This trip for me has been one of the hardest to continually say "Yes" to. When this trip first came about in December of 2011, Luke called me and said that there might be a possibility to got to Africa this summer! When he told me the country (ZA, South Africa) I was not to excited about it, I wanted to go to Sudan, or Rwanda. Some place where I thought I could truly experience God and Africa. And I thought that ZA would be a really expensive, spirit filled vacation. I wanted to Spirit filled part but not the vacation, haha. So when I said "Yes" to God, when I felt called to go, I was trusting that God would challenge me in every area of my life... little did I know what I was asking God to do in my life! In February we were told more about what we will be doing. Which is teaching the kids English, Soccer camps, after school programs, and going out into the city and sharing God's love to everyone! I was so excited about playing soccer with these kids, and going out in to the city! Well on March 28th was my first big road block. I tore my ACL, (for those of you who don't know what an ACL is, it's a ligament in our knee that helps us to run. And at minimum it take 6 months after surgery to start running again). So when I went to the doctors that following Tuesday and got an MRI, he said that I would not be able to be active for a whole year!! This meant no soccer in ZA. Well that weekend I called Luke and said I don't think I'll be able to go, I mean the doctors think that I'll still be on crutches when were scheduled to get on the plane. Fast forward a couple weeks later, Surgery was scheduled for May 1st, and I still didn't know what to do. The reason why was because there were two different types of surgeries that they might have had to preform and wouldn't know which on until they cut open my knee. If I just had to get my ACL replaced I could go to ZA, but if I have to the my ACL replaced and my meniscus to get worked on then I wouldn't be able to go, because the recovery time is way to long and if that happened and I wouldn't have been able to walk on my own two feet half the time Luke and I would be there in ZA. So the night before I was in my sisters house talking about what I was going to do, because I didn't want the surgery to decide if I would be going or not. I know my God could do anything!! So I thought that If I felt God said "Go" in December then I'm not going to let an injury stop me from doing God's work! Well after the surgery they only had to replace my ACL! But I still wouldn't be able to run and play soccer with the kids still. Well a week ago I started running in PT (physical therapy) and went and played soccer and basketball this past weekend! So I'll be able to play soccer!! By the way if your counting that is only 2... yeah 2 months after my surgery that I'm running around playing soccer!!The second road block was a job opportunity, and a sweet one! I would be driving nice cars all day and make around 8,000 dollars this summer, and would look awesome on my resume. But after a week of praying about it I still had no answer, I had to tell the people the next morning if I was going to take the job or not. Well God put this question in my head: "Where would I be able to experience God the most? Going on a mission trip that I have wanted to do for 8 years and he has made a path now, or a job?" Well I knew the answer right away, it wasn't easy to turn down the job but I knew it was the right decision. The third road block was money! I thought this trip was going to cost me 3,500 dollars. So I sent out my support letters on June 8th, yes less than a month from leaving. A week past, then another and I only got 300 dollars, which was awesome but I needed 3,200 more!! well on the third Sunday of June I was really mad at God because this trip was 3 weeks away and I still had a lot of money to raise. Well that night me told me that this coming week I was going to get 700 dollars! And the next day I got 700 dollars!! well then another week past and no money came in. Then God just said "John don't worry about it, I can do anything.. just wait on me, I will provide". Yesterday July 1st he did just that, I got all of my money in!! The trip was more than I expected but God came through, and I raised close to 5,000 dollars! Everything is ready to go, and in 48 hours I will be getting on a plane to do something I felt that God put on my heart 8 years ago. I have learned that God has everything in His hands, he is our only provider and will never fail us, never.
Matthew 6:25-34. This is the verse that goes alone with my story! Read it!! :)
-John
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