This summer was one for the books — at least for me! I had the opportunity to participate in three of Browncroft’s four trips that our church sent out this summer. While I was not able to go with our South Carolina team, I am eagerly awaiting this Sunday’s recap event to hear from them (keep reading to learn more). But I did get to visit Senegal with our Wolof partners, Peru with Faithe and Miguel Saccsara from Empowering Quechuas, and Ohio with Browncroft high school students.
Here are lessons I learned on each trip:
God Uses Missions
In Senegal I feel like I finally learned what “missions” is supposed to look like.
Each of our partners cares so much for the Wolof people of Senegal, but they know without local believers their ministry will not be as effective. Missionaries can be pulled out of their field for a ton of different reasons, so discipling local believers ensures the ministry will continue with or without the missionary.
It is so beautiful to hear the stories of believers turning to Jesus and now being a part of leading the ministry that brought them to Christ. Missions is temporary, but worship is forever.
By the way, if you want to be a part of reaching the next generation in Senegal, please consider sponsoring a child at one of our three partner schools! Many of these students come from Muslim households but will attend a Christian school because of the importance of an education. Learn more by clicking the button below.
God Is Kind
In Peru, as we aided soccer and eyeglass ministries, I got a sweet reminder about how kind God is to His people.
Despite it being winter in Peru in July, the jungle of Tarapoto was HOT! The leaders of the church we stopped at handed out coconuts to all of us who were basically melting because of the humidity. Then one of my team members turned around to me and said, “Isn’t it so cool that God put trees with water inside in a place that is so hot?”
God in all His goodness sees the people of Tarapoto and provides electrolyte-filled coconuts at their disposal. It was an amazing reminder of the intentionality and kindness of the God we serve!
God Hears Prayer
In Ohio I was reminded how encouraging prayer can be and how important it is to be praying for one another.
On my worksite, we were talking about praying out loud — a nightmare for many a high schooler (and adult!). There is pressure to make a prayer sound “good” which discourages a lot of people from praying. That evening I was praying for the girls on my team to be bold in their faith. When the prayer time ended the two girls ran up to me and said, “We are praying at lunch tomorrow.” And they did it! They were able to experience working alongside God through leading others in prayer, and I got the sweet reminder that God hears and answers prayers – sometimes immediately!
These are just some examples where I saw God at work this summer. Again, we are having an event this Sunday (September 11) at 7:00pm in the Browncroft Café to recap and celebrate all the trips that were sent out this year. Just like I am doing here, team members will have a chance to share about what they learned and where they saw God show up.
If you have never been on a trip before but have considered taking that next step, I really want to encourage you to be there! You can sign up using the button below. And bring a friend!
Photo by Eva Darron on Unsplash
