Personalize the Mission

So I was in church this past Sunday morning...actually, I was in the booth.  Let me back up...

I serve in the Worship Arts Ministry at church.  I am a vocalist on the vocal team, I occasionally sing with the choir, and I also serve in the production booth, working computer media (running the slides with song lyrics, scriptures and videos that the congregation sees on screen).  We are in the middle of a series called EPIC, and one of our pastors, Luke, was speaking.  What he said really affected me...I mean, I was scribbling notes, and trying to pay close attention at the same time, so I could make sure the right slides were up onscreen.  (Forgive me, Mountain Christian Church, if some of the slides were wrong or late because I was distracted - my heart was convicted!...however, I WAS NOT the cause of the power outage, lol!)

It got me to thinking about my mission, and personalizing my mission, not just my mission trip.  Yes, that is included, but my mission goes so far beyond that.  God is writing a story for my life, an Epic.  Of course, my church loves quirky anagrams that helps us to remember things, and this one is spot on.


E - Encounter Christ
P - Personalize the mission
I - Invest time and money
C - Change

I am at a crossroads now, where I am praying on how I plan to personalize my mission,  (including this trip).  It must have meaning in my life for it to remain relevant to me, for me to remain passionate about it.  But more importantly  it has to be of and about God, and His plan.

1Peter2:9-10: You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's Special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.  Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

These things struck me!

You are a chosen people.  Who?  Me?  An impatient single mom?  A failure, a sinner...me?

You are a royal priesthood.  I have no church, and I certainly don't have a kingdom!

You are a Holy Nation.  I lead no one, and I mess up so much...how can I be Holy?

You are God's Special Possession.  You're kidding me, right? 
(By the way, to possess is to make something, then proclaim ownership.  It's like God created me, then drew a circle around me with His arms, and says "this is mine"...like kids do with toys or candy they don't want to share)

God has designed me to Go and Do His great works, in my life, and in Mexico this summer.  I must go and fulfill His mission, as He has personalized me for this very purpose.  He has challenged me, and I have taken Him seriously by applying to go on this trip, and now preparing.

I have a mission.  I am a Royal Priest.  My duties are not in a castle, but in leading others to have a personal encounter with Christ through a beat that moves not only their feet, but also their hearts.  I plant seeds, and I pray.  I Go, and I Do, and all to His Glory.

Meet Megan of Team Kenya!

So in continuing to introduce you to my team, I thought I would also interview other people involved with the MO5 mission.  We have teams going to Arizona, Mexico, Nairobi, Kenya and Southeast Asia, as well as my team's trip to Prague.  Here is where I asked a good friend of mine (we are in a wonderful small group of women together at church) to tell me about her experience with preparing for her trip!


Yonna: Tell me a bit about yourself: Who are you? What do you do? How did you come to be a member of Mountain Christian Church?

Megan, MO5 Team Green: Kenya

Megan: My name is Megan! I originally started going to Mountain when I was seven years old, but stopped going when I was 15. Then returned last year (2011).  I am a faithful member of the Women's Mentoring Group at Mountain (Yonna note: and we LOVE her presence!~)

Y:  Have you ever been on a missions trip before?
M: I have not been on a missions trip before, or even an airplane!!!

Y: WOW!  Not even an airplane?  What a leap of faith you're taking...especially with a plane ride that can last up to 14 hours...you are one brave little sister!  So in knowing that, what made you want to go on a missions trip, and how did you decide on Kenya, of all places?
M: Well, when I heard about Mountain On 5, I thought "wow, I really want to be apart of that".  I had some friends that when to Kenya last summer with the church, who came back with amazing, life changing, faith building and challenging stories.  Last summer I thought that there was no way could I go to Africa on a missions trip.  But when I found out about MO5, I prayed (a lot!) about it, because I knew I wanted to go on one of the trips, but I didn't know which one. After much prayer, I kept hearing God call to me, Kenya, Kenya, KENYA!

Y: I know how that is!  I prayed lots myself, and it's amazing the way God let's you know exactly what His will is. So, what was your application process like?
M: It took me a while to fill out the application form...
Y: I KNOW!  It was 12 pages long!
M: RIGHT!  I was so nervous and unsure if I was even ready to do it.  And then I turned it in. About two weeks later, I got a call from church asking me to come in for an interview. I met with 3 church members that I had never met before and had to tell them my strengths and weaknesses, describe my faith, and explain why I wanted to go... I was so nervous!  But after it was over, I thought to myself  "Wow, that went so well".  Three days later, I got an email saying "Welcome aboard M05!"


Y: AMEN!  I know all of those feelings all too well.  Being nervous, interviewing with people I didn't know, sharing testimony...its all enough to make you anxious!  I know I'm glad to have gotten that part over with already!  So, now that you've made the team, tell me about this trip...what are you expecting?  What are you hoping to come away with?
M:  I am looking forward to seeing God in ways I cant even imagine. I'm sure I will see how real and how powerful God is. I have been told that the people of Nairobi, Kenya are filled with so much hope and faithfulness to  our God, and  I want to see and experience that. I've also been blessed to be a blessing to those people who are living without the light of God.  I cannot wait to connect with God's people, experience a completely different culture, and grow significantly as a woman of God.

Y: Oh Megan, Amen!
M:   I am going to the Marthare Valley in Nairobi, Kenya.  These beautiful people live in substandard conditions - the area is severely stricken with an outstanding amount of poverty.  They are starving for food and starving for God. I cannot wait to share the good news with them!!!

Y:  I appreciate your heart so much...wanting to go and do and be the Hands and Feet of Him in Africa...I can't wait to get back and hear the stories of your time of service (and find out how those plane rides turned out for you!).  Is there anything else you'd like to add for our readers?
M:   I just want to ask them to continue to pray for all of the MO5 teams: Arizona, Mexico, Southeast Asia, Czech Republic and Kenya!

Y: Thanks so much Megan, for sharing you heart with us!

If you are interested in supporting our teams, please pray for us by name, or click the link at the top left of the page to donate.  Anything you can do will be GREATLY appreciated!

Just a word...

Have you ever felt like you were "jipped by God"?  Like God gave you something, but it turned into a 'womp womp' situation?  Heard yourself saying "C'mon God...REALLY?"


(...sharing this from personal experience...)


Were you jipped by God?  Did you pray for something, and only got some/part of it?  Did you lay your expectations before him, and He not come through the way you wanted?


NO. (<<THAT was a period)


No...He answered your prayer.  And you got what you asked for (maybe more, but were so blind that you didn't see it for what it was!).  It just wasn't what you Thought, Expected or Hoped it would be.  But know the truth: HE ANSWERS PRAYER*.  He knows the desires of your heart** and never gives you more than you can bear***, nor does He harm you****!

Just as an example, for examples sake...remember how I prayed specifically, "Send me where I can best serve Your needs", which to me, meant Nairobi, Kenya...yet here I am going to Prague?  Yeah...that was one of those  "jipped by God" moments.  Amen though, I was able to get over myself, and I am completely fired up that He truly answered every word that I prayed specifically.


What are some of your 'jipped by God' moments?  Were you able to see what He has done for you, as opposed to what He did not do?  Howso?


*Matt 21:22:  If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.
**Psalm 21:2: You have granted him his heart's desire and have not withheld the request of his lips; Psalm 37:4: Take delight in the Lord and He will give you the desire's of your heart.
*** Jeremiah 29:11: "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not harm you..."
****1Corinthians 10:13: ...And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear...

Correction!  Within that last scripture there, 1Cor10:13, it does state that He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear...not "He will not give you more than you can bear".  As my friend Juniper stated to me " actually it never says that in the Bible. We WILL have more than we can bear on our own sometimes, because otherwise we wouldn't need Him! We won't ever have temptation beyond what we can bear though. He will always provide a way out of temptation. Our study said this is one of the most misquoted verses by Christians (myself included!)".  Thanks so much, Juniper for that clarification!

So I asked...the story of HOW...

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. 1 John 5:14-15

So, after years of watching others go on missions trips, watching them come home, and watching their lives change once they came back, I said to myself "I want to go and serve. I have seen an entire family (husband and wife, 5 year old, 3 year old and 8 month old) go from the east coast to New Mexico. I have seen a small group go to Jamaica, to teach Vacation Bible School and put a roof on a church, while sleeping on the church's floor at night. I've seen a large group of teenagers go to the Dominican Republic, and help a church start a youth program similar to the one we have at our church, of which they went into the neighborhoods and brought their DR peers to church. And last year, I witnessed 81 people, from teens to the elderly, go to the slums of Mathare Valley, Nairobi, Kenya, to do a number of things. They taught sewing classes, so that people could start and run businesses. They taught Bible classes to children. They had leadership workshops, and went door to door, trying to get people to come and get AIDS testing done.

One group even went to different homes (shacks, to us here in the USA), to 'bring light'. See, each home is basically 4 walls, made of whatever building materials the occupants could find...be it plywood, cardboard, tin sheets...anything. The roof is usually made of a slab of tin. They have a door to get in and out, which stays open most days to let the light in. This one group actually went into the home, cut a hole in the roof, and installed a square of plexiglass to let light into the home...so often, we take for granted that we can open our curtains to let the sun inside. For me, a twist of my wrist opens the blinds...yet there are people around the world who do not have this. Amazing.

So after being inspired when the Kenya team returned home, and shared their stories, I decided that it was finally time for me to go and serve. Of course, their stories were not pretty AT ALL. In Kenya, the smell (I'm told) is worse than any sewer or garbage dump, and it was hard to not let it show on the team's face. They saw what the citizens were living in, how the water was contaminated with both human and animal waste, and how the children still played in it regardless, because it is all they have. The people who call this home are used to it, and are proud of what they have, so the team could not be rude and turn up their noses, as that is not what Jesus would have done. Jesus accepted everyone for who they were, and came to them, wherever they were, with open arms. If we are to be the Hands and Feet of Him, then we must do the same.

After much praying and fasting, discussion and thought, I decided that I was going to Kenya to continue the works where the 2011 team left off.

When it came time to begin missions applications for 2012, I did what I was supposed to. I went to the information session; heard about all of the trips that were being offered, asked a few questions and picked up my application. I prayed before filling it out, and asked that I be sent to serve where I can best be used.

So I began filling it out. When it asked which trip I was applying for,in choice 1 I put Prague, choice 2 was Mexico. Once I had filled it out, I thought I had made a mistake, since I wanted to go to Kenya. At the time, I didn't have any white out on me, so I figured I would take it to work with me the next day, and make my corrections then. I completed my application, and readied my reference letters. Then I prayed again that He "send me where I can best serve His needs".

The next day, I forgot my application at home. The day after, I took it to work, but forgot to make the changes. I then made sure to set a reminder on my Outlook to make the change...but set it for 9p.m. instead of A.M. It took me a minute...and then I realized that maybe I wasn't supposed to make that change, and that this was the Holy Spirit's way of letting me know...and who am I to argue with the Holy Spirit? Yep...NOBODY.

So I prayed to submit to the Spirit, and be glad that I am fit for service. I began the drive to the church, to drop off my application, and prayed along the way. When I took the application into the office, the woman taking it was happy to receive it from me, and asked me where I was applying to go to. With a smile, and a heart of gladness, I was able to tell her "the European trip, to Prague to serve with the Mudriks".

You know, when people say "Let Go and Let God", I always think 'how cliche'...though its a true statement. Sometimes, we get in the way of what the Spirit wants for us. We have our own wants, and we think that our want is whats best for us, so we focus on it. The fact that I made known to Him the desire of my heart (wanting to go and serve), He has heard (Psalm 20:4). He has also heard me ask to be sent to where I can best be used to serve...and while I thought I knew where that was, He knew better (Hebrews 12:9).

From the beginning...

I guess I should begin at the beginning (duh) of how I got onto the team going to Europe.


My church has a Glocal (Global and Local) outreach ministry that is serious about serving the needs of others around the world.  They have been charged with making sure that those who are sent to serve do so with a pure heart.  Afterall, the purpose of these short term missions (STM) trips are to serve!


Once I had it in my head that going on an STM trip was something I wanted to do, I seriously prayed about it.  This is a huge deal, and I didn't want to go into it blindly.  I talked to others who had gone on trips about their experiences, and they were real with me.  "Not everyone can do it", "When you know  you're called to go, you WILL know" were some of the things they told me.  There was even one woman who told me"while it sounds great, that just isn't something that's on my hear to do".  Clearly, this has been on my heart for years, but it was never the right time.


Well, the Glocal team was pushing a new thing, called MO5. This stands for Mountain (my church) on 5 different continents/regions of the world.  There are needs that need to be served everywhere in the world, and we are planning to send 5 teams out at the same time.  Teams will be going to Mexico (North America), Arizona (USA, North America), Mathare Valley in Nairobi, Kenya (Africa), Southeast Asia (exact location is not being made public, for the safety of the team), and Prague, Czech Republic (Europe), which is where I will be going.


Of course, when I finally felt the call to go on a missions trip, I just knew I'd be going to Kenya...but clearly, God had other plans for me.  I'll talk more about that in a later blog...


So I filled out the extensive (12 pages!) application, prayed and turned it in.  I had gone to an informational session to hear about the different works that would be done on the trips, and had scheduled my interview.  These trips are pretty popular, and we even have some people who a veteran STM servants, which is why interviews are needed.  The ministry staff wants to make sure that the people who are sent on these trips know that this isn't a vacation; that they are spiritually ready for the task; that those who go on the trips know what they are getting into and can handle the stresses that come along with being a missionary.


So I prayed and prayed...and asked for prayers, and had my impatient and anxious moments...and then i finally got my notice.  I was accepted onto the team!


Now I am sending out e-mails, drafting a letter to send out snail mail with an insert to describe my trip to supporters and praying, still, to be prepared for this trip.  Net week, I will be attending the Glocal Ministry's monthly meeting, to hear what they have been up to, and what plans I can help out with.  I don't yet know who else is on my team with me, but I have met our leader (I had no idea at the time, but she was one of my 3 interviewers!).  All of the teams meet together at the end of the month for a big celebration, and then we will begin team building on a monthly basis.  Just before we leave, we will be meeting more and more often, to learn personalities and conflict resolution styles, etc.


I look forward to these next 5 and a half months, and cannot wait to embark on this journey.  Glad to have you along for the ride!