The Nineteen!

Here is our team! Back row (L to R): Rick, Marlin, Ron, Mike, and Ray

Middle row: Liz, Maxine, Sandy, Karen, Abby, Abby, and Becky

Front row: Steve, Logan, Andrea, Laura, Marti, Kim, and Ben

As you can see, we are a fun-loving group. From students to teachers to pastors to...well, you'll get to know us all better in an up-coming post, but let's just say we have plenty of different personalities heading to Cambodia. Our last trip meeting was this past Sunday. We talked a lot about the challenges we will face, as some of us will be leaving for Cambodia in under a month. Here is part of a devotion I shared with the group on Sunday:

God doesn’t want us to be comfortable. I’m not saying that God wants us uncomfortable, just that His primary goal is not our comfort, but rather our growth as Christ-followers.  Something about this trip will take each of us out of our comfort zone – maybe more than one thing! Will it be the heat? The jet lag? The smells? The unfamiliar food? The culture shock? The bathrooms? The inevitable changes of our best-laid plans? The homesickness? The people? The snakes? Or something else entirely? Our task involves perseverance to endure for whatever length of time we are in Cambodia. There are many verses in the Bible on perseverance, and I love them all. Romans 5:2b-4 is one of my favorites: “And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” Isn’t that a beautiful thought, during adversity? For this devotion, however, I looked a little deeper and found a less-familiar verse, 2 Thessalonians 3:5: “May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.” And to personalize this verse, I pray, “May the Lord direct my heart into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.”

It’s one thing to say, “I can do that” or “I’m good at ‘keeping on keeping on’” or “I learned that a while ago.” It’s another thing to be miserable in one way or another and still serve in the way the Lord wants us to. I am in the process of developing some perseverance strategies. The first and foremost strategy for me will be to begin each day with Jesus, in prayer and in Bible study, asking the God who created me to help me see the day through His eyes and to listen for His voice at all times. I want to give each day’s content to God, trying to stay away from expectations as to what is going to happen. In abstract terms, anybody can be flexible. It’s harder when you’re invested in the events or outcomes that are being changed, when you really had your heart set on things happening in a certain way. Realistically, letting go of expectations is challenging. I need to pray that God will grow me into a woman of maturity in this area, teaching me to let go of my agenda in favor of His plan. I will also ask my team for prayer support if/when things start feeling overwhelming, and not try to take everything on all by my lonesome. I think it is important to be honest with the team, while not dwelling on negative aspects of the trip or people or whatever. Prayer helps me get to the other side of difficulties more quickly.  Keeping a journal will also help, listing prayer requests and answers to prayers right alongside my daily activities. My third strategy comes from a phrase a good friend of mine uses frequently. Though I do need to be honest with the team about my state of mind, I think I also need to remember not to “major on the minors.” When something bothers me, I need to ask myself immediately if it is a major concern or a minor inconvenience. And then I need to let go of inconveniences. Fourth, I need to have a servant’s heart, opening my eyes to the needs of others. If I am outwardly-focused, it will be easier not to dwell on irritations. Plus, developing relationships with people from Cambodia is one of the big reasons I look forward to on this trip. To help myself maintain and outward focus, I hope to direct conversations away from the topic of “me” and to the individuals I meet by starting conversations with questions about them. Finally, I need to take care of my body. I need to remember to drink lots of water and use the electrolyte replacement drink mixes, as indicated. I need to have my high protein snacks. I need to rest at night, if possible. I need to remember medications. I need to apply sunscreen and mosquito repellant faithfully. This body is God’s vessel, and I need to take care of it.

I think it’s pretty spectacular that we are all taking this trip together. I am eager to continue the task of getting to know each member of the group and seeing how God knits us together as a team. And although I know it is going to be hard work to maintain a positive attitude through the adversities and oddities this trip presents, I also know that an infinitely big God is just waiting for me (and all of us) to fully rely on Him to see us through.  –Liz