WE DON'T WORSHIP THE FRUIT

Patrick and his Ambassador team have now been in Swaziland for a full two weeks and have one more week to go before they start traveling back to the States.  Here is the latest blog, this one, written by his team leader Stacy Chapman.

Each night, the fourteen of us sit around our common living space and talk about our day. It is a time filled with sharing moments with children at the care points, sometimes sad stories of the kids' lives at home, sometimes happy stories of a brief break in the language barrier and we were able to share something about Jesus with a child. There are stories of praying with the sick and elderly at the Hope House, ways we were able to be an encouragement or a moment of refreshment. Or there are the stories of passing out food in Manzini and the many people we were able to share the gospel with and pray for, even leading some to salvation in Jesus.

But there is an elephant in the room every time we share.

Not because of what we are sharing, but because of what we're not.

Mission trips...

the very phrase brings to mind a thought,

or idea

Or a stigma?

We go with great expectation of God,

but perhaps that expectation limits us.

The pressure to bring back the

tales and gales of miracles,

lives changed,

and mission "success"

is ever present in our thoughts.

And we become discouraged when we don't see what we Expect.

What if God's expectations are not the same as mine?

What if God's desires and plans are not the same as mine?

Am I okay with that?

Are you?

What if I don't see amazing, big miracles?

What if we don't see a huge revival break out as thousands come forward to receive

the grace freely offered?

Do we worship the fruit? Or do we worship the gardener?

Do we worship the miracles or the miracle worker?

Do we desire the healing or the healer?

We go with great expectation of God, but perhaps that limits us from seeing what God is ACTUALLY doing...

His ways are higher than my ways, and His thoughts are higher than my thoughts.

Oh that we would see you in the small ways, the mundane days, our normal day to day. Oh that a mission trip would not be so different from our lives. Not because nothing special happens when we go on a mission trip, but because we live everyday looking for Jesus.