Write: Here I Am, Send Me? Courage in Costa Rica (Never the Same Missions, Part 3)
So far, I’ve shared two installments of my missions story from last year’s Never the Same Missions trip to Costa Rica and four stories of courageous people. You should know that I always have more stories than will fit in the word count limit the magazine gives me, so if you want a few more stories, check back to last summer’s blog (try here and here for examples). But I love the stories reserved for Part 3, and I hope you will, too!
Photo © Never the Same Missions, 2014
Courage to Speak: Sammie
Unlike John, “I’m a worship leader,” Sammie says. “Not a speaker.”
That’s what she tried to tell God one morning as her team prepared for ministry. Her head team leader, Rob Kirkpatrick, needed someone to share the gospel after the second drama of the day. “Who’s gonna do it?” he asked.
No one volunteered.
“It felt like God was pressing his hands on my shoulders,” Sammie confesses. “I knew He was saying, ‘You do it.’”
So she did. So well, in fact, that the crowd in the noisy street market had no idea she was anything but an experienced speaker. So well that God used her to help others receive His message of salvation. So well that she kept sharing with anyone who would listen.
Watch out. When you follow God in obedience, He’ll give you courage to speak, too.
Courage to Connect: Yemi
Photo © Yemisrach Melton, 2014.
Yemi, another Faith in the Wait entrant, was the contest runner-up. But when it comes to courage, she’s a big winner. She shared her story before one of the group’s supercharged evening worship services, called FUAGNEM (Fired up and Going Nuts Every Minute).
Yemi’s unusual background—adopted from Ethiopia at age 10—helped prepare her for the missions trip in ways she never expected. On their first day of ministry, her team spent time at a home for abused girls ages 12-18. Leah, one of the head team leaders, asked Yemi to share her testimony.
“I forgot she was adopted,” Leah says. But God didn’t. As Yemi spoke, she didn’t know that one of the girls listening was in the process of being adopted to the United States. The girl listened intently to Yemi’s story of God’s grace throughout the adoption process.
“She was so excited to talk to me,” Yemi remembers. “She was going through some of the same stages I did. I’m so glad God put me there to help.”
When you trust the Father, He gives you the courage to connect.
Have you served God in international missions, or would you like to? Is God giving you the courage to connect?
I’d love to receive your questions and comments below, on social media, or through the email link at the top of this page. Tom and I hope to join Never the Same in Ecuador June 29-July 12, 2015. Maybe you, like the prophet Isaiah and like Sammie and Yemi, will say, “Here am I. Send me!”
