Testimonials
"...I will praise You, O LORD, with my whole heart;I will tell of all Your marvelous works." Psalm 9:1
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As we've been learning more and more what God's will is for us in terms of changing the world and bringing hope to the lost and the forgotten and as we hit the field and get to work at it by telling others about God’s love, there are many lessons we can learn and apply.
A few of our friends had the opportunity to go to Mexico on a week mission trip. Also, we had the opportunity to go to do some outreach at a local park and interact with the community, make some friends and tell them about Jesus. In this session we shared our experiences, lessons learnt and even mistakes that will help us to rekindle a passion for witnessing and also will help us to be more effective in spreading the word of hope: The Gospel of Jesus Christ.
A few thoughts gathered from this session about testimonials from the field:
- Often times we ask God to use us but we don’t really give Him the option of doing what He wants. Instead, we give Him options. When we truly surrender our lives to whatever He wants to do, He will use us in ways that perhaps we didn’t even imagine and even when sometimes it doesn't make sense or seem to be unfair, if we surrender to His will, He does what He wants and His name is glorified.
- Frequently, we experience the best times of worship and devotional times when we are in mission trips of retreats. Danielle shared how she and Stacey experienced the move of the Holy Spirit in a very special and unique way while they were in Mexico. The challenge and lesson learnt is that God wants us to live this type of life and experiences, not only in mission trips, but everyday of our lives. It is perhaps in these trips that we experience God the best because we are unplugged from the world and totally focused on His work. May we all live lives that are actually 24/7 mission trips. That everyday we get up in the morning we are aware that this is a mission trip; our lives are a mission trip into this world. As Paul said: “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” Ephesians 2:19. And “Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ…” 2 Corinthians 5:20a
- God uses us to be His hands and feet in helping the poor: Psalm 10:14 “But You have seen, for You observe trouble and grief, To repay it by Your hand. The helpless commits himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless.”
- Sometimes we are afraid of doing certain things (As basic as flying on an airplane or taking to strangers). Nevertheless, If we are willing to be available and pray for strength, He will enable us to do the unthinkable and will give us the courage to face what we feared.
- Sometimes we don’t see –physically, a reaction or a sign that what we are doing is “speaking to their hearts”. However, not only do we have a the promises from God that His word wont come back empty, but also, sometimes others can see little clues that can encourages and reinforce the good of what we are doing.
- When we get to ‘see’ what God can do in someone’s life, this serves as fuel to do more and more. If you are not sharing your faith, just try it, try it once or twice of five times. Take the first steps and let The Holy Spirit show you what He can do and fill you with the thrill of changing lives. The first time may be difficult but then it gets, in a way, easier and easier.
- We want to be excellent at what we do. Not lazy but giving our best for His Glory.
- America seems to have grown weary from the aggressive “turn and burn” way of sharing the Gospel –and with apparent good reasons!. The problem is that with the intention of drawing away from that, we are becoming so politically correct and non confrontational that we have watered down the gospel to the point that we get satisfied with just not saying anything. We say that we witness with our lives (Silent preaching). It is true that we are to be light and salt and lead people to Jesus by example. However, so often we deceive ourselves with this concept and we just don’t dare to say and stand for what we believe. A silent witness-style can be good and acceptable only when we have already told –upfront, who we are , what we believe and what the Gospel is. Otherwise, we tend to become, in the eyes of those who surround us, good people.
- Though there is persecution in some parts of the world and people get hurt and killed for preaching Jesus, the laws in United States still protect us and very randomly you hear of someone who get hurt for talking about Jesus. We need to be bold and take opportunities and not be afraid of persecution. The worst that can happen is a bad look, a bad attitude towards us or some harsh words. That’s not too much or a risk when we are talking about saving someone’s eternal life.