Don't you love it when God suddenly changes you in a certain way? When we accept Christ as our Savior he transforms us, initially changing the way we did live to a new way of living. I accepted Christ into my heart truly in May 2001. My mom was singing "Above All" on the stage on that year's Good Friday service. Since then I've had my ups and downs, but for the most part I've kept pretty close to God. It wasn't until these past two years that I've taken the wrong path. The path of the flesh. I only wanted to do what I thought would pleasure me, and I didn't want God to be any part of it. I told myself that God was all in the mind, and that I could feel the same doing other things. So I fell, hard. I willingly let Satan mess around in my mind, and change the order of things. This ultimately led to depression, not severe depression but I still felt empty. Then, on a complete average summer day, God suddenly spoke to me. This past summer, God said "the way you're going is not going to get you anywhere. Follow Me, you know that I'm real." That hit me hard, yet I simply said yes, and since then I've grown spiritually really fast. God has been working with me like never before, and He gave me many opportunities to serve Him. One of which was going on a mission's trip to Baja California, Mexico to an orphanage to serve.
Now that the introduction is finished, I will begin the story of the mission's trip. I believe that the introduction is vital though, and it's needed for people to fully understand what happened. I was first introduced to the orphanage when Bernie and Linda Vanson told their story of what happened when they were there. That was earlier this year, and at that time I wasn't at a good state with God, so I didn't think anything of it. When I finally did think about going, it was about two weeks before the trip, in the beginning of August. It was after I recommitted my life, and I was telling my mom how I really wanted to do something for God in the time left in summer. She, out of random thought, suggested that I go on this certain mission's trip with the Lutheran Church. I jumped to my feet and said yes. I quickly got in contact with the leader, and in a blink of an eye I was standing in Baja California, Mexico. I knew no one on the trip, which was great because I was a new creation by Christ and I wanted to meet others with this new me. The relationships I made on the trip are amazing, and I could see the change in my words and actions. I noticed day by day that God was transforming me, and saw that He was making me strong in my faith.
My idea what I was going to do there was completely the opposite of what I ended up doing. I thought that I was going to be working in rough conditions. For example working outside in the heat, building big things, and getting all sweaty and dirty. Actually, I did get sweaty and dirty, however, I got that from working in the last place I thought I was going to be working at. A small kitchen they call the Nuthouse. It's quite a walk from the main orphanage, and in the Nuthouse many things go on. First off, it's called the Nuthouse because they grow, harvest, and flavour macadamian nuts. They also bake cookies, make cakes, decorate donuts, and all that good stuff. So I was sent there to work, and I had a blast. Three lovely ladies worked there, and we became great friends. Their stories are wonderful, and touched me strongly. Throughout the week I grew to really enjoy these new people, and the more I talked with them, the more I saw the change in me.
A couple of weeks ago, I talked about my highlight of the trip at church (Mission Foursquare). This is what I said: Before I went on the trip, and for the most of my life, Satan had control over my eyes. I would judge and mock everything that came in sight of my old eyes. My mind was so used to it that it was involuntary, like breathing. This, as we all know, is sin. It had to stop, and that's just what God did. It's as though I was sleeping soundly, and God had come and pinched my nose. I couldn't breath anymore, and my eyes suddenly burst open. This is what He did with my judging eyes. On one night, our group left the orphanage to visit a third world living camp to serve and play with the kids. As we arrived in three vans, kids would run like spreading wild fire. They were screaming, jumping on the vans and were so happy that we were there. I looked out at them from the van window, they were dirty. I got out of the van and picked up a child, they were God's children. Do you see what happened? God suddenly smashed Satan's longterm house in my eyesockets. I saw everyone as God's children, and I was surely transformed. It didn't matter if your shirt got dirty, or if you got saliva on your neck. These kids needed love, and it was a true blessing to illustrate God's love to them through our actions. That was my highlight of the trip, and I'm so happy that God is in control of my life again. God bless!
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