Whenever you travel somewhere new, you can't help but be excited about all the new places you will go, the people you will meet and the foods you will eat. Having driven across the country multiple times and done mission work in Oregon, Canada, Mongolia and Asia, I must say that the people I have met have influenced me and stuck in my memory more than any food or scenic place. People have a way of doing that to you. They come into your life, change you for good and teach you lessons that impact you forever. I thank God for that. Although there are many people that deserve to have their stories told, there are a few people and stories that stand out to me.
Before heading to Canada, I was planning on going to Haiti with a singing group of missionaries. I had prayed about the trip and fund-raised for months in preparation for going overseas for the first time. Sadly, towards the end of our preparation, I was informed that our trip fell through and that instead of going to Haiti, I would be serving in Canada. My first thought was, why Canada? The people there are wealthy, healthy and happy. They don't need us as much as the Haitians do. Shortly after thinking this, God spoke to my heart and reminded me that people everywhere need to be brought into His light. He told me that he loved Canada and that I was called to preach the good news to all, not just the people I wanted to share it with. Don't get me wrong, I know that there are people suffering in Canada who need the hope of Jesus, but at that time, I was so focused on the location, that I forgot what it was all really about. It's not about where I serve. It's not about whether or not I think one place is more needy than another. It's all about loving Jesus so much that I would go anywhere and do anything to proclaim his goodness and forgiveness to the world. It's not about the place at all, it's about loving the people that God places before me.
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In Mongolia, I had the opportunity to visit with people in their homes and to hear about their lives. One lady I met invited me and my whole team into her home to eat a meal. She lived in a tiny, metal shack with several other people, a few of whom were disabled and without family. She made a feast for us, giving us the best Mongolian food she had. She spared no expense. She received us with joy and didn't have any expectations for us. We were there for hours and weren't given the impression that we had to leave. This get-together was like none I had ever been too. In America, I was accustomed to having dinner with people I was familiar with and to only spending a few hours with them at a time. In my mind, that was the unspoken rule. Sure I had been told to serve strangers and feed those who need it, but never had I actually invited a stranger into my home to be fed, loved and given my time. This woman and many of the others in Mongolia taught me to invite people into my space and to treat them as I would treat family in my own home. They reminded me to value people more than my plans for my day or my schedule.
In China, a lovely girl named Esmerelda quickly became a friend and a help to me and my friends from California. She took it upon herself to show us around her school, to help us order food, to introduce us to her friends and to practice speaking Mandarin with us. She wasn't asked to help us. She had to go out of her way to help us translate and find our way around. She opened the door for us to meet a lot of students and to feel welcomed. When talking with her about her life and beliefs, she was very honest about her doubts about God, but was interested to know who I was and why I believed what I believed. I prayed for her often and sought wisdom for more opportunities to talk about Jesus' love for her. I kept waiting and asking God for the right time to share with her. The night before we left, I remember she came into my room and talked about how much she would miss us all. She said that she had never met a group of friends like us. She noticed that we genuinely loved each other and that we shared our hearts with one another. She told me that she had never experienced having friends who looked out for her or showed love in obvious ways. This was the moment when God told me to share the reason for our love for one another. I got to tell her about the love of God and how his love in us and for us has allowed us to know how to love each other. I told her that the love of God is self-giving and that the greatest act of love is to lay down your life and your needs for someone else. I really believe that she encountered a glimpse of God's love in that moment. God was faithful to answer my prayer for Esmerelda because he loves her more than I can imagine. I was blessed by her and taught how to treat foreigners in my country. She taught me to actively seek people out who are new to my area and to make it my business to welcome them. She also taught me to live life with her despite our differences in belief. I am thankful for her patience with me and willingness to hear my heart. God taught me to love people where they are at and to wait for his timing. I believe he had been working in her heart the whole time, leading her to talk with me about what she saw on my last night because she was ready to hear about God's love.
As a result of these experiences, God enlarged my heart for his people worldwide. I can no longer hear about Oregon, China, Mongolia or Canada without thinking about all of the amazing people I met. They take up space in my heart now. I desire to travel all over the world because I want to care about all of God's people in a more personal way. I want to see their lives and learn from them. I want to see Christ in them because they carry his image in a way that I need to experience in order to know Christ more fully. With this in mind, I see the importance of loving the people around me by intentionally engaging with them in my home and as I go about my day. May God make us aware of the people right around us who have a story to tell us or who need to know the unconditional love of the Father.
