It is day 24 on this journey as I start this entry (posting a little later). If I am 100% honest, I have struggled with feelings of inadequacy from day 1.
I have been asking God why did You bring me here to not talk to me, to not let me feel You. This week one of our leaders shared an anthem for saying Absolutely Yes to the Great Commission and as I listened to it on the top step of El Cafe I now call home, the sun warmed my skin and God warmed my heart. I was rejuvenated with the call to be here that I felt so strongly before.
There have been multiple moments I have thought maybe I heard Him wrong, maybe I made this decision selfishly and God will not bless my obedience. But today I got real with God and brought all this to His feet. He reminded me that He is with me always. That we are instructed to go share with those who do not get the privilege to hear about the God who is the Author, the Creator, the Beginning and the End.
Why are we not running?!?! How can I not go?! I will carry the heavy pack, I will sleep in the tent, I will eat the dirty food. When everyone tells me no, no, no I say, ABSOLUTELY YES. I will go. I forsake the white picket fence and I will embrace the sleeping pad on the hard tile floor just to give one person a warm smile that comes from the heart of the One who created them! The field I see isn’t empty, it’s plentiful and the harvest is so big and so sweet. So I challenge you to find your field and sow seeds of love and Good News and let’s do this together from right where you are!
Since I have landed in Guatemala I have had to struggle and lean into finding my way. I have had to learn to not compare my journey to the other missionaries and even my own squadmates. God has stripped my expectations and my own plans for how I pictured this journey going. Instead of standing on the street corner and having masses come to know God because of my boldness, I will fix the dirty child’s shoes that were on the wrong feet, I will smile so big and say “buenos dias” to every person I pass (working on follow up words on Duolingo now). I will use my different appearance to draw the eyes to then give kindness.
On Monday I was sharing my heart with my host on the way to a different town and she said the spanish word is campos misioneros, your niche, your mission field. Everyones is different, and every moment isn’t glorious and book worthy. Sometimes a mission field is mundane life and hard everyday things. Here in Chicaman, we are working with a family with four kids so we are learning that sometimes our ministry is to build the lincoln log house with their son or work on homeschooling their 3 year old. It’s a beautiful reminder that at the end of this 11 months I might not feel led to stay in different countries, but I can find my campo in the United States too and do everyday life with a Kingdom mindset!
So if you were waiting for a sign or a swift kick in the tush, you cannot use the excuse that God hasn’t called you, cause He called us ALL. So go find your campo, your field, your people, your place and change lives!! If you have water that never leaves you thirsty, why on Earth would you keep that to yourself. And if you are reading this and don’t know the Well that never runs dry, I’d love to introduce you to the One that keeps me going!
18 Then Jesus came to them [and you reading this blog] and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28: 18-20
Love being inspired by each and every post! Godspeed!
Love All Of This. God Bless.
You are AMAZING!!! You express your heart and the truth truly through the Spirit!
I am so very proud of you. My heart is bursting with tears. So encouraged to find my campo!! Praying for you to continue to feel God’s presence and His voice. You are changing lives just by being YOU!!!
You are already winning hearts. Those acts of servant-hood speak louder than preaching to the masses on a corner. May God continue to bless your journey!
I am proud of you sis. I realized my Campo is at Atlantic and Whiteville many years ago. This is my home that I get taught daily from The Holy Spirit and He challenges me everyday to produce the fruit He desires He for us.
My Ministry of Reconciliation to everyone I meet is the same as yours. And the same ministry is for every brother and sister in Christ. 2 Corinthians 5 The Ministry of Reconciliation
16¶From now on, then, we do not know anyone from a worldly perspective. Even if we have known Christ from a worldly perspective, yet now we no longer know him in this way.
17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!
18Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.
19That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed the message of reconciliation to us.
20¶Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf: “Be reconciled to God.”
21He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
And you are correct the harvest is plentiful and it is wherever your feet touches. What I realized in my small adventures is that I did not feel God any stronger when I was in other places of the world. But what I did discover is that God Spirit is in me wherever my feet touches. So run the race knowing that God’s Spirit lives inside of you and that during this time? Wherever your feet lands is still a moment to be an ambassador for Him. Love you sis. And I will be praying you and the others to experience more of God daily.
Rh
INSPIRED!!! Keep up the good works that God has prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
This is so great!! I felt it in my spirit….praying for God to continue to bless you and all those you come in contact with..you’ve always had a way to reach people through your bubbly personality….just being Amy!!!
WOW!!!! I don’t know what to say other that you are growing in areas where God wants you to grow. I am still very proud of you living your own decisions where you know that God has both hands on it. I love you Amy!!!!!
Amy!! This is such a tender testimony of what God is teaching you. Truly some of the sweetest ministry is in the mundane things of life, choosing to live on mission and do everything in the name of Jesus. You live this out so well! oxoxox, Kara
Don’t underestimate the power of your smile and a kind word or gesture. The still, small voice of God is heard in every language by these two things.
Ok these lines actually had me crying:
I forsake the white picket fence and I will embrace the sleeping pad on the hard tile floor just to give one person a warm smile that comes from the heart of the One who created them! The field I see isn’t empty, it’s plentiful and the harvest is so big and so sweet. So I challenge you to find your field and sow seeds of love and Good News and let’s do this together from right where you are!
I love hearing your heart and your vulnerability in how IT IS HARD. It sure is! Great job of sharing the ups and downs. If all we share are the high moments, we become unapproachable to those that don’t know Him. I love how you are meeting the challenge!
Just very excited for you!
This! You are acting as the hands and feet of Jesus. A lot of the times it looks like building Lincoln logs or helping with homework. This post gave me so much hope for our squad and the work we are doing here in Guatemala!
“God has stripped my expectations and my own plans for how I pictured this journey going..”
yep, that’s usually how it works. Help us Jesus! To trust you. You knows what we need and always have something way better planned for our good and Your Glory.
Ministry is loving people.. whatever that looks like. Give us eyes to see and your heart to love!
Thank you for sharing your heart!!
Amen Amen!!!! Love this so much! Keep running YOUR race ??
Yes girl! The mission is for everyone! Thank you for calling us up and out of the ordinary!!! And for being vulnerable as the Lord walks you through insecurity! Much love