This trip has been in the works for quite some time. Not only have we been meeting since the fall session of groups, but the idea of taking people to Malawi has been in my head for quite a bit longer than that.
I have led many mission teams before, but this is the first one where I honestly had no idea what we were going to do, I just knew that I wanted to go back to Malawi and I wanted to take people with me so they could see … see what God is doing, see how other people worship, see how other people live, see extreme poverty, see what Jesus meant when he said “religion that God our father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress.”
As the leader, I prayed and prayed and prayed when the groups catalogue went online – that God would bring the right people for this team…and man, did he blow me away! Thirteen compassionate, willing, God-seeking and pretty-freakin-awesome people joined – I feel like the luckiest growth group leader in the history of EastLake.
So, we are going. Starting out with no plans at all, God heard our prayers and provided some ways for us to help, including painting one of the village community centers, pre-school classrooms and widows’ facility. We will be updating sponsorship information for the organization we are traveling with (Children of the Nations – www.cotni.org) and we will be teaching at a local high school to 240 teenagers about avoiding temptation and staying focused on their goals.
More importantly, we are going to see. Like Pastor Ryan said 2 weeks ago, my prayer is “God, open our eyes.” Open our eyes to see the kids that need affection and hope, the people who need prayer, the ways we think that are not inline with Yours, and most importantly, open our eyes so we can see how big You really are.
Thanks, EastLake, for your prayers. Here are the people on the team so you can be praying for us:
Tammy Anderson Carlye Fitzsimmons
Stephen and Jenn Branstetter Lindsay Heller
Andy Burchinal George & Danielle Mekhail
Kristen Bushnell Krislyn Millar
Krysten Campbell Brenda Pottish
Noel Christmas Emily Schaefer
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