El Salvador –
I’m beyond blessed that I got to experience the Lord in such an amazing and beautiful way. The Lord has definitely lit a flame in my heart that will continue to grow and grow and I’m confident that it will never burn out.
My two words that came out of this trip are abide and trust. I’ve learned that if we are not living for the Lord every minute of every day, then what’s the point? God’s power and presence is constant and I think we forget that after we come back from a spiritual high on a missions trip.
Remaining in Him
It’s so easy to get back into that routine that we’ve created for ourselves back at home. But I believe that were not just called to missions in foreign countries, were called to treat our jobs, our families, and our day to day lives as our mission field and that’s what’s why my word is abide, because the Lord is teaching me that I need to remain in Him even after I get back from a missions trip. He’s reminding me that I need that same passion that I carried in El Salvador here in Murfreesboro, TN, so that I can tell everyone of all the amazing and wondrous things I got to experience and be a part of in El Salvador.
Living without fear
I went into this trip with many distractions and a lot of spiritual baggage that made me doubt my purpose on this trip, but while I was there the Lord completely restored my brokenness and doubt that I carried into this trip and He used me in so many beautiful ways. Going on this trip has taught me to live everyday without fear of failure or of what people think of me especially if what I’m doing is glorifying the Lord. Sharing my testimony in front of 300 plus high school students was probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. I was scared of what my team would think of me but ultimately I was terrified of messing up and not knowing what to say.
The Lord knows everything about me, He knows all of my thoughts, fears, and doubts, He knew that saying “yes” would be very hard for me, but He kept pushing and pushing because He also knew the affects it would have on some of the students and even me. No matter how many times I doubted and said “no” I knew that I wasn’t going to leave that school without sharing my testimony.
I would be lying if I said I wasn’t freaking out when I got up in front of all those high schoolers, but as I began talking the Lord began working in me. He transformed my fear and doubts into confidence and He wiped away my insecurities and turned them into this boldness that I’ve never experienced before. I am confident that this boldness will continue to remain in my life, I’m not saying that I will never fail or have thoughts of fear and doubt that will creep back up, but I really believe that because I decided to step out in faith, not only did it affect the hearts of the students but it changed my confidence in myself.
I just want to thank you so much for donating funds for this trip, your generosity allowed me to minister and show Christ’s love to so many kids.
Katelyn
