GO!!!

   In 2010, I spent four months living in Palmira, Colombia, taking the head-first plunge into life in a different culture and exploring the missionary calling.  While I was there, God gave me the scripture Genesis 12:1, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.”  A Word like that can leave anyone in disbelief and loaded with questions, but God is faithful and He always has answers.  That land He showed me… it is Colombia.

   It is definitely true that some things just cannot be learned in a book; you have to experience it.  With this idea, the Apostle Paul shared his effective strategy with us in the Bible:  to become like those that you are ministering to, so that you can relate to them.  He was not just talking about relating to them through their cultures but also through their experiences.

   God took me through a lot of hard lessons as I passed the time in Colombia.  One of the hardest lessons to learn is how to surrender everything to Him and step out in the calling He has for me… Genesis 12.  Leave your country.  There are a lot of luxuries in the United States.  My country is very blessed.  Leave your people.  I was born into this culture, speaking English.  I also happen to like our food and most of our traditions.  Leave your family (and friends).  This is definitely the hardest part, especially considering I have been blessed with an amazing family and friends that are so dear to my heart.  Basically, what it comes down to is that I need to step out of my “comfort zone” so that I can be effectively used by God.

   My entire trip was one gigantic learning experience for me: making new friends, preaching solo in Spanish, living far away from my family.  Sometimes I wondered what I actually accomplished because I felt like God was working on me the whole time.  However, as I prepared to return to the United States, I was given little cards and messages from my dear, new friends and each of them mentioned how I taught them so much.  I was reminded that we don’t necessarily have to do or say anything… it’s our actions and our life - our testimony - that do the speaking. 

   I am torn in two like never before.  That love God gave me when I was 14-years-old for the country of Colombia has multiplied by 100!