Missions Night

I have been asked to speak at this month's Missions Night at my church (actually, to be interviewed with three other people onstage). The night is designed to inform and inspire people about missions, for anyone who has ever thought about missions, whether they have been on a trip or not. The interview section will be to provide first-hand experiences and perspectives on the different concepts of short-term mission trips from the onset to the end. (I am so blessed to be part of a church with so much to offer and so much going on in the World Christian Movement!)

My part of the interview will be all about re-entry: how my trip to Africa affected me and what I did once I returned. As I've been preparing for what I'm going to say, I was really surprised to realize just how many things have helped me process my experience as well as "cope" with re-entry (something that is rarely ever easy). It's amazing what all we can do after a mission trip and what all there is to do from home. For me, that has included serving in my church's children's ministry (Grow Zone), serving as a sender for other mission teams (since it didn't work out for me to go somewhere again this year), leading other teams through the three training modules designed to prepare them for short-term mission trips, giving presentations with Trey at four different churches literally across the state, taking the semester-long course about missions called Perspectives (www.perspectives.org), and continuing to be a part of our church's monthly Kenya Prayer Group. What I have landed on for my interview's "bottom line" is that re-entry is GOING to affect you—but while we may not be able to avoid the re-entry experience, we do have a CHOICE in what we do with it, and in whether our impact will be positive or negative. This year I've really had to humble myself by not being on the "front lines" again, so to speak. But with so many things you can do as a result of a trip, with so many things that can be done here from home, I have learned that every part we play in the overall movement is for God's glory and is important.

As for speaking about all this in front of people, well, that's another story... I am more than well aware that I am totally terrible at public speaking. I have never been good at verbalizing my thoughts in general (let me write it down, and I'm good to go!), and to top it off, being in the spotlight makes me really nervous. I stumble over my words, ramble, repeat myself, my hands shake, my voice gets quivery... OK, I am really not making this any easier on myself right now... Sometimes I wonder why I am given opportunities that are so often outside of where I feel I am gifted. But I have had to realize that God can use me exactly how I am (just like I have realized this year that He can use me exactly where I am as well). When I am weak, He gets to display His strength! Being out of my comfort zone like this really challenges me, but in turn it makes me totally dependent on God—which is both humbling and, in a wonderful way, comforting. Trying to control this situation myself would be a disaster and not glorify Him at all. My focus needs to be not on how I am going to get up there and do this but rather how I can simply be available to let God work through me, to let Him equip me and give me the words that He wants conveyed.

I'm really excited to see how people's interests and passions for missions will ignite after tonight! Once my little part is over, I will get a chance to talk with people one on one and even just observe all that goes on. I remember attending my first few Missions Nights and just being blown away—what's so crazy is that they keep getting better and better! God is certainly at work, and what a privilege it is to be a witness... and sometimes to even be given the gift of being a part of it.