I asked my sweet friend and resident to write a out her thoughts about her trip to Africa. She went to Mali over Christmas Break. She gladly did and I am so excited to share her thoughts with you!
After
going to Mali, West Africa twice before I thought I would be a pro at it. God
proved me wrong. During my winter break I was given the opportunity to serve in
Mali again. However, before I actually went on this trip I was convinced that I
was not going to go. I was going to send my family off and I’d be at home alone
and then head off to school. Long story short, I found myself on a plane to
Mali. Going on this trip as a college
student was a totally different experience for me. I was on a medical missions
trip with 13 other team members (5 of them being my sisters and parents) Our
purpose of the trip was to show the love of Jesus. The medicine was just a tool, we knew we couldn’t cure Africa. Many things
I never noticed before became so apparent to me this trip. Things that I was
able to understand more as a college student than a high school student. On
this trip I was much more intentional with showing love. Whether it be with a smile or a handshake or
even the giving of a bracelet.
I promised to keep this blog short so if you
want to hear multiple stories you can go here (http://liv-deighton.blogspot.com/). All in all, I would encourage all college
students to go on a missions trip. Even if it is just to an inner city, or
across the globe. God works through you and let me tell you he teaches you so
much. Since coming back home from this trip I have been changed. I have changed
my major to TESOL because I saw the lack of English and Education in Mali. Now
you may go on a missions trip and not change your major like I have but you do come
home changed. Now I will be the first person to tell you that it was hard to
miss a week of college and then to jump right back in. You come back with a lot
of culture shock and you are trying to process everything that you experienced.
Going on this mission trip required me to grow and mature. However, now being
in college I have applied it more to my life. It is obvious that God is working
all over the globe. I know that mission trips are not cheap so I would
encourage you to start praying and saving now. Maybe you come up with a place
you want to go or you go where you feel God is leading you. I want to end with
this verse I heard right after I came back to school at Summit. "and if you spend yourselves in behalf of
the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light
will rise in the darkness..."-Isaiah 58:10 When you go
on a missions trip ask God to spend you. To use you and all of your gifts and talents he has blessed you with to share his love.
With much love,
Liv
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