Doing vs. Being

Bleary eyes greeted me this morning at the 7am wake-up call, but everyone was soon out of bed and excited for our first day in South Africa.  We spent our day touring and learning about Emthonjeni, a community center ministry serving a slum community in Johanesburg. Emthonjeni is a ministry extention of Mosaiek, which is Woodmen's sister chuch here in Joburg.  As we left Emthonjeni, most of the team expressed excitement at knowing a lot more about what God is doing on the ground here, but at the same time, a feeling of disappointment at not being able to jump right into the ministry of Emthonjeni and, "do something."

For many of us, the idea of a mission trip conjures up ideas and images of us going somewhere to do something.  We build houses, we feed the hungry, we keep ourselves busy and wear ourselves out doing God's work.  But, this is, in many ways, going to be a different sort of trip.  Much of our trip will involve just being.  Being a part of what God is already doing here in Joburg and in Swaziland by connecting with the people, and opening ourselves up to God's movement and not necessarily our own.

Don't get me wrong, we're already tired and overwhelmed with many of the things that God has already shown us, but one of the things that has become apparent already is our inability to do anything at all without God's strength and power.  And, our inability to just be without trusting that He is working and moving in ways we cannot see.  As one of the trip leaders, I know this lesson is coming to me over and over again.  I have felt God telling me to be present in each moment, and to stop worrying/thinking/planning for the days to come.  He is in control and nothing takes Him by surprise.  Because of this, I can trust that it is okay to gather in all that God has for me in that one specific moment, and not spend my time worrying about what He might have for me a few days from now. In the short amount of time we've been here, I am already learning that this trip will be a much different mission trip than any I've participated in or lead before, and because of that I don't want to miss a thing that God wants to show me!

Thank you for praying for me, and for our team.  We are already learning and experiencing so much that has taken us out of our comfort zones, but God has been good to walk there with us. We are relying on his power, the same power that rose Christ from the dead and now lives in us! For those of you who will connect with a team member when we return home, please remember to ask us about the difference we learned between doing and being, and how we saw God work in and through us because of it.  We are still in the early stages of experiencing this tension, but already it has changed the mindset of our entire team.

Blessings to all of you. Thank you for taking the journey with us.
-Jen Ferrell