What is Worship?

As a noun, worship is defined as the feeling or expression of reverence and adoration for a deity. I think it's better expressed as a verb: to show reverence and adoration for God.

During our mid-week youth group, we had what we called an Agape feast. Agape means love; we were celebrating God's love for us, our love for Him, and our friendships with each other. We were sitting around tables, and after we ate we worshiped. I was sitting awkwardly in the front facing everyone, so when we stood up to worship I was able to see everyone's expressions.

I couldn't help but smile.

Seeing your closest friends giving themselves over to worship a God you both believe in might be one of the coolest sights ever. One of the songs we sang was "Beautiful Things." It's probably my favorite worship song.

You make beautiful things, you make beautiful things out of the dust. You make beautiful things, you make beautiful things out of us. 

It gives me shivers every time.

I've heard Americans are pretty low-key worshippers. Laid back, quiet, maybe even just plain lazy. Whatever you want to say, I'm not sure we know how to give our all over to God. I mean, worship can be anything you're doing to praise God. Worship can be through singing, playing an instrument, or serving in a soup kitchen. For me, writing blogs about God is a form of worship.

My first year at teen camp was probably the first time I had ever felt worship. As a little seventh grader, it also might have been one of the most terrifying experiences I had ever had. The music was loud enough to wake the dead. You know the type that you can feel inside your chest? There were flashing lights, and when the performers took the stage all of these teenagers rushed forward and threw their hands in the air praising God.

I guess my point is that I'm looking forward to seeing how the El Salvadorians worship. I'm guessing we're going to be the "awkward Americans" standing off to the side. I hope I feel like I can participate. It'll probably be scary, but there's obviously going to be a lot of "change." It's going to be exciting to hear the songs we sing in church every week sung in a Spanish.

Usted hace cosas hermosas, usted hace las cosas bellas del polvo. Usted hace cosas hermosas, usted hace las cosas bellas de nosotros.

How do you worship?

Stuck (guest post)

Last summer when I was on my first "real" mission trip, there was a moment that I will never forget. As I sat in tears, God told me to be a missionary. So of course I got all excited and scared and told everyone I knew. With pride I said that I was ready for what God had in store for my future. People don't expect an 18 year old girl to come back from their first mission trip (only a few hours away, nonetheless) with a calling from God. I blew off their weird looks thinking they didn't understand. I thought I knew I was ready. I was so wrong.

Lately I have been feeling stuck. Stuck in the same life, the same high school, and possibly even the same Christian lifestyle. I let my feelings come out as anger and hatred, lashing out against God and everyone around me. 

As I was brushing my teeth last night, I began tearing up, and God began to talk to me. He told me that being Stuck is one of the best ways to know you're ready to move forward into the life He has planned for you. That you're ready to give God control of all aspects of your life. 

So what? Am I still stuck for now? Yes! But this time I can rejoice in it because I know that there's something better around the corner. Childlike faith is something to hold onto, but in some ways I feel like this is God's way of telling me to enjoy my life as a kid, because He has bigger plans for me than the life I am currently living. 

I promise that this does have something to do with El Salvador, so here is the magic connection. 

I was already stoked for the trip, but now I realize that the purpose of it is to prepare my heart for the future. It's the beginning of getting unStuck. El Salvador may be the stepping stone into what I'm supposed to do with my life, and I believe that's the reason God has made it possible for me to be here. 

The date of the trip is rapidly approaching, and as scary as that is, I am preparing my heart to serve the Lord. I will enjoy and appreciate all that I am blessed with, such as my extensive wardrobe, running water, readily available meals, and my daily intake of tea (it's a must have!). Not everyone is blessed with these things as I am. Leaving the country will be a huge wake-up call. Goodbye shoes, hello lost souls!

If you take anything from reading this know that I will be spending the next three weeks before we leave opening my heart to what God has in store for me in El Salvador and beyond. Next time you feel Stuck in life, ask yourself if you're ready to accept your next God-given mission, and then praise Him with me!

Bailey

God Is In Control (guest post)

I believe those who say that the Bible is not relevant today just don’t spend enough time reading it. God’s Word is alive and speaks just as clearly today as it did thousands of years ago. How else can it be that I always seem to come across just the right verse right when I need to hear it?

As team leader for this mission trip, I try to juggle a lot. There are registration forms, insurance forms, passports, fundraising totals, ministry supply lists, and payment schedules to keep track of. I need to order team T-shirts, organize team meetings, plan a commissioning service, and write thank you letters to those who have supported us.

Rather than getting smaller, it seems like my “to do” list is growing larger as our trip approaches. The organized, administrative side of me is on high alert and is thriving. The worn out, full-time mother-of-four/part-time pharmacist in me is wondering why there aren’t more hours in the day. I’m frazzled. I’m tired. And I keep thinking that there are things I’m forgetting.

This is when God decides to chime in. One of the memory verses we are supposed to learn for our trip is 2 Corinthians 3:4-5. It says, “We are confident of all this because of our great trust in God through Christ. It is not that we think we can do anything of lasting value by ourselves. Our only power and success come from God.” Other versions word it as “Our adequacy comes from God.” Thank you, Lord for telling me exactly what I needed to hear!

You see, I’ve been extremely focused on getting our team to El Salvador. It has gotten to the point where almost every free thought of the day is devoted to something I need to get done for the trip, or how I am going to get our team through customs without any trouble, or how I can make sure that we all stick together and don’t leave anyone behind…or countless other things I think I need to be in control of. I’ve effectively taken God out of the equation. Things are going to go smoothly because I am working so hard to make that happen.

What a bunch of hogwash!

Our success on this trip is going to be determined by God. Our adequacy depends on Him. It’s time I quit focusing so much on the things that need to be done to get us there, and start focusing my thoughts on the people we are going to be serving. I can have confidence that God will take care of the details. He will make me adequate as a team leader. He will put the right words in my mouth. And He will help a great love for His people spill out of my heart.

“It is not that we think we can do anything of lasting value by ourselves. Our only power and success come from God.” Thanks for the chat, God. I needed it.

Jackie

Speaking Jesus

I don't know more than two words of Spanish, and even then I can never remember how to say a simple "hello" (... Hola, right?). For those of you who don't know, El Salvador is Spanish-speaking. And the girl who is in her fourth year of French is going to a Spanish-speaking country. No hablo espanol...

In our meetings someone always mentions how amazed they are that the last time the group went two years ago how little the giant language barrier didn't get in the way when they were witnessing. It always reminds me of Acts 2:1-12, when the Holy Spirit came down and filled the Apostles and they were able to speak in all languages.

Acts 6-8 says, "And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language. They were amazed and astonished, saying, ;Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born?"

This also reminded me of Jamie Grace's song "Show Jesus." One of the lines is "You know love is what they heard and you didn't even say a word. Ain't it funny that's the way it works when you show Jesus?"

Just something to think about. 

The other side of prayer

Sooo... yesterday we had our second to last missions meeting. Sad day? I'd say bittersweet. I try not to procrastinate on homework, but yesterday I still had so much to do! It was like projects threw-up on my life. The classic life of a high school student. Whatever.

Back to the meeting. Confession: this was the first meeting that I had actually looked forward to. Normally the night before I'm dreading Sunday so much that I just want it to be Monday. Which is stupid. Everybody knows that Mondays are no good. We talked about packing and what to bring. I guess the trick is to pack three times. Pack three weeks before the trip. A week later unpack and take out everything you won't need, then pack again. Wait a week. Repeat. Good suggestion. My friend Bailey and I are planning on packing together - taking two suitcases of course. We figure that if one of our suitcases falls off the face of the earth, we'll at least have half of our clothes in the other bag. Travel smart, people.

We were sitting meeting and it was suggested that we take a group prayer time. Popcorn prayer, if you will. I was sitting there listening and praying when someone brought up them. Prayed for them. Asked for their hearts to be open. For them to be willing to speak with us. For their minds to understand what Jesus is all about. And it hit me. I never thought about praying for those we were going to serve.

How did I miss that???

I guess I was so caught up in the "ohmygoodness-I'm-going-to-another-country" that I forgot what I was going to another country for. I am so excited to "see the world." Traveling is in my veins! But meeting and seeing and being with the people in that world is what's most important. 

Right now I'm most worried about being distracted by the, um, unsanitary conditions that these people might be living in and not being able to see past that. People are people are people. We all need love, we all need security, and we all need God.

1 Peter 4:7-11 says, "The end of all things is near. Therefore, be clear-minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply because love covers a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another, without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus christ. To Him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen!"

In The Face of Adversity

Day two of our DELTA missions training was all about culture. Culture stress affects the body by heightening focus, which I find a blessing. 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 says "For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more. To the Jews I became as a Jew, sot hat I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself  under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law; to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of christ, so that I might win those who are without law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it."

The Incarnational Model is the philosophy of voluntary setting aside our way of life in order to conform of the way of life of those one is seeking to reach for the purpose of being able to show Jesus' love in word and deed. That's basically what Paul is saying in 1 Corinthians. He is forming to their culture in order to better understand those he is ministering to, and so that they may better understand Paul. We were told to be award of Ethnocentrism which affects our bias and causes us to be judgmental of another way of life.

I wouldn't know, but apparently Americans are the only true "time-keepers." What I mean is that we always say "Let's meet here at this time" and shun the late-comers (at least I do). Americans are punctual, anticipate crisis, and take satisfaction in achieving goals. On the flip side, we were told to expect El Salvadorians to not stress time, downplay crisis, and be satisfied by interaction. Some of that sounds pretty nice. I mean, if I never had a time commitment, I could never be late to anything! Not even my seven o'clock government class. Sad to say, that just isn't the American way...

We did several team building exercises. One of them being lunch. Bound together like prisoners, we were forced to work together, otherwise no sustenance for you! Our wrists were tied together so when I moved my arm, my teammates arm followed. So we decided to take turns. She took a bite, then I took a bite when she chewed. And on and on. Drinking the dark red punch was much more difficult. It's a miracle we all got away without a spill.





The other difficult, and my least favorite task was balancing. We were given a square block of wood with a large nail hammered in the middle and twelve more nails of the same size, and we were told to balance all twelve nails onto the one. No touching the wood or the table, and no help from the twenty-four hands surrounding. Half the group gave up without trying. I might have taken a five minute nap. We were lucky that one of us had done it before, although he was given careful instructions not to help us, he may have hinted a time or two. Forty-five grueling minutes later, and only two team members left at work, we had finally balanced twelve nails onto one. And yes, it is possible. Don't give up so quickly.

All but four of us had participated in training before, and they kept bringing up another balancing game. I had finally had enough of their roundabout talk and demanded our task-manager to bring out the old ball and rope. On a three inch long pipe were tied many strings which we had to hold onto the end of. On top of the pipe was placed a whiffle ball. The twelve of us circled up, grabbed our strings, and began to lift the centerpiece into the air. No dropping allowed. This was my favorite game of the day, not only because I had to take charge, but because it was successful in less than ten minutes. We walked across the room, slowly, without dropping the whiffle ball, and then through a doorway. One by one, tugging and pulling and straightening our strings, we arrived safely on the other side. No one dropping the ball.

SERVANTS Acrostic

"But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." Mark 10:43-45

During the DELTA Ministries orientation we learned about "Becoming a Learner-Servant." To be a servant you obviously have to serve. We split into groups and came up with a word for each letter of "servants" - like an acrostic. Here's what we came up with

S - spiritual dependency, sacrifice: John 15:5 says "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing." In attitude and action we must be dependent upon God; it should be our first response to adversity.

E - experiences, example, ever-praying, enthusiastic, encourage, eyes for others

R - relationships, responsible, renew your mind: When thinking of "R" the most important thing to remember is people are more important. More important than tasks. More important than yourself. You show your love for God through your love for people, and God's love is shown through you.

V - variety, value others, vulnerable, view-point: If you understand God's view-point in each and every situation you're more apt to be vulnerable. Vulnerability can be a scary thing, but sometimes it's necessary to show who you've been for those you're witnessing to to see how God has changed you. 

A - application, available to be used by God, acceptance, authentic, ambiguity: Those with ambiguity are more able to accept others as they are. Embrace the unfamiliar. People like to be affirmed. 

N - Non-judgmental, not for us, never say no, nurture knowledge

T - teachable, tireless, thankful, truthful, team unity: I like the team unity one. Although I'm not particularly good with working together, we can't be paralyzed out of the fear of making a mistake. If you display your heart people will give you grace. Nobody likes a know-it-all, and the way you treat others tells a lot about the God you serve. 

S - skills, spirit lead, stretch: The question we were asked time and time again was "What makes a good day?". Do you base your good day off of your accomplishments? Instead of looking at what we've done or what we should have done we need to take pride in doing what God wants us to do. Because that makes a good day. 

And that is how to become a learner-servant.

The Big Three

With the departure date quickly approaching, we had a visitor from DELTA Ministries come and train us for the mission field. Being only 17 (almost 18!), the last thing I wanted to do with my weekend was sit around with a bunch of super-enthusiastic "mentors" and talk about something I didn't feel prepared for. But wasn't that the point of this whole thing? Preparation?

We began by beginning a half hour late. Oh joy... And then quickly learned the three rules that we were to follow on the trip: No complaining, Do everything you're asked, and Leave everyplace cleaner than you found it. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy. 

Philippians 2:14-15 says, "Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourself to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world." That's where the no complaining thing comes in. There is no way we can show God's love if we are always complaining about the task at hand. 

We also learned that there are different types of complaining, all of them a big no-no. Blatant and sarcastic complaining and complaining with our body language are the culprits to watch out for. If we are to serve in El Salvador, we have to show them our willingness to be a light in the darkness so "that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:11).

The second rule, do everything we're asked, comes from Hebrews 13:17 which says, "Obey your leaders and submit to the, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you." We're going to be in another culture, a different way of life. As stubborn Americans it's hard to think that others might know a little more than you do. Do what you're asked, even if it doesn't make sense at the time. 

Leave everyplace cleaner than you found it. Isn't that obvious? We came to serve! If we're leaving a mess we're no good to anyone. Remember the clean up song? "Clean up, clean up, everybody do your share. Clean up, clean up everybody everywhere." Such childlike faith can move a mountain. 

In the Beginning

When it was all decided, thirteen of us gathered around the table at that first meeting. Our cold sack lunches in hand, we began to discuss where the Lord would lead us. Votes were cast and the decision was made. We are to go to Chalchuapa, El Salvador. Departure date set for March 14, 2013. Monthly meetings ensued, most of them with me quietly observing the group of folks who thought it would be great and dandy to travel out of the country to a place that for all I knew could be as far-fetched as the old-town days of the 1900s. We were given books to read and papers to discuss, and in the life of a senior in high school "church homework" was as unlikely to be completed as schoolwork.

But God has a way of engaging us in tasks we'd rather forget. Unfortunately, one of our team members had to drop out of the race. Fortunately, that left an open seat. Non-refundable. Before I knew it I had my most dear friend convinced to tag along with me, a $1,000 gift given to the lucky participant. How could she possibly say no? As I worked to catch her up on all that she had missed, I was able to catch myself up too.

The night before each monthly meeting I wasn't able to sleep. I was always so nervous about being called out or feeling inadequate. Not to mention I just wanted to go home. And then the January meeting came, and we had to share our testimonies. Now, I had written a testimony out a couple years back and decided to take bits and pieces of the one already written. The easy way out.

When it came time for me to share I broke down. I could hardly get the words out I was crying so hard. Speaking about how God had changed me broke down the barriers I was holding up. When it was all said and done there was a connection I hadn't felt before. These people care about me and I care about them. There will always be obstacles, but they are the ones who will help me through it. I'm ready to learn and to grow and to share.

This blog is here to document our journey before, during, and after. I can't wait to keep you updated on all the things God is going to do in our lives and the lives of those we're going to be working with in El Salvador. I pray that through our stories you'll feel the presence of God. We thank you for your prayers and support.

God bless,
Grace