Well, our third team of the year is here. They are from the Master's Commission Bible School in the Regina Apostolic Church. Although we do many of the same activities with each group, they are never quiet the same. For example, we do children's ministry with each team, but the location and the people group we are working with is always changing. With this group, we will be doing 3 days of children's ministry in a remote moutain village about an hours drive on a dirt road outside of Tactic.
Becuase today was Sunday, we were invited to attend the church service in the church where we will be doing children's ministry. The ride up was incredible. There were some spots in the road which had been washed completely away during the rainy season and now were slowly being rebuilt. On one side of the road was the mountain which went straight up; on the other side, the cliff! You guessed it; it went straight down! By the time we worked our way up to the church, we were almost at the very top of the moutian and as we looked around, all we could see were other mountain tops.
For those living in the village, we were quite a spectacle. I don't think any other group of North Americans have ever ventured this far into the hills. During the worship service, a little girl was stroking my blond hair! It was quite a novelty.
When we left the house to go up in the morning, we thought we were going just to be introduced and to allow the leader of the group to give a short 2 minute greeting.
Well, this is Guatemala, and things change! When we arrived, the pastor asked us who was preaching. It is at moments like this when we have a choice to make. We can say, "oh, no, I am not prepared," or we can say, "yes." Praise the Lord, He gave me the courage to say yes. I wouldn't say preaching is my gift; in fact, it is a bit of a stretch, but this morning, I preached. I asked the Lord to give me His Words for His people, and He did. It was such an honour to bring the Word of the Lord to His people.
On the way down from the village, I thought about what would have happened if I would have said no. Someone in that service this morning, needed to hear the very words the Lord gave me to share. If I would have said no, they would not have received the encouragement they needed this morning.
Everyday, we are given many opportunities to say "yes" or "no." How we choose affects not only us, but also those around us. For me, I think I get so hung up on being prepared and having a plan, that I say "no" because I am worried I won't be good enough. Boy, do I have it all wrong. I will never be good enough, no matter how much preparation I have done. It is only God and His Word that is good enough and if we are willing, He will use us as a vessel to speak through. The only preparation that is required is to be daily in His Word and then to say "YES" when the opportunity presents itself.
This is what I want - to live in a way that I am ready to say yes without any hesitation. This morning, the Lord had the rest already worked out. He just needed me to be His vessel to work through. Wow! What an honour; what a privilege!
Blessings,
Karren
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