Jesus Te Ama

THIS WEEK I was in Peru on a mission trip, and more miracles happened than I can even tell you about right now. I am still a little speechless to describe it, and yet I cannot seem to stop talking about it.

My team and I visited about six or eight schools, at each of which we were the first Christian group to visit them. We danced with them and played games, and then we performed a powerful drama and shared testimonies with the help of translators. My team is a group of amazing people with strong faith and a desire for God to work through them. We saw God move in us and in the people He sent us to.

I have seen firsthand that when God wants you to do something, He makes it work. He provided more than enough money for each one of us to go. My parents did not have to pay anything at all. He also blessed us by protecting us. We had no problems at the airport or in the bus. And when one of us tripped and got a hairline fracture, she was soon able to come with us and to see as hundreds of young people came to Christ. Also, He showed His presence by answering our prayers for one another. When I lost my Bible at one of the schools we visited, we prayed until it turned up and someone brought it to on of our parties.

One aspect of the trip that was particularly noticable and inspiring to me was the way God annointed us as we gave testimonies. Whenever someone stepped up to talk about God's power to save and to transform lives, he was nervous and scriptless. No notes. We would have to speak in English, for translators to get the message and repeat it en Espanol. But we prayed for each other, that God would give us words to give the message He wanted to share. And each time, we could hear His wisdom in the way an average teenager discussed God's unselfish love, His persistent pursuit, His kindness and grace. We could hear that our friends were speaking out of love for God and a desire to share what He had done in their lives. As a result, God used us as He drew many people to His heart and saved them.

Early in the trip a particular passage of Scripture was referenced in my mission trip guide that God really used to speak to me something very specific. It was Acts 2, the chapter when the disciples begin to speak in tongues by the Holy Spirit and the people around them can understand, regardless of their languages. v. 6 "And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language."

This told me that there is no language barrier on God's grace. However He chooses to do it, He will not let His kingdom's spread be stopped because of the language His servants speak. I knew when I read this that He would not send us all the way to another continent just to let the effectiveness of our work be hindered by language. He led us to focus on a particular subject - purity and abstinence - that we did not plan beforehand to emphasize. He gave us God-fearing translators and guided the words we spoke. I saw girls hold each other and cry quietly, moved by the Spirit. I saw boys leaning on their hands and listening intently. And when Pastor Ryan asked everyone to come forward who would like to be saved, I prayed until I saw many people walk forward and bow their heads to God. I got to pray with people in English, knowing that whatever I was saying, God understood.

I have learned that if God's grace can drive people across oceans to share it, it can certainly drive us across rooms. Every Christian is a missionary, each with an amazing story of salvation. There is no unextraordinary conversion, so we all have something to celebrate. And if God has done miracles in our lives, as I love to write to you about, we have no reason or right to keep it a secret. God does miracles in us so that we can participate in bringing Him glory and helping people accept His saving grace.

I encourage you to go on a mission trip if you get the chance. Don't worry about money, because God will take care of that. But please don't wait for a mission trip to be a missionary. He provided words and actions for my team while we were in a foreign country, and I know that He will do that for us anywhere. Speaking in boldness has prepared me to do that at home as well. The world is a mission field, and everlasting life starts now.