I figured before it got too far away I would give my final thoughts to all who read this blog while we were gone and possibly the team itself. If I don't do it now I most definitely won't have the fresh feelings, thoughts, and ideas.
Hi my name is Branden and I was a doubter.
It's not every day you get to hear a pastor say that they were slapped upside the head in the most gracious, loving, and amazing way God can do it, but I was. The ramp up to the trip was pretty crazy and I guess I let it get the best of me. I wondered "can God even move through this situation." How naive and stupid could I have been? When has he not? It's amazing how gracious he is in our, well, stupidity. Every youth trip I have ever been on I leave completely exhausted and ready for a week-long coma. This was a very different experience. I left refreshed, renewed, and fired up for Jesus more than I have been in a long time. I even found myself missing the students. This week was honestly, one of the most moving, spiritually uplifting, and amazing experiences I have ever had and I would like to share with you why.
1. This group was unique. I said from the very beginning that I wasn't sure why, but this group was SUPPOSED to go and serve together. Satan was doing his best to stop this group from going on a trip. I was convinced that there was something special about that mixture of students. I don't know if it was the fact that we actually had almost as many guys as girls or that it was a unique grouping of students but it was truly special. Satan wanted to tear this team down from not serving but to no avail!
I was right.
They were supposed to serve and serve they did. This was the hardest working, most spiritually hungry, willing, and ready group of students I have ever worked with. The work that God did through these students was profound. I know some of them felt that their work was ineffective but God moved more than they can ever know. On our last morning an older gentleman in his 70's named Jim stood up and said something to the effect of, "You all will never know what you have done in my life. You have inspired me and shown me what the love of Christ truly is" He was inspired to live out the message of Jesus through our students. One day we are going to stand before our righteous king Jesus and he will show us the people that came to know him through our humble efforts and he will indeed say "Well done my good and faithful servant". That thought brings me to tears!
2. The book of James. Our goal as a staff (Jerrad, Krina, and Myself) was to not have typical "devotion" time in the evening. One of the things we want to see more of is our students reading the Bible and hearing what God is saying to them individually and corporately. Every morning we got up and read through one chapter in James and some accompanying verses in other books that dealt with similar topics. If nothing else each of the students would have read completely through an entire book of the bible (something that many of them had never done until that point). In the evenings we would come together and just talk about what God spoke to us through his Scripture. I can't even begin to tell you what AMAZING things the students were getting out of God's word. It was awe-inspiring to sit there and listen to them tell you what verses stuck out to them and how they wanted to put that into practice.
3. Family. This group struggled through our trainings to come together as a team because most of our training times were taken up with "We were supposed to go to A. and it fell through so now we are going to B. for this mission trip". Jesus did a supernatural work in them to really draw them together as a family. I truly felt like it was a family for me. I woke every morning excited to see each one of the students and see what God was doing in their lives. I believe the team entered the vans on June 19th as individuals and rolled back into town on June 26th as family.
4. Everyone was rocked. It's a rare occasion when all 40 people on a trip are equally rocked by God. Usually there is one or nine that sit in the background and don't allow God to move. Everybody was allowing God to move through their lives in pretty spectacular ways.
I have to say that I am a changed person from this experience. I am wanting more of Christ. I can't imagine what the students feel. I would like to close with a couple of notes to you all:
For all of you who gave financially and in prayer:
Please know that even though we did not make it across the border, God did EXACTLY what he wanted to and had us in an area that stretched us and used is! This trip, Conspiracy of Hope, gave more practicality to the Gospel for us. We can now take this message of hope and love and do it where we love. Thank you for supporting our venture.
To the students:
Thank you for who you are. Thank you for allowing God to move. Thank you for trusting me. Thank you for being willing to go wherever and serve wherever and let God do what he wanted in our group. Thank you for being a family. Thank you for scattering seeds throughout Cusick and Spangle. Thank you for honestly wrestling with scripture. Thank you for being the most amazing group of students to work with. Most importantly, remember who you are in Christ. You are you. You are not supposed to be somebody else. Serve selflessly, love unconditionally, and let's reach the world for Christ! I love all of you and am proud to say I am your pastor.
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