THANK YOU for your patience with me in gathering my thoughts and reflections since I’ve been out on the field!
I am officially HOME in the beautiful Johnson City, TN. I arrived a few days ago and have been taking time to be with my family and process these past few months. I had to leave the wonderful Team Burrito in Medellin, Colombia where they’ll be for the next few weeks. I miss them already, but I am so thrilled to be watching their journeys, praying and cheering them on from afar!!
Amazingly, fall (my FAVORITE season) has really just begun, and I am ALREADY overwhelmed at the Lord’s goodness in the small things. I am also expectant of the GOOD He has in all the details of this next season at home.
More on that later…
Folks, I am WAY behind on articulating my journey with you and sharing all the beautiful things the Lord has been doing and speaking. SO for the next few weeks, I will be giving you, my wonderful supporters, the stories and testimonies you so deserve to hear since you were a vital part in their happenings!!
For now…
let’s go waaaaay back a few months to the beginning of my time with Team Burrito in Frutillar, Chile.. I’d like to share some reflections with you from my time there that have been at the forefront of my mind as I’ve been preparing to head back to Tennessee.
This sweet time with our hosts, the Trujillo family, during our time in Chile reminds me of this scripture in 2 Timothy:
“You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.” -2 Timothy 2:1-2.
Every day after being at the local school in the morning, we went next door as a team to have lunch with Daniel, his wife Jessica, and their 3 girls. We would help cook and clean and just talk. Often at the lunch table, we would stick around and discuss some scripture, or Daniel and Jessica would take that opportunity to really do some teaching and discipleship with us. Daniel and his wife weren’t merely rambling at us. They were sharing powerful and practical wisdom with us in hopes that we will lead our lives in a way centered around Jesus and building God’s Kingdom in all arenas–work, family, serving the community we live in, etc.
.jpeg)
(This is the incredible Trujillo family! Daniel and Jessica are to the right. Two of their girls are crouching with us, and the littlest one is being held.)
I briefly wanted to share a few nuggets of truth with you that greatly impacted me personally, truths and advice that I want to consider and implement as I actually settle in and stay in one place for a good while.
(1) Hospitality:
There’s something about other cultures’ honor and hospitality that I myself and a lot of us miss in this more Western and individualistic culture. The Trujillos made it a point to make us feel at home and welcome us right into their family so that we were cooking and washing dishes right alongside them, tickling their kids and having them help us learn Spanish. They made us some incredible Chilean meals and were happy to share so much of their culture.
The way they welcomed us, a strange group of gals from the US, in and set the stage for friendship and love to be cultivated was so beautiful. They created an environment that was warm and became so comfortable to us, a place to talk about what God was doing and what we were seeing happen all around us.
The concept of hospitality really clicked for me in this environment when I experienced it so beautifully. It’s like the concept of Jesus ‘inviting us to the table’ to come and dine with Him. (see Revelation 17:3) Through Jesus alone, God invites us into His household as His children, to sit with Him, King of All, to converse and feast and laugh and lean on Him. What a beautiful reality completely available to us as children of God. This ‘at ease-ness’ that God invites us to with Him, the most basic and beautiful of activities in sharing a meal (and spiritually feasting on all He has given us and provided!), is an atmosphere I hope to create for people in the future.
(This is the table we had most meals at with this amazing family! Picture deep conversations, prayer, and ridiculous laughter happening here. What a dream!)
Now, as I’m back in TN, I am SO EXCITED to be settled for a little while and rent a house with my best friend soon. In this place of ours, we want to invite people into a space of warmth and love and fun and rest! We pray to cultivate this same gift of making people feel welcome and that they belong as we traverse the paths of life together, coming together, catching up, processing through the beautiful and more difficult things. Thank you, Daniel and Jessica, for exhibiting hospitality so well and lighting that spark in me.
“Contribute to the needs of the saints, and seek to show hospitality.” Romans 12:13.
(2) Eliminating the “missionary” pedestal.
if we are disciples of Jesus (followers of Him, belonging to Him, His children), we have this charge before us to GO and make disciples (the Great Commission in Matthew 28:16-20). This IS NOT just for those going overseas to other nations, though God’s heart is BIG for all nations to be reconciled to Him… This call to make disciples is for EVERY ONE OF US who claims to love and follow Jesus. So wherever you are now, ask God to help you understand what it means to make disciples and how you can be engaged in the community around you.
ALSO, this isn’t as daunting as it sounds.
Daniel, who is a psychologist and highly trained percussionist, uses ALL his talents and passions to glorify God AND enjoy the life he gets to live every day! His psychology degree allows him to get into schools and have some seminars and teachings about encouraging kids to dream and work in their passions, about healthy relationships, and about having hope and purpose in life in knowing God. We also got to go see a jazz show where he played drums at a local coffee shop with some friends, and it was incredible! He is using his talents to have fun AND to make connections in his community to create a network that is aware of the foundation he has started and wants to establish in Frutillar, Chile that invests in orphans and at-risk kids.
He spoke to us SO much about being EXACTLY WHO WE ARE and finding an outlet to give those gifts away, and he and his wife modeled this beautifully. I am a novice guitar player, yet he kept encouraging me to put in the time and grow in this gift in order to use it excellently and serve the community I’ll be a part of.
(Daniel on the drums at a jazz concert with his equally talented friends. Somewhere in the US, we would have paid a lot of money to see this level of musical expertise!)
(Daniel playing the guitar for us at a church meeting.. I’m his chord holder here.)
(3) Meeting practical needs.
“What good is it my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” – James 2:14-17
Daniel also spoke to us about meeting practical needs in our communities as a way to be the hands and feet of Jesus also. If you think about it, Jesus went from place to place with His disciples and taught in synagogues and prayed for people, AND He also fed people. He healed people. He provided a net-load of fish for the disciples when they weren’t getting any bites. He, being fully God AND fully man, can relate to us about our needs. He took the time to SEE the physical needs as well as the spiritual needs, and He often used the physical to get to he heart of the spiritual matter. (Consider the woman at the well seeking physical water, and He offers her eternal spiritual water too!)
Now that I’m back in Johnson City, I am seeking to apply this principle of being a ‘missionary’ WHEREVER I AM (because there is a mission!), seeking to offer all my gifts and passions to excel in who I am and use them as a door to share the hope and love of Jesus, and seeking to see the needs around me and make moves to do something about them. I want to love Jesus and walk out my faith, which implies taking ACTION! Not only internally in my relationship with Him but also externally in a way that pours over onto those around me as I seek to meet needs that I become aware of.
I believe if every person in the Body of Christ knew what their strengths and gifts were and pursued outlets to POUR OUT into their communities, our communities would be TRANSFORMED simply because we’re engaging with the world around us like Jesus did!
No one needs the title of ‘missionary’ or any special training to tell people about their own stories of how Jesus has changed them and how they’re following Him now. No one needs a kick in the pants to go do something that they love. THEY JUST DO IT! And in those unique passions God has given you, how are you using that to encourage the Body of Christ and reach those around you that haven’t met or known Jesus?
RELATIONSHIPS and CONNECTIONS with people are everything! This is the way Jesus lived, and if we ask Him for the grace to see beyond ourselves, He will absolutely give us His eyes and His heart to connect with the beautiful humans all around us that He is pursuing.
Living life day to day must be intentional. How do we practically meet needs in our community and take up some social responsibility to extend love unconditionally, doing ALL things in the Name of Jesus and sharing boldly the hope that we have in him?
Getting outside of my own little world, how can I be a FULLY ENGAGED member of my community? How do I invest in Johnson City, Tennessee? Though my true home is heaven and in the family of God, though as Scripture says I am just a ‘sojourner’ and ‘alien,’ so to speak, in this world, like God says to His people in the book of Jeremiah: “.. seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” (Jeremiah 29:7)
This is so practical! Thank you, Lord, for spelling it out so clearly to us!
This looks like praying for the prospering of my city, praying for people to be brought into light and life through Jesus and welcomed into God’s family by sharing the hope of the Gospel with them. It looks like considering what gifts I have that can be utilized for good in my community.
Since I love to sing and play a little guitar, maybe it’s volunteering to do some music therapy with kids or learning Spanish to bridge cultural gaps in healthcare where I work and in day to day life. I really have no idea, but I love that we have a creative God, that we all are wired differently to be able to impact our communities in all arenas. I love that we have SO many outlets to infuse the love of Jesus and the culture of the Kingdom of God in any environment we’re in. I am currently asking God to reveal where he wants me to invest my time and pour out the love He’s pouring in, and I am excited!!
I would encourage you all to pray and ask God where you could be giving of your time and talents in your communities also. Where does He want you to be to brushing shoulders up against those that He is seeking to be reconciled to Him and LOVED? How can YOU represent a part of Jesus’ heart by simply being who you were created to be?
We shall see! And WHO KNOWS what all is to come in this next season? But I am asking the Lord to help me dream big for the future while also remaining practical and setting goals for what my next steps are here at home.
The past few months I have witnessed God move in Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and within the bounds of my team and my squad. Now, having returned home, I know He also is moving in Johnson City, TN, as He is moving everywhere. I am excited to witness all He is doing here as well and figure out what role I can play in His movements, reaching out to reconcile the whole city to himself!
God is so good. He has been teaching me so much, and he has blessed me beyond measure with those who will share their wisdom and actually care about my future in Jesus being bold and bright!
I will send some more updates SOON, but I want you all to know that God has been BLOWING MY MIND with His provision for me as I’m settling back into Johnson City. He is SUCH a good Father. He truly knows what we need before we ask, and He will never let us down in giving us what we need and that which is abundantly MORE than we could have imagined! I’ll provide more details soon, but BE ENCOURAGED that God sees you and is moved by FAITH in your situation. He loves to come through for you as your Father. “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to GIVE YOU THE KINGDOM.” – Luke 12:32 (emphasis is mine.. )
You yourselves are some of those abundant blessings in my life!
LOVE YOU ALL!
Lastly, (and thank you for hanging in there for this LONG post.. :D)
I’m clinging to this Scripture as I close one chapter of life and another one begins:
“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of His glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.” -Jude 1:24-25.
