Shalom friends,
My heart is heavy with sadness as this week was the last week for community outreach in the garden and teaching ESL. :`( This week I've been tearful and trying to finish strong, however, it's hard. Besides being sad that I'll be leaving soon, I've been struggling with thoughts that has me be anxious and somewhat panic concerning home life and college. These thoughts have been a distraction in that I'm questioning how I'll get work, spending time with my family, paying my semester bill, wondering if I'll be able to go back to school, and getting internship requirement done in time (book reading and papers) in less than a month. I've been learning to surrender in faith that God is sovereign and he is the provider. All I need to do is trust which is a constant reminder to myself because I'm a simple minded human being. I think I've said enough distressful stuff about myself, now onto the week's events that have happened.
On Saturday, we welcomed our last STM team and we are treasuring every moment with them. It's been a joy to have STMs because they truly do bring a heart for God and a willingness to serve. I love being able to interact with many of the STMs because I learn so much from them and receive their enthusiasm and excitement to experience a mission life. Their passion overflows and transfers in me to become more passionate for God and what he is going to do. I love seeing them experience the culture and the people because they remind me of me when I first met the refugees and they just give me that excitement and amazement again. I love the refugees even more because of that.
This week I had a chance to experience a Burmese house church that was amazing. Even though I did not understand the language, there was something about being gathered as a body of Christ and worshipping him. I didn't even think of the difference in culture but worshipped along. The presence of God was truly evident. The scene and thought I had was this is a bit of heaven because God is an ethnic God who created people groups and different languages. This experience gave me a glimpse of what heaven is going to look, sound, and feel like. I was over joyed at God allowing me to experience this opportunity.
Then Mon through Thurs we did our garden outreach and ESL which was so good, even though I knew it would be the last. It was good to see and visit my Nepali and Burmese family in the morning and on Thurs. telling them good-bye was hard because seeing their faces just put a sadness on my heart. It's difficult to leave and I realized that living a missionary life is hard and there will be good-byes but the memories, experiences, and new friends make it worth being a missionary. I had the opportunity to pray for Bloom (Nepali) and Mary Lin and Elizabeth (Burmese) which was great because the Spirit led and I know that it was an impact on their lives that is going to last forever. Then, Morgan and I took our ESL student out for frozen yogurt and shopping on our last day of ESL. We wanted her to have fun and just hang out together and I'm glad we did that for her. I had an opportunity to visit with another Nepali family with Jake and Morgan and it was a relaxing and enjoyable time. We got to pray with them before we left and I know that us pouring into their lives has been a big impact on them.
It truly has been an amazing, incredible, and God led experience for me. Every day I'm blessed to have chosen GFM as my internship because I never thought I'd love being in a team, leading STM, visiting refugees, and trying new foods and putting myself out there. God has truly given me a heart for missions and serving him with everything I have. My prayer that I hope to continue is being a leader and initiating in different situations and opportunities. I want to be more outgoing and be adventurous because I have seen how fun I have just doing it. I want to thank you all for supporting me in prayer and through financial giving. Truly, I could not have done this without God and without your willingness to support me. May God bless you as you continue to serve Him. Blessings to you all.
No comments:
Post a Comment