Sitting in the jet during this 14 hour flight over the Atlantic Ocean, my mind is at ease. By the grace of God, we have come out victorious over all of the home front battles that tried to prevent this trip to South Africa. Against the roar of the jet and rumble of the cabin, my mind is racing through the future and what God has for me during the next seven days of my life.
Even though I am confident in my physical abilities, my mind is attacked by the unknown and questions begin to flood my head. As my mind begins to get the best of me, I begin to construct several silly situations that include Indiana Jones type stunts and theatrics. I begin to smile as my spirit comforts me and reminds me that my God will not put me in a situation that I cannot handle. After all, this trip is for him. I consider myself fairly fit; however, I am not much of a runner. My 10-15 minutes of cardio with weight training at least twice a week seems to satisfy my needs for now.
We have been in the Zulu region of South Africa in an area called Bezina for a few days now. I am surprised that I am not feeling as fatigued as I expected. We only have two meals a day. However, I feel good after walking up and down the hills all day. I guess keeping a moderate exercise routine has paid off.
Every morning before breakfast we have morning devotion and prayer time. The devotions are similar to a soldier returning to base to refill his ammunition or have his wounds treated before returning to the battle field. That is exactly what this is, a battle. Devotions are an important necessity to keeping our spiritual meters high. We must go to Him to be re-filled after pouring ourselves out all day.
As believers, we are all chosen as soldiers to fulfill a mission. Our primary mission is to communicate and demonstrate the Love of God. I sincerely encourage everyone to go on a mission trip abroad. You will experience God in a completely new and awesome way. If you do not feel that you are fit for such a mission, start preparing yourself, just as you would for anything else. If you can walk, then you meet the physical requirements. Spiritual preparedness is necessary as well. You may be challenged in a physical or spiritual area that you are not comfortable with. Spiritual knowledge of who you are, combined with your physical ability will give you the additional boost needed to successfully complete the mission.
