Back from another great adventure in the Blue Ridge mountains where I had the honor of attending the annual Missions Global Impact Celebration at Biltmore Baptist Church in Asheville, NC.
My dear friends Randy and Ronda Corn are Mission Service Corp Missionaries who have hearts for Jesus like none I had ever met before. Over the past year, they have been my spiritual mentors, and the driving force behind my decision to deepen my relationship with the Lord. If I was just to have one friendship like this in my entire life time, I would be tremendously blessed. But as usual, God doesn’t like to stop at just one blessing. No, He went even further by using that rare friendship as a means to introduce me to and bless me with multitudes of great Christian people in the beautiful mountains of North Carolina. Great Christian people I am honored to now call my friends as well.
During this past year, God has also used our friendship as a means to introduce me to a whole new world that I have never been exposed to before – The world of missions - A world where people not only LIVE their life for the Glory of God but willing to DIE for His Glory as well. One of the greatest spiritual adventures I ever experienced was my most recent trip to Asheville, NC when Randy and Ronda invited me to attend the Biltmore Baptist Church Global Impact Celebration.
This celebration is an annual event where many of the local, national and international missionaries and ministries gather together at their home church in an effort to bring the world to the church; educating and allowing the congregation to experience missions first hand while celebrating how God is using the missionaries to impact people all over the globe. It was truly amazing to hear the many testimonies of God’s work through these missionaries. From a single mother in the local community, to a family in small town Louisiana, to an entire village in the most remote areas of West Africa…eternities are being changed each and every day.
The celebration was kicked off with a Wednesday night service that left me knowing I was right smack in the middle of God’s presence. Imagine if you can, a full brass orchestra filling the entire sanctuary with sweet, soul felt music and the gospel choir belting out the powerful song Mighty to Save; all while hundreds of youth march down the aisles carrying the flags of all the different countries represented in the celebration. Next, the Zambian vocal group took the stage and no orchestra or band was required as the rich; jubilant sounds of this 5 member group poured into our hearts as they harmonized joyful songs of praise and worship to the Lord in their native language. The band, orchestra and Choir returned to end the night with a heart moving song with words that will be forever ingrained in my mind and heart…
Take my hands, Lord
And my feet
Touch my heart, Lord
And speak through me
If You can use anything Lord
You can use me
I tell you I was ready to pack my bags and go wherever God needed me. God’s presence was surely felt throughout the church that night.
There were a variety of different events planned throughout the 5 day celebration for the church congregation to participate in; giving them a unique perspective of what mission work is like. There were luncheons and dinners with seniors, church leaders and staff members, presentations to smaller connect groups, pot luck dinners in people’s homes, a women’s hike and a men’s golf tournament; all of which were opportunities for the church to hear testimonies, ask questions and learn the intimate details of each missionary’s work.
The best way, however, for someone to learn about mission work is to simply roll up their sleeves and get dirty with “hands on” experience. On Saturday, each missionary teamed up with a connect group for their community outreach project “Love Loud”. Nearly 1,000 members of Biltmore Baptist stormed the city of Asheville to love on the people as they served schools, hospitals, nursing homes and families in need. What an awesome demonstration of Jesus’ unconditional love!!
The 5 day Celebration ended on Sunday with a Festival of Cultures where each missionary “dressed the part” in their perspective national costumes or uniforms and had their own booth with pictures, displays, pamphlets and cultural items allowing them one more chance to showcase their ministry and give the congregation a small glimpse of mission life.
I feel tremendously blessed to have had the opportunity spend the week in the company of some pretty amazing people. I got email addresses, phone numbers, invitations to visit in the mission fields and even a few offers to help me start some of the community based ministries right in my own church here in Louisiana. I will never forget the love and hospitality I felt from these people. It was nothing short of amazing.
These dedicated people who serve here in North America, Haiti, Kenya, Liberia and Mexico deeply love the people they are serving. I heard countless stories of missionaries who set out on a mission to bless people in need but in the end, they were the ones who received the biggest blessing of all. All these missionaries believe they need the people they are called to help more than the people need them.
I walked away from this experience feeling deeply encouraged. I have the upmost respect and admiration for these amazing angels in disguise who for their love of the Lord, selflessly leave their family, friends, familiar surroundings and comforts of home and in some case, risking their lives so that others may have the opportunity to know and experience the power of God’s love and grace.
Although God may never call me to plant a Church in Guatemala, care for orphans in Haiti or minister to tribal areas in the African bush, I do feel He is calling me to have that same faithful obedience, compassion and sacrifice as those who are serving in those areas.
I now have a new theme that has been placed on my heart and it’s called Mission Possible (Just look around - the possibility to join in mission with Christ is all around you.) You don’t always have to travel to foreign countries to find people who need to hear the Gospel and experience God’s love and mercy. Many can be found right here in our own country, in our own community and sometimes, they can even be found in our very own family.
-sgd-
