Before going on this trip to Hogar De Vida in Costa Rica I already knew that I had a passion for restoration. For seeing the lives of others changed, to see them broken free from the bondage of strongholds on their lives. I have been humbled to be used by God many times to help encourage and speak into these transformations. He has placed me in the lives of people that I have grown to love deeply and through the gifting of the Holy Spirit, I have been shown places of hurt, places in need of healing; places where God wanted to fill those holes in their lives, in their hearts and in their spirits, places that only He could fill. I am humbled to be able to walk with them and show them the truth of who they are in Christ, to help them to see how much He loves them and what He has in store for them if only they would let Him. Through it all I get to witness such amazing transformations in people, and I wish I had words to express to you how completely and utterly overcome with the Joy only given by Heaven above, that I get each and every time. Sometimes it's as if my entire chest is just going to burst, and of course, because I am who God made me to be, I cry, every single time.
This trip I realized something; many times pouring into the lives of others to see restoration and healing, to get to a place where they are willing to break down the walls, it can sometimes take a very long time. I am SO willing to walk that road all the way to the end with those people for as long as it takes. Celebrating each step, each new discovery and thanking Jesus for His redeeming grace each and every time. However, do you know what happens on mission trips? Redemption and transformation can, and does take place in a matter of days!!!! Oh my goodness!! Time and time and time again I got to watch my team members fly with the freedom that comes from letting go of those things they've been carrying around with them for so long, things they thought they laid down, but had truly been carrying around in their back pocket. It just got so familiar to them that they didn't even realize it was weighing them down. I got to see one team member go from someone who wore shame like a wet blanket, all encompassing, heavy and hindering completely throw it off because of someone else sharing a testimony. At one point I thought for sure I was going to pass out because the Joy was so overwhelming.
I realized that I LOVE mission teams, I LOVE leading mission teams! I can do the hard work that mission trips entail, I'm okay with diving in and getting dirty right along side everyone else. Do you know why? Because in the time while we're working people share their stories, they tell you what God has done for them during the trip, they share the things that they had struggled with before the trip, they share the things that God is revealing to them for when they return home. Now, I know, Costa Rica is pretty easy as mission trips go, I also know that there are places that are hard, and would make me uncomfortable, I also know that there is no place that God can not transform lives, and that I want to be part of that. I don't know what it looks like from here, but I know that this is something that God has placed on my heart, and something that I'm going to pray over diligently and listen for words from Him.
Another interesting piece of this is my husband, one thing we have prayed for the last few years is that God would open doors for us to work together. In our minds it's a business of some kind, because that fits inside our "box". However, today we were hanging the art work that we bought in Costa Rica, and God whispered to him "sell your stuff and only decorate with artwork from your mission trips. Oh boy! Now who knows what this all looks like, and maybe it will be something that we've never even thought of before, but I know our hearts have been opened in a way they haven't been before.
We learned a new word on this trip from the director of Hogar De Vida, the word is believeobey, it removes the gap between the two words, so that there is nothing in between believing and obeying, if you believe you obey, it's as simple as that. Whatever God has in store from this point on, that is what I intend to do, believeobey.
