In the span of ten short (long) days, I was incredibly blessed to see old relationships strengthen, new relationships blossom, and old and new friends alike search for their place as members of God's story.
Our trip's theme this year was "Dream." Therefore, we focused our devotionals and some of our events on the idea of dreaming beyond today, and striving to be part of something bigger without letting anyone hold you back. This is not at all to say that we want the teens in Saba to dream of getting away from Saba, but rather we want to break down the common attitude there that someone who is "successful" is a sell-out. We would also love to see the kids do whatever is in their power to make Saba the best it can be by working together and supporting each other.
But I suppose my point is: This trip to Saba was incredible. It was my favorite trip yet of the three total years I have gone.
And it's so hard to describe why to the passing friends on campus that ask me how spring break was... There's just no word to describe it. So, I'll try to give some reasons why here.
Going into the week, I really didn't know the members of our team very well. There were some that I knew from previous years, and one of my roommates was going, but there were a several I had hardly even spoken to. Granted it's only a 25 person team, but when ten of those are merely acquaintances, that's quite a different starting point then I've had in years past. The amazing thing, however, is that this team of seemingly random people came together better than any mission team I have ever been a part of. There was no butting of heads, no bickering, and it was very clear that each and every one of us was there for the right reason: to love.
It has served as a great lesson for me to have seen the difference it makes when a mission team is focused on the purposes of God. Internal conflicts fade away, everyone's job gets easier because everyone is there to lend a hand, and real conversations are formed.
That's the second thing that made this week great, relationships. That's really what our trip is all about, and because our team worked together so well and built genuine relationships with each other, we were able to form genuine relationships with the people we had come to be with in Saba. It is so clear that God brought us all together, from across North America, South America, Holland, and the Caribbean.
We are all members of the same family.
We all have the same Father who is showering us with love.
We are all part of His story.
For the first time in the time I have spent in Saba, I heard one of the Saban guys, who has spent a lot of time with us, talk about how he had seen God move in his life.
I had never heard any Saban say anything about the activity of God before... actually, I'm not sure if I had heard any Saban say anything about God before at all.
God was moving. God is moving, in the hearts of the people of Saba.
And I am so grateful and humbled to know that He is moving without my help. I'm just happy to be a witness to it.
Thank you God for Saba! The story that has led me into a relationship with that tiny little island is a testament to your greatness. You are unfathomable and too great to imagine. Thank you for painting your picture on a canvass that is much to large for me to comprehend. Your plan is perfect, your will supreme. Let me submit to it, Father. Make me your instrument of love and peace. Teach me to follow you in everything I do.
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