9 years ago today (part 2) ...

2 good-looking clowns! 

My last post was all about how 9 years ago I was on my first ever missions trip with my best friend Anna. I wrote about how that trip changed my life in some pretty big ways. Those 16 days in Guayaquil, El Recreo and Babahoyo were days that forever remain in my heart and memories. I will never be able to forget the time I spent with my team, the Chilenos and the amazing children of Ecuador that stole my heart. I will never be the same because of that trip 9 years ago.

It was on the 15th that we left Miami and the 16th (early on the 16th! Like 1am early) when we landed in Ecuador and life began to change. But it was on July 25th that my fate was forever sealed. It was on the 25th when I literally heard the voice of GOD and saw what I firmly believe to be a vision calling me to a life of cross-cultural ministry. It was Sunday, the 25th of July (my sister Jenai's birthday by the way), 9 years ago today, when GOD told me that my life was HIS to do with what HE wanted and that if I trusted HIM, life would be rewarding and rich and full of blessings. It was the day that my life literally and figuratively began to have a specific purpose and goal.

VBS with payasos and puppets

It was a Sunday morning. We only had two days left before we were to head back to the States. Half of our team had gone to Samborodon for a church celebration where the building foundation had been laid earlier in the trip. The other half of our team stayed behind in El Recreo for a morning of rest and then prep for the evening's VBS activities and church service. I was one who stayed in El Recreo. That morning those of us who stayed behind had a small devotion time together. Like all good Christians we took our devo from the book of Proverbs and the 25th chapter (ya know... since it was the 25th of the month!). We sat at the "bus stop" across the street from the church we were staying in and we spent some time in quiet worship and thought about Proverbs 25. One particular verse stuck out to me that day. It was Proverbs 25:2 which says, "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings." This particular verse stuck with me all day, as did this growing feeling that something big was about to happen. Little did I know just how big it would get.

After a busy day of VBS activities (complete with puppets, payasos {clowns} and lots of kiddos), we got ready for the evening church service. The whole team was back together by then and we were all excited to spend an evening in worship together and with the amazing people of El Recreo we had gotten to know. We had church out in the street in front of the church building. It was a pretty cool night. The music was loud and fun. The preaching was passionate (even though I didn't understand a word of it). And the best part was GOD was present and HE was moving through HIS people.

Church in the street (from the 2nd floor balcony)

My friend Anna and I went upstairs to the second floor where all of us girls slept. We stood on the balcony looking down on everyone in the street and then we went and sat on our beds in our room. We sat in the dark and just soaked in the sounds of GOD's people in worship. And then something truly amazing that could only have been from GOD happened. In my mind (with my eyes open), I could see an image from Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. It was an up close image of Jesus with a bloody and bruised face. It was zooming in towards HIS eyes. And then all of a sudden in HIS eyes I could see the faces of children I had met over the last two weeks. I could see the faces of people in the churches and the crowds that had formed as we did various revivals and church services. And then I saw an image of the globe. And then I heard a voice, as clear as day. I heard HIM say that HE died for every person I had seen in Ecuador and for every person that I haven't seen. That I wasn't the only one HE had died for and that I was supposed to help HIM reach those who haven't heard of HIM. That my life would be spent sharing the Gospel through full-time ministry. I could hear HIM claim me as a worker in the harvest field. And then as quick as it had come, it faded into the sounds of church worship in the street.

I hadn't fallen asleep. I had been talking to and praying with Anna while we listened to the worship. I hadn't imagined it. I could recall it with perfect detail. I wasn't losing my mind. I had heard the voice of GOD literally speak to me. I had seen a vision that could only have come from HIM. And I knew that my life would be devoted to cross-cultural, full-time ministry from that day forward. I shared what had happened that night with my team at our nightly debrief time. In front of my entire team I stood up and committed to doing full-time, cross-cultural ministry. I stepped out of my shy, quiet shell and laid my heart out on the roof of the church with my entire team surrounding me. It was a night that has never faded in my mind and has kept me going even when I was frustrated with my missions classes or incredibly home-sick on my internship.

My life hasn't been the same since Ecuador 2004. My life was claimed and put on a path that has taken me to 5 different countries and Bible college to get a missions degree. I am only 24 and only GOD knows where HE will take me next as I serve with Spencer and we work to make disciples in Belleville, Illinois.

9 years ago today my life drastically changed. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

My senior pic with treasures from my trips... a glimpse of who I am