana pudding. If you're ever in Savannah and can spare about $15-$20 per person, you really need to visit The Lady & Sons. Just be sure to make your reservations ahead of time.

After we arrived in Ocala, I visited with my cousins, whom I never recall having previously met. They're both extremely nice and very hospitable as well as devout Believers. Having been unusually sensitive to the sun Thursday, I had developed large blisters all over my shoulders by last night. I attended to them, watched an episode of The Golden Girls, and went to bed.