Gearing up for missions!

In a little over 6 days, a small group of us from my church will be headed to Ogden, UT to partner with a Christian ministry called "The Big Blue House" and get acquainted with them, and evangelize to Mormons as well. I am very excited to go on this trip, but am also nervous.

I have only been on one missions trip before, and that was to Stockton, a city up in northern California. We ministered to migrant farm workers and their families. Up there, the team and I put on a week-long Vacation Bible School (VBS) for the kiddos, as well as ministered to their parents. And at the end of the week, our team passed out food bags full of beans, rice, and other non-perishables to the parents, and backpacks, clothing, and books to the children. It was a privilege to be a part of the team, and the Lord taught me many things with that trip, of which I will never forget.

However, unlike the mormons whom we will be evangelizing to this time, we ministered to people who were quite open about their faith and what they believed in relation to God, heaven, hell, salvation, etc. But mormons are different. They know what they believe, and believe what they know. And, they are very good at making people think they believe the same thing Christians do. But they don't.

I shared these thoughts with a friend of mine and there was one thing she said in particular that really stood out to me. She said, "Emily, the truth is the truth and God will make the truth known. He promises that His word will not return empty and void. So you must trust Him." What an encouraging idea! The focus is not about me but rather should be shifted onto Jesus Christ, the one who is able to do all things, and who works all things together for our good! I am not the one in control of who gets saved, and who doesn't. That is not my place! All I can do is be faithful to "show up" and obey His commands to evangelize and tell the good news about Him, and He will do the rest as He sees fit. What a comforting realization! And this thought doesn't simply apply to mormons or missions trips. It applies to every aspect of life where we deal with non-believers. At jobs, school, work, fun events, with family. Everything!

But you can still pray for us! Pray that there would be unity among our team, and that everything we do would reflect Christ our Savior. Pray for safe travels, and that the Lord would strengthen us continually by His grace. We are at war with the spiritual forces of the world, because we represent the true and living Christ, so there will be a fight. Pray that the Lord would help us speak the truth with boldness as we ought to speak, just like Paul prayed. And lastly, pray that we would be able to get through to these people. It is not something we can do on our own at all, but Christ definitely can! So please pray that the Lord would use this trip to glorify Himself in all we do, including bringing others to Himself. I am so looking forward to what the Lord has in store for them, and also for us as a team, and even for me personally. I cannot wait to spread His name to other people!

Thank you so much for your prayers!

To God be the Glory!
Em