Spring break, 2015 is a week that I will never forget. I had the amazing opportunity to go to San Diego on a missions trip through the University of Northwestern. Now, before I go any further I have to make something very clear. I honestly wasn't going on this trip to be stretched. I had heard that on this trip we would work with kids and do projects around the house we were staying in. So I thought to myself, "I can do that! I have done that before. I'll just go and serve and it will be nice and easy." Yes, that was my mindset going into it. Yes, it shouldn't have been. And yes, God used this trip to change my life.
Let me tell you how. Bear with me as I take you step by step through my adventure in California.
Day 1: Saturday; first full day Highlights: Work Day and Night on the Town
Saturday was our first full day in San Diego. We had arrived the night before, but didn't do much since we had gotten in so late. Saturday was the day that everything started. First we got started on our project. We were staying in this home which was owned by World Impact (the organization we were partnering with) and this house had a rickety old fence, so it was our job to fix it. We had a blast tearing down the old fence, using the sledge hammer to get the pesky posts, cutting through tree roots and suspicious piping to dig new holes, etc. It was so much fun and it was neat to see how God really pulled together the best team possible. No one on the team ever complained. We all worked hard and had a blast doing it.
That night we had the privilege walking around San Diego. There were so many cool little shops. I also loved the architecture of the buildings. I must say, this was the night that I got a lot of good story inspiration. There were so many interesting venues and people. I wouldn't mind going back just for that, and maybe for the gelato that we got that night as well! Except I could do without the cockroach we saw. That was gross. This was the night we got to hang out and really bond as a team. We talked, exchanged snap-chat usernames (ok, except me and another student because we don't have that...), took ridiculous photos, laughed a lot, got to know each other better, and just had a good time!
Lesson Learned: God puts together certain people at certain times for a reason. Our team was picked by God for that specific missions trip. I have no doubt. It was neat to see how we grew not only as individuals during that trip, but also as a group as a whole. We became a family by the end of it and I still will give them all hugs when I see then in the halls at NW. During the work project we all did what we were told, no one ever complained, and we got the job done well. And after that we still wanted to hang out with each other. ;) It really was the best team for the trip.
Day 2: Sunday Highlights: Homeless Church and The Beach
I'm going to start with what we ended on first: the beach. This was the first day that we got to see the beach in actual sun light (Friday night we went after we had gotten settled into the house, but it was already dark. We did get to see billions of start over the ocean though, so that was pretty cool). I absolutely loved seeing the ocean again. I've been to the Atlantic ocean a few times, so it was amazing to be able to stick my toes in the Pacific and to run up and down the shore, watching my footprints melt into the sand. This was another time that I got a lot of story inspiration. It was so peaceful to walk along the beach with a notebook in one hand and a pen in the other. I felt so alive writing down snapshots of things I had seen. Another cool thing that happened that day was we got to talk with this young mother, whose name I can't remember, and her daughter, Ilaria. Ilaria had come over and started playing with us, calling us her "cousins" and when the mom came over we just struck up conversation. After a while I was playing with Ilaria down by the water and her mom was chatting with a few from our group. We learned that her husband wasn't doing well spiritually and was searching, so she asked if we could pray for him (his name is Ben; be in prayer for him if you remember :) ).
Lesson Learned: You won't know who you could end up blessing, or being blessed by, until you start a conversation. This lady was so sweet and her daughter was adorable. I had a great conversation with the mom down by the water about going to the homeless church that morning. She was so interested in what I had to say and said that she had done something similar when she was younger. Don't be afraid to talk to people; you will learn from them, and they can learn from you.
Ok, now I will tell about an absolutely life changing experience I had that morning. I had the amazing opportunity to go with two other students and a World Impact leader to a homeless church run by a man named Lamont. I don't remember a lot of Lamont's story, but I do remember that he was incarcerated and had to stay in San Diego. He was staying at this super sketchy motel, and was helping the owner fix up the place. This motel was really scary, to be honest. We heard that upstairs things like sex trafficking and drug deals went on. But Lamont said that God placed him there for a reason. He was trying to set up a church in the lobby of the motel, but for now he went with his wife and walked the streets of downtown San Diego. They had been walking the streets for about a year. He preached, built relationships with these people, handed out food and other things like clothes. We had the privilege to walk with him and his wife and join him in this endeavor. We went to this one place where there was about five or six of homeless people sitting and waiting for us. They were sitting on benches right next to their bags and carts of belongings. One couple even had a dog named Chance. Lamont introduced us and started preaching. It was unlike anything I had experienced, because as he was sharing God's word, a fight almost broke out, people were screaming, Chance was yapping, one guy, Mike, was video taping, people were trying to pay attention, a guy who was high kept coming and going......it was so intense, but Lamont just kept on preaching. Afterwards we handed out food and clothes and just started talking with the people. It was so neat to cross the invisible bridge that I think we put up between ourselves and the homeless. They really are people just like us. I think we often forget that and put them in their own little box. We aren't that different from them, our circumstances are just different. Afterwards we kept walking the streets and praying and talking with random people. Mike, the guy from the first stop, walked with us and I had the chance to get to talk with him a lot. He was such a sweetheart! He has four girls and went to college to study something with computers. It was cool to get his story and to see his eyes light up when he talked about what he loved and about his family.
Lesson Learned: We aren't any better than those who are on the streets. Even the guy who kept coming in and out of the sermon, who was walking around with a drunken swagger and puffing on a cigarette. He's a sinner. I'm a sinner. The people who are on the streets are just people, just like us. I think we forget that sometimes. Another thing that God reminded me of during this was the fact that God's church isn't a building, but the people. These people that went to Lamont's church, granted I don't know if any of them were saved, but they made up the church. They didn't have a building they went to. We were sitting under the trees talking about Christ. I think that we sometimes get so caught up in the building, and our certain pew, and how people dress, and what we sing, that we forget the true meaning of church which is community. The Church of God isn't a bunch of buildings; It's a bunch of people.
Day 3: Monday Highlights: Learning about Different Cultures and Prayer Walking
I could go on for a very, very long time about what I learned from hearing Nate and Lydia (a couple who works for World Impact) talk about different cultures, so I'll just go right into the lesson:
Lesson Learned: If we truly want to witness to other cultures, we have to put our own pride down and put our cultural preferences on the back burner. We can't expect people from another culture to drop everything they know for us. If we truly care enough about them, we have to be willing to cross the cultural gap and learn about them. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Get informed. Lay down your pride. Dive in. They go about life in a different way. It's not any better or worse than our culture, it's just different. I know that I sometimes think that differences are bad. But really God created all of us unique and different, and that is a good thing! It's beautiful to see how other people go about life in such an interesting way. Don't be afraid to bridge the gap because not only will you be able to reach them with the Gospel, but you will learn about their culture and their unique beauty in the process.
Another thing we got to do that day was prayer walk. We actually did this twice this week, so I will combine them. I had never prayer walked before, so I was honestly really nervous to. But it was neat how they did it and how they taught us about it. Karen (a lady who works for World Impact) talked to us about somethings we could pray for, but then led us into a time of silence. Here we could talk to God and let Him talk to us and see if He brought anyone or anything to mind. After the time of silence we would share if anyone saw or heard anything from the Spirit. Then we would split off into groups. The groups would start walking the streets and go wherever the Lord took us. The first day I was with one of our leaders, Paul, and the second time I was with two other students. By the end of the second time doing it, I felt a lot more comfortable doing it. I could tell God was bringing more things to my mind to pray for, and I wasn't as scared to pray for them. One of the most powerful moments that I can remember was walking by this Temple or Mosque. In this whole area around it I felt an oppression and I honestly almost started crying a few times because I could feel the hurt and the pain. By the end of it I was exhausted, just because of what I had prayed for and what God had laid on my heart. That is a sensation I won't soon forget.
Lesson Learned: Don't quench the Spirit. He will lead you through your day and through your prayer time if you give Him room to. I think we get so caught up in list prayers and just praying because we have to that we forget that the Spirit has things He wants us to be praying for too! It is a powerful thing when we open ourselves up enough to let Him talk to us and to show us what and who to pray for.
Day 4: Tuesday Highlights: ESL Class and Eating Authentic Ethiopian Food
Going to English as a Second Language classes was very eye opening. Me and another girl were in a beginning class; a level one class. The three students in this class came from a bunch of different places around the world like Somalia and other countries. They were so sweet and really wanted to learn English. We worked with them and helped them write letters and words and learn how to write dates and all that kind of stuff. It was fun to help them and to hear their stories about where they came from. Most had families and came as refugees. What really hit home for me was a sign on the door that said "A bundle of belongings isn't the only thing a refugee brings to his new country. Einstein was a refugee."
Lesson Learned: You may need to lay down your pride to learn. The students that came to this class may have been doctors or lawyers in their country, but here they were, learning how to write "red." how often do we humble ourselves that much? And take advice from people, even if they are younger than us? And do it with such a grateful and thankful spirit?
What was really fun that day was being able to go to different authentic restaurants! Me and three other students got to go to this restaurant called the "Red Sea" that served authentic Ethiopian food. What a cool experience. We didn't get silverware. None. At all. And I ordered stew. That was fun to eat without a spoon! But we all got our food and it came with an extra basket of this bread that was like a really fluffy pancake. So we scooped up our food with that. There was a lot of napkins used by the end of our lunch. On the table there were these place mats that had facts about Ethiopia on them. One thing we found really interesting was this thing called gursha. Gursha is the act of feeding each other pieces of your food. This is commonly done between married couples, family, or close friends. So what did we do? We fed each other of course! After stuffing our faces with amazing lamb and steak dishes, we topped it off with my favorite dessert: baklava.
Lesson Learned: This lesson is very simple. Don't be afraid to try something totally new, you may not like it, but it may also be the highlight of your day.
Day 5: Wednesday Highlights: Going to Markets and Visiting A TUMI Class
Today we had the great opportunity to split off into groups and go to different cultural markets. Me and two other girls went to a Somalia fashion market. It was filled with hijabs, dresses, scarves, perfumes, necklaces and bracelets. All rich colors and a mix of different textures. The walls behind the cash register were lined with the ornate perfume bottles and the hanging gold necklaces. There were two Somalian women working there at the time we went. One had been in the U.S. for seventeen years and the other had only been here for a year, and she came because her husband of seven years had wanted her to. It was so neat to walk around the store, to talk with the women, have them show us how they tie the scarves around their heads, learn how to say a few things in their language (Setahay is How are you? and Fican is Good!), and then purchase a few things from their store.
Lesson Learned: Go and explore different cultures! People want to tell others about how they live and what they do. They are open to telling about their lives, we just have to ask. I knew I was really nervous to talk with them, but they were so sweet! They helped us pick out things and answered all of our questions that we had. It was amazing to hear them talk about their culture. If we hadn't of asked they probably would not have told us. But we did, so we got a little glimpse into their lives and I think it brightened up their day as well.
That night we had the great opportunity to visiting a TUMI (The Urban Ministry Institute
) class. It was taught by one of the leaders of World Impact, Rich. When we first got there all of the students (who were adults ranging in ages from like 30 to 60) were expecting us Rich told them to mingle with us and for us to ask them a bunch of questions like what their testimony was and that sort of thing. I talked with this wonderful lady, named Jussara. She told me her testimony and the we even talked afterwards about her family and she asked what I was studying and all of that. After we talked with the students we got to sit in on their class. They were learning about spiritual warfare and evangelism
. It was fun to be able to hear from them and to learn from them. There was so much wisdom in that room, and all of their testimonies were amazing to hear.
Lesson Learned: You are never to old to continue to learn. Some of these people were in their 50s or 60s, but they still wanted to learn about what God and what His word had to say. I think that sometimes our faith gets boring to us, but to these people it was still fresh and new, and that was amazing to see. They took time out of their busy day to go to a night class, that had tests and homework, to learn more about God and His church. To what measures am I willing to do that? Is my faith still fresh to me? Also, I loved hearing the stories of these peoples' testimonies. Everyone was unique and beautiful. I love hearing stories, and these were the best kind to hear because they were talking about what God has done in their lives. Some of these stories you couldn't make up. Sometimes the truth really is better than fiction :)
Day 6: Thursday Highlights: Sea Port Village and Kids Club
The Sea Port Village was such a cute little spot to go to! It was on the coast and it literally was like a little village. Think quaint little shops nestled together in between cobblestone paths and water fountains. Cuteness overload. Here the group just got the chance to walk around and be the painfully obvious tourists we were. We bought sunglasses, souvenirs, postcards, and necklaces. It was so peaceful and the weather was absolutely beautiful. One of my favorite shops had a coffee shop on the bottom floor with a kids bookstore on the top. There were couches and chairs for people to sit, adorable books to buy, funny knickknacks, beautiful journals, pens, coffee, mugs...basically the shop of my dreams ;) But then when you go up the stairs you entered into a little kids bookstore! Think the Bernstein Bears and Goodnight Moon. I died from happiness.
Lesson Learned: Well...I didn't really learn a lesson from this, but it was a blast anyway! ;)
I will now talk about the Kids Club. We did this for three days straight and Thursday was the last day we did it. We went to an apartment complex and with the help of a few of the World Impact couples put on a Kids Club for the children at the apartment complex. The first day we walked around and knocked on doors and invited the kids, and by the last day we had over thirty kids there! We played games with them, colored (and played tick-tack-toe), sang songs, helped them learn John 3:16 in Spanish (though by the end I think they knew it better than we did :) ), had snacks and listened to Nate (someone from World Impact) give the lesson each day. It was so fun to be able to see the kids get more comfortable with coming each day, as well as them getting to know us a little better each day as well. We got more comfortable with them and they got more comfortable with us. By the end of it we all were so sad to leave! I think ond of the coolest things, however, was hearing later that two of the kids had gotten saved. It was such a huge praise! We all were exhausted by the time the last Kids Club came around, but we pushed through and hearing that made it all worth it.
Lesson Learned: God can do incredible things with those who trust Him. We were so tired everyday right before Kids Club, but we always went and had a blast doing it! We got to know the kids well and really looked forward to seeing them everyday. It was a bummer that we only got an hour and a half everyday, because I know we would have loved more time with them. However, God used the time we did serve there and used our works to bear fruit for His glory. Two amazing little kids came to know the Lord. That is the most important thing that came out of it. But I think we learned too. Because Nate, the one giving the message, was giving it to children, he really simplified it. But I think us college students needed to hear that just as much as the kids did. Going to a Christian college, we often study the really hard parts of the Bible and sometimes I think we over complicate things. It was so refreshing to put on the eyes and ears of a child again and look at faith from their young eyes. The Gospel is simple, yet powerful and I think we needed that reminder.
Day 7: Friday; last day in San Diego Highlights: Seeing the Sunrise and Praying as a Group
This was the morning that we were dreading the most, as well as looking forward to the most. We were dreading it because this was our last day in California, but we were looking forward to it because we had the opportunity to go to a really high point in San Diego and watch the sun come up. I was so excited, even though it was going to be a really early morning. I have never fully watched a sunrise before. I have been up before the sun, but never had a good place where I could watch the sun come up over the horizon. It was a sight that truly took my breath away. Pictures didn't do it justice. We could see the ocean on one side, all of San Diego on the other and we could even see Mexico from where we were. Magical. It was truly magical. Not only that but experiencing it with our group was absolutely amazing. After the sun had come up I went over to a bench and just looked over the ocean. It was amazing to breathe in the fresh air, look over the massive ocean, and just sit and talk with God while the wind whipped through my hair. It is a moment I will never forget for as long as I live.
Lesson Learned: God is truly magical. He is an amazing artist. He sits and talks with those who are willing to listen. He is the creator God, but He loves each of us individually. He is good.
Right before we left, we had the chance to get together with all of the people we had worked with from World Impact and pray. It was cool because we split off into groups and prayed for five different things. But before we just dove right in to the topic we were praying for, we sat and listened to what God was telling us. We let the Holy Spirit bring to mind what He wanted us to pray for. If we thought of something we wrote it down and when someone felt the Spirit leading they would start praying out loud. It was so cool to be able to come together in prayer for about an hour. But the really neat thing was it didn't feel like an hour of prayer. It didn't feel like a chore. It was amazing to hear how the Spirit led multiple people to pray for the same things. He was present, and He was leading us.
Lesson Learned: Don't be afraid to ask the Spirit what to pray for. He will lead you if you take the time and ask. I hadn't done this type of prayer before, but I loved it because it didn't feel like I had to pray. By the end I wanted to keep going because I could feel the Spirit's presence and guidance in what we were saying. God does great things for those who silence themselves enough to hear Him.
Well, after that we hopped on a plane and headed back to good ol' Minnesota. I tried to capture the spirit of the trip in this post, but I know I didn't touch on everything, nor elaborate on everything. Seriously, if you want to hear more I would love to talk to you in person about it :)
I just want to say thank you. Thanks to God for leading me on this trip and changing my life, thanks to Northwestern for allowing this to happen, thanks to all of my family and friends who supported me financially as well as with prayers, and thanks to the amazing group that I went with. You all made this experience one I won't forget. More specifically: Paul, thanks for your spiritual example. Kate, thanks for your motherly love. Laura, thanks for your sweet spirit. Darin, thanks for your hard work. Shanay, thanks for your genuine joy. Zophia, thanks for your willing heart. Tucker, thanks for your sincere honesty. Mitch, thanks for your heartfelt leadership. And Sierra, thanks for your godly passion. I thank God that I got to know each and every one of you. You all blessed me on this trip and I can't thank you enough. God bless you all, my crazies from the Sandy Go Crew ;)
#thatstarbucksthough #Africa #bae #nar #entertainingangels #WeWillFindPaul #SanDiegoCrew #unwbreak
