To Do the Impossible

It has almost been 8 months that I have lived in Minnesota. It doesn’t seem like that long and it doesn’t seem like the school year should be coming to a close…but it is. Some things still surprise me about this place, like today when I was at Wal-mart. It stuck me how truly north I am when I discovered that they didn’t even sell hot salsa.
But seriously God has used this time, beyond a shadow of a doubt to transform me and change things in me, some of which I hadn’t even been willing to acknowledge as a problem before coming here. He taught me to trust in His provision for everything from the tuition money to come here to providing everything on a “Crosswalk.” And it’s a good lesson to learn. Two feet from my bedroom door is a wall completely covered with sticky notes marking times that God was faithful to my accountability group (about 10 people) throughout this last school year. Every time I see it, I am reminded of how much God loves providing for us as His children.
Today at church my pastor said something which stuck me close to the heart. He said, “People are doing good and great things all over the place, but God is calling the church to do the impossible things.” Over the past month or two, God has been growing a dream in my heart which (a few days ago) I accepted as my own dream for the next few years. It sounds impossible and unlikely. It sounds crazy, even to me. It sounds illogical and impulsive and naïve and impractical and absurd and…well, you get the picture.
The dream God has given me is to visit 30 countries in the next 5 years. And no, dropping out of school does not figure into the picture, leaving about 2 years that I can fully devote to traveling. How is it going to happen? When? Why? And for what purpose? Good questions. Questions God hasn’t answered for even me yet. But I’m excited to discover the answers with Him. However, even acknowledging this as my dream is a huge step of faith and also one that I’m sure will bring some heat as people begin pointing out the impracticalities of such a goal. But if you’ve read my last blog, then you know that God has been teaching me a few things about faith, reliance, and trust in Him.
I’m starting to fulfill the goal with two countries this summer. I’m traveling to Jerusalem and a closed country in Asia. God still has to provide the money and a few other things, but I’m confident that He will. It wouldn’t be the first or the last time that He has provided absolutely everything for me. My opinion is that very Christian should live most of –actually all - their life that way. It’s great for faith building. But also, there’s nothing like knowing that you have nothing and that there’s nothing you can do about it except pray.
You may not thank me for this right away, but I pray that every one of you reading this has many such experiences in your future. What impossible thing does God want you to accomplish through Him?

My Amazing Weekend Adventure

Last weekend I took an adventure that I will never forget. At 5am, I was blindfolded along with Luke Cada, Andria Jasper, Julia Engebretson, and Nicole Downer; the five of us were driven 105 miles from campus to a unknown location. What were our assets? A six foot cross, our Bibles, a bottle of water, and of course God. We were not allowed to bring money, technology, maps, or food. Nor were we allowed to ask questions that would benefit ourselves. We had to have a place to stay by 8 on Saturday night and we had to be back on campus by 8 Sunday night. These were our rules and around 7:30am we were left out in the country by a lake. We took a few minutes to pray, and God told us to go left so we head out left.

Before we left, all of us made a list of expectations we had for the weekend. Mine were that (1) I wanted to see someone saved; (2) I wanted a fruit punch Sobe; (3) I wanted to spend the night at a family's house; (4) I wanted to go to church with them in the morning; (5) And I wanted to get back on campus within the time limit. Some of the other team's expectations were hamburgers for lunch, to preach Sunday morning, to ride in the back of a cab...and several others that were added as the trip went on. :)
So we made our way to hwy 71...and on our way one car stopped to talk to us. We were excited but all they wanted to know was a church garage sale was. So after that, we decided to never expect anything from anyone that stopped. We walked for 2 hours before coming to even a gas station. We shared the gospel with some men there but they were very closed to it. Here we also learned that we had been going north instead of south. A little disheartened we started backtracking but we knew that God would use the delay. Around lunch time, we took a water break on the side of the road. A car pulls up and the window rolls down. It was a lady named Nikki, who graciously offers to take us to her house for lunch. She had a beautiful home on the lake and fed us hamburgers (expectation number one fulfilled!). She also printed us out a map, told us where to go, and packed us up with some food in case we didn't get dinner. At around 12:30, she drove us to the next town on our itinerary and we said good-bye.

After this,we walked on hwy 12 for several hours. As we were coming into Kandiohi (which we made several silly songs about), a truck stopped and gave us twenty dollars. A few minutes later, a couple named Vickie and Gerry stop and ask what we’re doing. They gave us ride for twenty miles, but not only that, they also take us to a gas station, buy us what we want, and give us money. They were a huge blessing to us and very sweet. At the end of our ride with them, as we climbed out of the car, Vickie said she didn’t know how she felt about leaving “her kids” on the side of the road…but trusted God to take care of us. In the car I was able to tell them my testimony and I also got a fruit punch Sobe, fulfilling two of my expectations! After this, we walked a little while, then stopped at a Dairy Queen in Litchfield and got some cold treats.

Walking down the sidewalk in cute little Litchfield, we came across Natalie and Jeremiah. They were on their motorcycle, but told us to walk down to the BP and they would meet us there with their truck. Walking to the BP, we actually get a ride for the few miles with the lady that had previously given us twenty dollars. Riding with Natalie and Jeremiah, we sit in the back of the cab which fulfilled an expectation of Nicole’s, and had a great conversation with Natalie. The conversations that we had with all of the people that helped us are one of my favorite things about the weekend. They dropped us off just outside Dassle, with the next town being Cokato (6 miles away). It was now about 4:30pm.

It took us 3 hours to walk this bit of hwy 12 between the two towns…so as we come into Cokato we have very little time to find a place to stay before our “curfew” of 8pm. We are also very tired at this point, having walked close to 25 miles. But we are confident that a place will be provided, as God had provided everything else we need.

At this point, a man comes up to us on a bike. His name was Pastor Steve. He offers us his home for the night and asks us to finish his sermon the next morning at his church. We are overwhelmed by God’s provision. That night at his house we had a wonderful time of fellowship with him, his wife Toni, his son Jonathon, and some friends they have over, Marcus and Channell. We were having so much fun that we didn’t end up going to bed until midnight. The next morning, we go to both services and Luke preaches. Afterward, we have lunch then Jon and Marcus take us on the next leg of our journey. As we get out of their car, another car immediately pulls up behind us. It’s a man named Mark who had been at the church that morning and had been looking for us to give us the next ride. He gives us a ride to just outside Minnetonka. Here we walked for several miles before a truck with “Jesus Christ Forgives Sin” emblazoned on the back stops. We talk to Peter for several minutes before he continues on his way. Several minutes later, he pulls up to us again and asks us, “So how far do you want me to take you?” Laughing, we tell him that we need to get to Bloomington, specifically Bethany. We get in his truck and he is able to take us all the way back to Bethany. We arrived home at 3:55.

When I think about the weekend and how wonderfully God provided, I just start laughing because He is so amazing. This experience is something that I will remember for the rest of my life.