This is a short note I wrote during my layover in London....
Heathrow Intl. Airport .. 8:40 am
I sit in a small cafe all alone, just finished up my mocha coffee, reading from the book of James, reflecting on the past 2 1/2 weeks. The rest of the guys have ventured off into the streets of London, but i feel the need to be alone with my thoughts and my Lord. I am feverishly fight back tears, my mind has finally slowed in order to begin processing all I have just experienced. For the first time in my life I feel like a man, a man that has tasted a life of adventure that God intended for us to live. I hoped for adventure, I found it.. I hoped for an experience that would stretch me, it found me. All in all, I feel as if my entire life has been planned and executed for this one moment, this moment of time that has forever changed me. The excitement I feel is the same as when standing on a cliff, looking down at the water, water that will be my final destination in a journey that needs but one step taken, the rest will take care of itself.
All previous journeys I have taken in my life have always... always... left me with a sense of dissatisfaction, not being able to taste and see the true identities of the cultures I attempted to immerse myself in. This time things are different, I connected with a people group, they connected with me and showed me what it is to love my Jesus. I spent time in their homes, ate at there tables, embraced their children. Peered into their almost black eyes and there I saw the face of Christ. I will never be the same ...
Missions is not merely about taking a trip to see how the rest of the world lives, nor is it simply a means of humanitarian acts, it is the ultimate adventure. You never know what will happen, who you will meet, what you will experience.
Thank you, India ... Thank you, my God
Grace and Peace be yours in abundance.
Jim
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Well said, friend. Missions will fill your heart with so much love you feel like your heart will burst from it!
ReplyDeleteI've heard it said that once you've been to Africa, you can never remove the dust from your feet. I have a feeling, and you may know for real, that the dust doesn't just stick to your soles in Africa.
ReplyDeleteI'm working on a blog posting that should be up by tomorrow called, "A Tale of Two Beaches...". I was in Mexico last week for vacation... I took pictures of Cozumel, but I cried in Progresso.
Your friend above said it right, the dust doesn't just stick to your soles in Africa. The culture shock of going isn't the hard part. The hard part is returning home.
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