God really used this team to encourage and strengthen the Pastor and his family, to bring love, joy, and peace. It was so awesome to see how God simply used the testimonies and lives of those who came to lift up this church. Something I think we tend to forget is the importance of every single story, every life saved, every moment that God used to bring people to Him. They are all important because they tell to story of the One who gave it all so we could have these lives. Lets all remember that even if you don't have the "huge come to faith moment" God's work in your life is just as amazing and praise worthy as those who do. Because no matter what He deserves the glory for what He has done in all lives.
This team was such an encouragement to me personally as well. We became a family and I am so grateful that God gave me this blessing. Being away from my family is hard, and I was really missing them before this team came. Don't get me wrong, I still very much miss my family...but having this group here who treated me like a sister and joked with me and made fun of me was exactly what I needed. Hahaha! They have become some sweet sweet friends that I didn't know I needed, but am so so blessed to have. Growing up in a big family who spends a lot of time together and then all of the sudden not having anything like that around is something I hadn't even put thought into as I came. I had thought of how I would miss them all individually just not as a unit. It is one of those things I didn't know I took for granted. I have been blessed to make some really great friends here and I so love my Nicas and they truly do feel like family to me...but I have to be careful not to cross lines and I cannot fully communicate with them. So having people I could just let loose and be silly and rude (in the nicest way) to and just straight up sassy with was super refreshing. I don't know why I felt so comfortable with them but I just went with it and it made for some really awesome relationships.
When we picked them up from the airport all I knew was that this group was a bunch of weirdos. People who I would consider strangers, I mean the way they identified me was by the sign I held in my hand with their church name on it. So it was bound to be a little awkward at first.. Little did I know that these weird strangers would become my family. It is crazy to me that at the beginning of the week we didn't know each other at all. By the end of the week we had shared stories, ones of great times and those of some not as great times. We found out what kind of people we all are. Went from wondering where boundaries are to taking selfies on each others phones and sharing waaayyyy too much information about many things. haha! We had shared jokes and tears, we played games, had some sweet times of devotions, we prayed, and we worshiped together. Although we all came from different backgrounds, with different stories, with different opinions and talents we were able to be unified by one thing. One person. Jesus Christ. He brought us together and holds us together still. I think that is why the bonds we built were so strong, because they were built in Christ! In Him we can become one family and one Church. It is truly a beautiful thing to love and be loved in Christ.
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| Thanks guys! |
"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing." 1 Corinthians 13:1-3
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