I began this blog with the purpose of bringing glory to my Heavenly Father by writing about the events between now and the missions trip He's sending me on. I'd like to tell you about how it all began...
This semester at Faith Baptist Bible College, a new missions trip was presented to the student body. A team of 25 people would travel to Scotland the last two weeks in July to help serve in a local church in Aberdeen. The group would serve along side Pastor Galbraith and his family. It would be the opportunity of a life time. While I expressed my interest and my name was put on a list, I had no hope of making the team. How could I, a college freshman with NO missions experience qualify for something like this? But God had other plans....
A few weeks later, Pastor Galbraith came to campus to speak in chapel as well as present the missions trip in further detail. These meetings were important, yet I chose not to go because of the mountain of homework I had. In retrospect, not going was a foolish choice. But God had other plans...
After the advice of my roommate, I emailed the Missions director who was heading up the application submissions for the trip and expressed to him that I WAS still interested in going on this trip and apologized for missing the meeting. He sent me a link to the application. After filling out the papers and sending it back to him, I committed the whole thing to God. I told my Father that if He wanted me to go, He was going to have to send me, because if it was based on the way I had been handling the situation, I didn't deserve to go. But God had other plans...
After I put it all in my Fathers hands, the whole thing slipped my mind. School crowded every empty space in my mind until that Saturday morning when I checked my email. I had to read the email 4 times before I finally grasped its meaning. The opening went something like this:
"Greetings to the 2012 Scotland Team,
Congratulations! If you are receiving this email, you have made the team!..."
By the fifth time through, it finally sunk in - God was sending me to Scotland.
I still can't get over the providence of my Father in this situation. The whole thing is humbling and exciting at the same time.
Now some details. Once I made the team, our Missions director gave us the specific details for the trip.
(This is our temporary logo for the trip)
Our team-about 22 of us- will be going to Aberdineshire, Scotland from July18 to August 1, 2012 with the intended purpose of serving in various ministries in the Westhill Baptist Church in Westhill, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. We will be helping with Holiday Bible Club (I think this is the UK version of VBS), Family Fun Nights, and in our spare time, experiencing Scotland. Throughout this time, we will hopefully have opportunities to minister to the Believers and share the Gospel with the lost. Personally, my heart is already with the children. (On of the first things I remember thinking about this trip when it was presented was "I wonder what Scottish children are like...") The last three days we will spend in London sight seeing.
The total cost for the trip will be just under $3,000. A recent blessing concerning the price is that we will NOT have to pay for Visa's for this trip, which would have kept the price around $3,000. God is already paying for the trip. (Isn't He so good?) The first half of the amount, $1,500, will go toward our plane tickets which will be due February 15, 2012. The rest will cover food, van rental, lodging, etc and will be due April 15th. This may sound crazy, but when I saw the price for this trip, I started grinning like a fool. Not because I knew I could get the money, but rather because I knew my God was going to pay for it. This "strange" perspective came after reading about the prayer life of George Muller and the ways that God provided for him. I was excited to have a huge mountain looming before me so that I could take it to my Father and wait for him to provide. Jehovah-Jireh!!
So friends, we have come to the end of the beginning...
The only thing that I ask is this: Pray for us.
Pray that God will provide in HIS timing and that our faith might be increased because of His perfect will. It will be exciting to see how He uses this in our lives to change us into His image.
Between now and next summer, I intend to post updates on how God is providing as well as facts about Scottish people, history, etc.
"I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:14 ESV)
(Aberdeen is the little point just south of Peterhead, the blunt peninsula that points to the North Sea)
The total cost for the trip will be just under $3,000. A recent blessing concerning the price is that we will NOT have to pay for Visa's for this trip, which would have kept the price around $3,000. God is already paying for the trip. (Isn't He so good?) The first half of the amount, $1,500, will go toward our plane tickets which will be due February 15, 2012. The rest will cover food, van rental, lodging, etc and will be due April 15th. This may sound crazy, but when I saw the price for this trip, I started grinning like a fool. Not because I knew I could get the money, but rather because I knew my God was going to pay for it. This "strange" perspective came after reading about the prayer life of George Muller and the ways that God provided for him. I was excited to have a huge mountain looming before me so that I could take it to my Father and wait for him to provide. Jehovah-Jireh!!
So friends, we have come to the end of the beginning...
The only thing that I ask is this: Pray for us.
Pray that God will provide in HIS timing and that our faith might be increased because of His perfect will. It will be exciting to see how He uses this in our lives to change us into His image.
Between now and next summer, I intend to post updates on how God is providing as well as facts about Scottish people, history, etc.
"I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:14 ESV)
