The journey begins...March 2009

Several months ago, as I was walking with a friend, she mentioned that she was going on a mission trip. I listened intently as she shared about a previous mission trip that she had taken several years ago to this same country. She talked about how excited she was as she prepared for the trip and how God had blessed her as she'd been obedient to His leading to go. Silently, in my heart, I prayed and told God that I would love to have the same opportunity one day. Little did I know that my opportunity was going to come so soon.

Each morning, before beginning our workday, my friend and I walked and prayed together. One day I shared my heart with her and told her that I had been asking God if He would allow me to go on this mission trip too. As soon as I finished my sentence, my friend began to shout and praise the Lord. She said, "oh, I've been praying that He would lay this on your heart!" I was shocked to know that while I'd been seeking the Lord's will for me concerning this trip, that she had been praying that God would put it on my heart to want to go.

Smiling, we continued our morning walk and she began to share more about the upcoming mission trip to ....( I can't share the location because it's in a very dangerous location and could jeopordize the safety of those going.) As I listened to her share, my heart began to overflow with love for people I hadn't even met.

When my friend told me the cost of the trip, I just knew that God was going to have to show me that He really intended for me to go. There was no way I could raise $3000 on my own within such a short period of time. I asked God to blow me a way with His perfect provision and then I sat back to watch what he was going to do.

I attended the first team meeting and was surprised to find that there were only 8 people going on this trip. There were 6 women and 2 men. We were from all walks of life and from many different nationalities, but we all had a heart for spreading the gospel. After receiving details on our location and a brief overview of our goal, we left the meeting with much to do. We would each have to prepare a support letter and send it out to those God laid on our hearts. I was excited because all of this was so new to me.

The next day, I began drafting my letter. I found a map of the country to which we would be traveling and copied and pasted it into my flier. I added some scripture and the details of our mission. As I was working on the letter, I asked God to give me specific names of those to whom I would send the flier.

Over the next few days, I was amazed at how God would put one person after another's name on my heart and in my mind. People I hadn't even seen in many years came to mind. Sometimes I would question the Lord and ask if He was sure He wanted me to send them a letter. The answer was always the same... "Trust Me."

I set up a database on my computer so I could keep up with the ever growing list of names God had given me. I sent out a few letters ever couple of days and then sat back and prayed. I asked God to let the recipient be receptive to the letter, but most of all, I asked Him to lay it on their hearts to commit to pray for me. I'd never been out of the country and I'd never flown on a trip longer than 2 hours, so I was a little scared at the thoughts of flying many, many hours and thousands of miles away from home.

Every week after my letters went out, the team leader would send me a weekly report of my financial support. The first report I got shocked me beyond words. People I didn't even really know were giving $100 or $200! God had told me to trust him when He gave me a name and I took Him at His word.

My letters started going out the second week of March. It's now the second week of April and guess what...God is amazing! I have almost 86% of my support goal met! I am taking this as a confirmation that God really intends for me to go on this journey. In the days ahead, I will be writing more and more thankyou notes and praising God for His faithfulness and lesson on trust.