I recently went on a two-and-a-half-week mission trip to the Czech Republic. My group of three other Corban University students, a Corban professor and a long-term missionary to accompany us went to ten schools to lead English conversation practice. We had small groups for discussions, played some games and spent afternoons with other opportunities alongside members of the local church. Through it all, I learned an abundance of lessons. Of those lessons, three stand out the most.

1. You need to get over yourself.

Life is not about or for you. This trip was about the students and the local church in Kralupy, for the Lord. To serve the best, I had to get over any ideas that I was doing any of it for me. I could enjoy it without focusing on my desires. In fact, I most enjoyed it when I stopped holding on to myself.

Much of our work was about being the ones sowing the seeds, not reaping the harvest. The mindset of much of the Christian church, though, is that harvesting is the main mission. If you don't have any tangible data to prove that you have done something, have you really? This is an egocentric perspective; this view places the individual in the middle of everything. It forgets that God has different roles for us to take on, and it's about what He can do through each one, not how many people we can lead to Christ.

Getting over yourself is letting go of inhibitions that keep you from serving well, leaving your comfort zone at home and being willing to do whatever is needed. In the process, you start to see people as people who have so much to offer, from insights to jokes. You stop taking yourself too seriously and become willing to meet people where they are instead of expecting them to meet you halfway.

2. You cannot do it alone.

If any of us tried to lead an entire class of at least 20 students in meaningful English practice on our own, we would have failed. There may have been some discussion, but it would not have been as personal and intentional as necessary. There would have been too much chaos, and the conversation would not have been fruitful. Other activities would not have succeeded because the one person doing it all may have some of the abilities needed, but not all. They may have the ability to grab the kids’ attention at the start, but not to communicate rules for a game or to find an effective cure to an unexpected hiccup. As one of the team members said as we were reflecting on the way back, others are able to pick up where we fall short.

Even when you have others around you, it is easy to be alone. But it’s also dangerous because it leads to emotional build-up and toxic attitudes. Not only can you not handle the tasks and complete goals on your own, but you cannot walk through the smallest things alone. I was fortunate enough to have an incredible team to share the experience and talk out difficulties and concerns with. I always had someone to laugh with during down time and talk to on our days off.

You need someone, or multiple people, to share the experience and struggles with. Social interaction and connection should not be placed aft, or at the end of your priority list. Life is not meant to be lived alone.

3. The world needs Jesus.

A lesson I’ve heard over and over in sermons, Bible classes and Bible studies, but not one I’ve ever seen so clearly as in the Czech Republic, a country whose church was all but erased amid communism. Talking to students, many of them were content where they are in life with no signs of seeing a need for the Lord. But when asked to compare the Czech Republic with the United States, a group of students told me they saw much more sadness in their own people. I talked to some groups about divorce, suicide, depression and family problems.

Somewhere along the line, so many of these students’ spirits were thrown into an industrial-strength shredder. Somewhere along the line, this hopelessness became their norm.

Their country is not often associated with missions because of its existence in the developed world, but there are few opportunities for many of them to see Christ. This developed country where needs are met, but where there is so much brokenness and heartache, needs Jesus just as much as the underdeveloped nations we tend to associate with missions. This entire world needs Him, regardless of wealth, status or appearance.