God Let Me Participate

Contrary to what my flesh believes, it's not about me. It's not about what I can do. My contributions are only noteworthy in that they reflect God's tremendous grace. That He would allow me to participate in the things that He does is truly humbling and remarkable. 

"So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth." 

1 Corinthians 3:7

In light of this truth, I'd like to share a few things that God let me participate in during the Outreach Phase of my school overseas (much later than I had planned). 

~ I was given the opportunity to spend time with students on campus at a Muslim university with a diverse student population. We were welcomed to the university by the tourism department, and were given opportunities to give presentations about our home countries/states. We were also given opportunities to talk with students in their classrooms; we discussed lots of things about our cultures, ideas, and faiths. We became friends with some of the students, and were blessed to spend time with them as they toured us around their city. I believe that God used our times together to challenge us all, to stretch our minds and theirs, to make room in all of our hearts for more of his Truth. 

~ I was given the opportunity to spend time with a ministry that reaches out to some of the world's poor and forgotten living in slums. My friends and I were privileged to spend time with some of the littlest people living there; playing, teaching, and caring for them in their preschool. We were honored to spend time with their families in home fellowships, where the Word of God was taught. In one meeting, I had the privilege of sharing how God used authentic Christian community to shape my life and my friends' lives during college. This community in a slum has tremendous potential to experience relationships the way that God intended, and I believe that God is making it happen. It brought tears to my eyes and shook my heart and soul when a mother genuinely thanked me for sharing my story that seemed so simple to me.

I am so thankful for the full-time ministers of the Gospel in this place, and for the opportunities we had to come alongside them for a short time. I got to see God use them to provide food and medical care, as well as spiritual food and emotional care. What an honor it was to walk in the footsteps of His faithful ones there. 

~ I was given the opportunity to serve with an organization that, by the power and grace of God, does tremendous work on many fronts to break the cycle of poverty in the country. We were blessed to get our hands dirty and release some creativity painting walls in a girls' hostel. The young women living there are absolutely lovely and full of potential. Some have been literally purchased out of abusive families, and all are given persistent care and training in how to work and care for themselves and each other. They are taught how to not live on the streets, as many of their families have done for generations. These girls are introduced to Jesus in many ways, and to the hope that He offers. It was a privilege to paint for and with these lovely ones, and to spend time talking, eating, laughing, and praying with them. 

~ I was given the opportunity to walk the ground, stand on the rooftops, join with the people, and pray for the welfare of a nation that is quickly growing in influence in the world God created. May His kingdom come soon!

Father in Heaven, may your Name be honored. May your kingdom come soon, and may your will be done on Earth, just as it is in Heaven.