the Orange in Texas...

How was Orange?  It's hard to pick a place to begin this story.  Sometimes you just want to see what's at the end of the story before you hit the beginning.  Well if you turn to the last page of this story you will see an exploded tire laying flat on the ground.  Yes, on our journey home from Orange one of the tires from van 1 blew out.  Fortunately all returned home safely and the world was once again a better place.  If i were to tell you that that was the most exciting thing that happened to our Orange team I would definitely not be telling the truth.  This afternoon most everyone on the team shared a little of their experience in Orange and what they learned and will be taking back home with them.  No doubt it was evident that the Lord has touched each of the team members lives as well as the children we ministered to through morning clubs and VBS. 

For myself personally, the Orange mission trip experience was unlike any other mission trip I've been to in the past.  Of course it was both spiritually fulfilling and awe-inspiring.  Like every mission trip it had its ups and downs.  A major difference about this mission was not going as merely a participant, but a leader.  I got to experience first hand, how stressful, tiring, and exciting it is to be a team leader.  I must say having a wonderful team of girls was delightful; not to mention the worship/ skit team was awesome.  Every drop of sweat and blood was worth it.  One thing I've realized about leading worship for children...it's really tiring(especially if what they really want to do is rack havoc).  Don't get me wrong, I loved making up the motions to the songs, singing my lungs out, and acting like a fool on stage; but I learned that while I'm leading worship it's far better to be worshiping God myself and showing others how much I love him versus trying to get people to worship by simply leading and looking dumb at the same time.  The concept is simple enough but when you're up there with 70 faces staring at you it gets discouraging  if they're not responsive.  However, it is through discouragement that we can grow to trust God more.  And because of the trust and faith of the worship team, 70 smiling faces worshiped the Lord; raising their hands, their dances moves, and for some...even their hearts.  I was touched by the enthusiasm the children had to shout and dance to a mighty God.  Kinda makes me even more eager to see heaven and what God's face must look like when we're all giving him praise. 

Teaching a class of girls 5th grade and up was....crazy (understatement...just ask my girls for reinforcement)....and crazy awesome.  Contrary to common trend for VBS classes, the first day is always the craziest....but for us at Orange the first day was just the calm beginning of an intense ending.  As the days progressed, the VBS girls in my class respected one another less and me a bit more.  In a sense that was a good thing because I was able to share the story of Jesus and God's plan with each of them.  Although Satan was trying to prevent me from doing many things by placing fears in my heart, but faithfully God gave me boldness to speak courageously about Him.

In the past two mission trips I've been to, I've always had some spectacular stories about particular events that occur to bring home with me; but for Orange, I can't tell you the  moment sparks were flying.  I guess I could say the sparks were flying in my heart.  Not having a story was a great reminder to me that not every opportunity you take to share the gospel will end in a victory story.  When you minister to people, you don't try to score brownie points, you're trying to share with them a love that they don't want to miss out on.  It's exciting to think that although none of the girls vocally expressed they wanted to receive Jesus as their own best friend, I know that I got to be a part of God's great plan by telling them about my best friend Jesus Christ.

By going to Orange, I've regained my senses.  I now feel like I can express emotions again...and that may have acounted for my insanity in Orange.  I praise God for answering my prayers and stirring something inside my heart.  I want to give a HUGE thanks to everyone who prayed for the Orange team.  I think everyone was blessed in many many ways there.  I'm confident that the Lord has great plans for Orange.  Now, the challenge is taking what we've learned there and giving that to the community of people all around us... whether it be family, friends, or those who dont know the Savior. 
 
I also shared with my girls yesterday about not living in a circumstantial christianity bubble.  Don't depend on spiritual circumstances to grow in your faith.  I think it's so important to seek the necessities like reading the word and praying to grow in your faith...and let being involved in those circumstances be an overflow of your love in a mission trip or a fellowship of encouragement in places like camp.  But dont live off emotional highs.  I had more to say...but I'm feeling rather out of it.  Pray for my nose...it's acting weird... had a really bad bleed the past two hours.
 
and DONT forget to keep the Thailand team in your prayers!