After a 15 ½-hour bus ride to Buffalo on Saturday (which started at 4:00 a.m.), we finally arrived at our first destination. For Fourth of July, we stayed at a ranch in Owego and visited a New York-famous ice cream shop before watching fireworks. It was quite the memorable holiday!
We set off early Monday morning for our final destination: Buffalo! Thankfully, it was only three hours from where we were. Monday night consisted of World Changer’s “opening celebration” and worship. We also got to meet our crew that we would be working with all week long. (Churches from different states came to Buffalo and each was dispersed among the crews so that we could all get to know each other.) Tuesday was when the real work began! We would be getting up at 5:30 every morning, eating breakfast at 6, and heading out by 7.It would only take about 24 hours before I would have my first “attitude check.” I had assumed this mission trip would not be as intense as others, since it was in the states and not another country. However, let’s start with our living conditions: We stayed in a pretty old and run-down high school that reminded me of a fire station. This high school also had absolutely no air conditioning. And did I mention that Buffalo would be experiencing a record high on the exact week we would be there? Yeah, it was awesome. In addition, our meals consisted of good ol’ cafeteria mystery food and the same thing for lunch every single day – melted ham sandwiches on the whitest bread I’d ever seen. Yum! As you can imagine, this was a bit more “intense” than I had expected. Because my expectations didn’t exactly meet reality, a sour and discontent spirit began to form in my heart. God quickly made that known to me, and I was able to fix it. I realized that my trip was even more of a mission trip than I thought it was going to be! How exciting!!
Our first day on the job was amazing. We would be re-doing a porch & staircase, restructuring columns, and giving the front of the house a fresh coat of paint. The owner of the home of our job site was Ms. Josephine, an older, single woman who pretty much lived on her front porch.
Thankfully, her neighbors were willing to let her sit on theirs while hers was under construction. That week, I did a variety of jobs, including scraping paint, peeling up rotted boards, caulking, and painting (LOTS of painting!). And I loved every moment of it. Every day after lunch, we had “crew devos” which was led by one of our crew members and included reading from God’s Word, discussion, and prayer. I was amazed at how we were all able to get to know each other through this activity.On Wednesday, the city of Buffalo had their annual “Buffalo Bash,” and World Changers was part of it!
As a youth group, Judson students were able to make balloon animals for the kids there. Lots of evangelism took place, thanks to this ministry!Thursday was pretty much my favorite day of the week. We all were able to sit and take a break every couple hours for a drink. On one of my breaks, I noticed some kids in the neighborhood riding bikes and goofing off. After introducing myself, they immediately stuck to me like glue! There were about five kids, all siblings, and were cute as could be! The youngest girl, two years old, would not stop talking and would not move from my lap. They were all quite intrigued by my camera as well (hence, the funny faces on the video). Earlier in the week, I had prayed that God would give me an opportunity to interact with kids, and He gave me exactly that! Their faces will always be engraved on my heart.
Last but not least, my uncle surprised us on Saturday, and took us to Niagara Falls!! It was absolutely beautiful… All I could think the entire time was “What an awesome God we serve!” So, I have officially seen one of the Seven Wonders of the World!
There are literally not enough words to explain the work that God did in my heart that week. Thursday night after worship, we had youth group devotions and my uncle (the youth pastor) encouraged us to share what God had taught/shown us that week – specifically the things that hinder us from serving him faithfully (the theme of the week was “UNHINDERED”).
It was difficult for me to get the courage to share, but I did. During the past two weeks of being away from home, God revealed to me my lack of trust and dependency on Him, specifically in the area of giving Him control of my future. To be honest, I thought I had it all figured out. But to my surprise, God completely unraveled everything I thought I had organized. As you can imagine, I am in need of LOTS of prayer. God is teaching me to wait on HIS timing and trust Him with the answers. …Where? When? How? They are all so overwhelming! But lately I’ve slowly realized that I’m not the one in control, and no matter how hard I try to plan and “schedule,” God’s Plan will always exceed mine.
In addition, the Lord is truly breaking my heart for the things that break His heart. Upon my return, I watched a movie with my family and was literally weeping after watching it. My heart was aching and mourning for the lost – for those who have no knowledge of the Truth and grace that comes through Christ Jesus. I literally feel like a different person.
It’s exciting to see how God is going to use all of this in my life later on down the road. My trip is summed up by Acts 1:8: “And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ENDS OF THE EARTH."
SDG
VIDEO: COMING SOON!
1 comment:
How exciting! Sounds like you had an amazing time. I will be praying for you, Emily. I've struggled with being patient and waiting on the Lord's timing too... and just putting my future in His hands! It's a comfort to me, though, knowing that HE knows best, and that he has plans for me! :) Great post... love you!
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