A Thing About Life

“That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

I will not give up. When I say that you probably think I mean the World Race. What I mean is a lot deeper than that. Serving the Lord means giving up all that you are. It means laying down your life for Christ, day in and day out with no end in sight, and you know what? I wouldn’t wanna live any other way. I will not give up on Christ for all the days of my life. No matter how hard life may look like at any current moment I know that Christ has me and I shall not worry. A thing about life I learned is that nothing will ever go how you suspect. That has been the case for the race, I knew it would be hard and I was ready for it. I just wasn’t ready for the way it would be hard, I thought I was gonna be laboring everyday and pushed to my breaking point. That is not what has happened. Honestly, daily life here is almost perfect. Everyday I get to go out spreading the love of Christ and then come back to base and hang out with my squad. The problem is, where it gets hard is in the mind. Going out seeing how bad peoples lives are constantly, can create a toll on the mind. The enemy then tries sending doubts about, how much are we really getting accomplished? My squad has been plagued with these questions. All these doubts and frustrations did affect me, until two weeks ago.

It started out as a normal day of ministry. We all loaded up into the bus and drove off to Pastor Robinson’s church. We split into our teams, got a translator, and then headed out into the community. We only have one goal. Love on people and spread the message of Jesus Christ. My team ended up going to two houses that day. The first house we had a great conversation with a mother and her friend. We were able to pray for them and encourage them. Then we went to the second house. We walked down this narrow alleyway and it opened up into a little opening with houses crowded together. The translator started to introduce ourselves to a guy who was sitting outside. Before we could get anywhere though, the guy’s friend came out and said to the translator in creole. “Are you here to share the Gospel?” We told him yes, and he immediately asked for us to share with them. The man quickly ran into his house and came out with a notebook. Before I ever try to spread the gospel or have any sort of biblical encounter I always quickly pray to God. All I say is “God give me the words to speak. Let everything I do be through you.” With that quick prayer in my head, I started to share the gospel with this man. I honestly couldn’t tell you exactly what I said. Nothing I said was from me. I could try to describe how I felt, but any word I could share would only fall short. If you have the holy spirit inside of you then you know what I felt. I could feel the fire of the Lord come through me. The man started taking notes as I spoke. I shared with him Proverbs 3:5-6 with him as encouragement. He was excited to hear the word of God and to learn who Jesus was. We got him connected with the translator and pastor if he had any further questions. 

It’s moments like those that give you hope to keep going in this life. God shows up in every corner of the world if we just keep on pressing into him. I will never give up. The Lord is doing so many amazing works through us on this trip. God got us all here, and put these people we can pour into up in front of us. Just as the verse above says, I will not worry about the troubles I see now, and I will keep my focus on Christ who does all good. 

Last week my parents got to visit me, it was such a cool experience. I’ve been gone for almost six months and my life looks completely different. I didn’t realize how much I really have grown until my parents got here. Before the trip I would never be the one leading any prayers. Sharing the gospel with anyone before the trip, looked terrifying, and now I have no fear when speaking out the word of Christ. When my parents were here we went into some communities to pray and evangelize to people. At one house I just ended up sharing the gospel and telling this mother the importance of Christ. I said all this up front of my parents without even thinking. I found out later that my parents saw some tears come from the ladies’ eyes while I was speaking. This is all a testament to what God has done in me. My life has been completely transformed. Living everyday pressing into God will transform your life. It won’t always be easy or comfortable, but what comes out of it is so worth it.

I have an update for you guys. For my trip there has been another change to where we’re going for our third country. Instead of going to Guatemala we will be going to Nicaragua as our last country. I will be leaving the Dominican Republic on March 22. I just have to thank all of you again who have supported me. All your messages and encouragement has meant so much to me and has helped keep me going. Thank you again.