Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Prepare yourself.

@ Iglesia Esperanza near Managua, Nicaragua
"We have been in prayer and fasting in preparation for your coming trip." 

I'm sorry, but I have to repeat that statement one more time: "We have been in prayer and fasting in preparation for your coming trip." You are preparing for our trip? How selfless; how genuinely Christ-seeking of you. These words came from the head pastor of the church we will be visiting in Nicaragua this coming February 2013. It is easy to get caught up in legalities, specifics, details, and prices as discussions about Lubeck Community Baptist Church's (LCBC) first official mission trip continue on in preparation.

Preparation: the action of making ready or being made ready for use. 

So, as we prepare, we make sure we "cross our T's" and "dot our I's." We check schedules, lists, times, dates, commitments, costs, reservations, transportation, and so on. Our preparation continues on and on in order that we might be made useful when the time comes. What will we use as study material? What books should we order? Who will our translators be? And so on... as it goes. We prepare. My mind is conditioned for this type of preparation--who, what, when, where, and how? But... do we sometimes forget to ask, "why?" 

"We have been in prayer and fasting in preparation for your coming trip."

Preparation for our new family in Nicaragua includes these same things, yes, but it also includes this additional element that I am ashamed to say I've neglected in my "preparation." They pray. "Okay," I think to myself, "prayer is great and we should be praying as well." They fast. "They refrain from eating? You mean they choose to go hungry in order that God's glory would shine through in our combined ministry?" That is an entirely new level of preparation. I realize I may be rambling on this topic, and for that I apologize. I remain in awe of this renewed perception of preparation; this Christ-seeking, spiritual preparation. So as we make ready for our trip in February I plan to prepare more fully. We can plan all we want... but, in the end, it is His plan that matters; not our own. And as in all things, can we not take this idea (spurred in mission and connecting with our brothers and sisters in Christ) and apply it to our daily lives here; our daily struggles, walk, mission, journey?

With that said (and in proper perspective), here is the tentative list of things we plan to help with while we are in San Marcos, Nicaragua:

  • Vacation Bible Study
  • Afternoon Sports Ministry 
  • Visit a drug rehabilitation center
  • Visit a nursing home
  • Visit several members of the community the church is praying for with devotion
  • Host a revival
  • Pastoral and Church Leadership Training Sessions
As it stands, this is the tentative list of activities for the February trip (2/16-2/23). We are getting closer and closer and, as such, we should begin to prepare more and more. If you, the reader, could prepare for us, as well, we would greatly appreciate it. 

More to come as the date of departure draws closer...


In love.


1 Corinthians 13:13