I remember it as if it were yesterday. Sitting in Starbucks with a girl I didn’t know.
Yes, I heard her story, heard her talk about the children tucked tight in a government orphanage. And I had realized her getting behind the steel doors, and high walls, and the iron bars that keep even the people of China out, was nothing short of a miracle….
But that’s not what made me say “yes” when she asked, “Do you want you to go to China with me”.
See sometimes, we take trips because of adventure, we do things thinking they are inspired….when in reality, maybe God isn’t calling…
But Gods dreams?
Well, they are placed in your hearts long before we do them. They are whispered to you when sleeping, sung over you when the sun sets, planted in you from the beginning of conception…
Yes, God dreams are more than “good intentions”…they are the “yes'” of acceptance even before our mouths whisper the confession that “we will follow God, whatever the cost”.
And God-dreams?
Well, they actually lead us, while only requirement is to follow.
“I dreamed about those children years ago” I tell my new friend, sharing of the cloudy dream, surfacing there as we sip cooling latte’s and reflecting on the goodness of God who loves all people, whether Chinese, or African, purple or green.
Yes, and as much as we would like to swoop in and be the hero on a missions trip, somewhere, yes anywhere He leads….
Is only by grace. Because apart from Him, none of us can do anything, really.
We were on a plane in a matter of weeks. God miraculously took care of family, visas, and finances…everything we needed to follow His call.
And in China, we lived inside the walls of a government orphanage, four days, three nights.
Just getting inside was a miracle, but now, we were offered and accepted to love on those children. And the miracles we receive when following His promptings is so far greater than any and all the plans that we could have made as rational, well calculated humans.
The lives touched, the hearts seen, the people and lessons we experienced…were worth more than a million dollars and I wouldn’t exchange them for anything.
My next trip back was even fuller, more enriching. So, I invite you…
Will you follow God’s call, His promptings, His leadings? For His ways are much higher, His plans much greater than anything we could ever think or imagine.
Take some time to read what God did in China? For when the seeds for missions is planted, our life, our purpose, our callings…will never be the same again.
Where is God calling you today friend?
How Fingernail Polish Opens Doors
Wholehearted Devotions in a Cave
When A Homeless Man Chases You In China
What a Pastor in Inland China Asks for
When There Is No Physical Healing. At An Orphanage In China
Where The Secret To All Joy Lies. And How A Twenty Something is Changing The World
How One Sentence Can UNITE the World
What A Taxi Cab, Culture Shock, And UNITE Have in Common
We Could Use Your Help…Yes, You.
Linked In Marriage On The Wall
When We All Need A Face Taped To Our Refrigerator
Do You Want To Be A Piece In His Hands?
Hearing His Call Amid The Chaos
To read general missions, personal entries, click here. If you haven’t yet read our mission’s story, you can find it, here.
