Sow What?

I am back from Southeast Asia! Well, I've been back home for over a week now, but after a few days of combating the urge to go to sleep at 3:00 pm and wake up at 4:30am, my body is back to its normal routine. My mind, though, is still flooding with memories of the culture and conversations that my team and I experienced for just two short weeks. Being back home makes it all seem surreal almost.

I was so privileged to work with a great team of awesome people...

... try some great new food...

... gain some new experiences...

... and make some new friends.

I had a great time in Southeast Asia. But more valuable than all of the new experiences I now have, is the privilege of seeing God work in an area of the world that is numb to any religious belief. I wish that I could somehow just download everything I remember from my trip onto my computer one so that I could keep track of it all and two so that I could share them with everyone, because there is just so much that I could share. My team and I spent a lot of time in English classrooms in the local universities spending time with students and learning about their culture while we shared about ours. We learned a lot about local foods and festivals and we shared a lot about our hobbies and our interests as American college students. We were asked if we watch Desperate Housewives and Gossip Girl or listened to Lady Gaga as well as if we were familiar with any of their music or movies. Though there were certainly cultural differences to be found, I think one of the neatest things to realize and to share with the students is how alike we are. We like music and movies. We like to have fun with our friends and to be silly. We also understand what it means to be confused about our future and to have the "pressures" and "stresses" (as students there called it) of life. Unfortunately, unlike many of the students we met and talked with, we know Someone that we are able to turn to in those times of stress and pressure.

Before going on this trip, I think I would have said (or I probably did say) that I did not know what to expect. And part of that is true. But there were certainly things that I did expect from this experience. I have shared before the embarrassing fact that speaking about my faith does not come easily to me. One thing I expected was to be challenged in how I express what Christ has done in my life with others. I think, though, generally, I expected to learn a whole lot and to do a whole lot, which in a way, I guess I did. But really, I saw God do a lot more than I did. During our trip, I had a chance to read through scripture and pray with my lovely roommate in the mornings.

It was certainly some sweet, encouraging time that I cherished with her and with our great God and gracious Savior. One passage that we read I think sums up perfectly the message of the trip that I found most humbling and most encouraging: 1 Corinthians 3:5-7 says, "So what is Apollos? And what is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed, and each has the role the Lord has given. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth." I may have left America thinking about all the work that I was going to do, but I came back realizing how much God had done, even in the short time that my team was there, and how blessed I was to be a part of it. The opportunities we had to share why we behave the way we do, why we don't go to parties on the weekend, or what we think about controversial issues, how many people in America believe in God or even how we deal with sad times were more numerous than we expected. Some of us were given very direct questions about scripture and Christian beliefs. Some of us had the opportunity to share the gospel more than once, and some of us were able to see God grow out of that. Whether we saw fruit from our labor or not, we know that it is not us who brings growth, but God. We were called to be faithful in service to Him. This is a humbling fact but also encouraging to know that I am not in control and that I don't have to try to be. I don't have to force Jesus into a conversation and I don't have to pry for a spiritual response. I am called to be faithful and genuine and honest about who I am in Him. I can't help but express that. And as I do, perhaps He will choose to work in someone's heart. I had a great experience overseas, and I thoroughly enjoyed the time that I had with my fellow teammates as well as with the students and people that we met. It was a tiring experience, and trying at times, but I trust that God is still working in that place, even though our team is gone. I am glad to be back home and to comfortable living, though my heart still aches for the people back in SE Asia. But I am excited to hear how the God who worked so wonderfully in my life that I must share works in the lives of the students that I am now able to call friends. Mm. He certainly is good.