Wow. I literally can't believe that I have less than a week left on project. In the next two days we are wrapping things up on campus and then heading to our time of debrief. I honestly don't know where the past five weeks of my life have gone. In a blink of an eye I find myself at the end of our summer project. As I reflect on this project I am overwhelmed by the many ways God has been at work. I have seen God at work in the lives of students here in Slovenia, the students on my team, and even in my own life. I am so blessed to have had this opportunity to be here in Slovenia for the past five weeks. It will be sad to say good-bye to the Slovene friends I have made while being here, but it has been encouraging to see God at work in their lives and know that He will continue to be at work in their lives. I feel like God has opened my eyes to the spiritual brokenness in our world. My heart breaks when students sit there and tell me there is no possible way God could exist. There have also been moments where people have told me I'm crazy for believing in God and that they will never believe in God. It is hard to walk away from conversations like that. I have come to learn though that God is in control. God has the power to break through the hardened hearts of these people and to remove whatever is blinding them from the truth of the Gospel. I find peace in knowing that God's power speaks through my words. There are moments when I am sharing the Gospel and I think I have to try and convince people that God exists. Yea, it doesn't work like that. And I find myself humbled to know that God uses me in my brokenness to proclaim His perfect and powerful message to these people. I may never have any idea how my conversations were used in people's lives. I trust that God can do immeasurably more than I ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20-21), and I find peace in the truth of that. I have literally seen God do immeasurably more than I could have asked or imagined while on this project. So many people in Slovenia are hearing the Gospel for the first time in their lives. God is on the move in this country and He will continue to raise up laborers in this country. Doing ministry is not easy, but totally worth every moment of the challenges, persecutions, and praises. I am encouraged by Paul in 1 Corinthians 2:2-5
"For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God."
Paul focused on the message of the cross, not his own words. He wanted people to put their faith in Jesus rather than in the ability of himself as a human messenger. Intellectual persuasion is not what saves people. The power of the Holy Spirit is what changes people's hearts as the Gospel is proclaimed. Paul experienced many trials and fears in his years of ministry but he chose to persevere. He trusted in God's faithfulness and sovereignty. Paul did not strive to live a comfortable life but rather a life surrendered to the will of God. The Gospel is worth it. Time and time again I see God's faithfulness and deliverance in my life. In the moments where ministry is hard and I just want to give up, or even when the messiness of life gets hard and seems hopeless - God sees and He knows and He answers. The Lord inclines His ears toward our cries. (Psalm 34:15) God walks with us through the trials and crap in our life. He delights in holding our hand and victoriously walking through life with us. God's love is deep and the deeper we allow Him to go into our hearts and deal with the brokenness, the deeper we will experience His love. God's grace is such a beautiful picture of His faithfulness and love. I could go on and on in ways that I have experienced God's grace in my life and it's so humbling to be able to go on and on describing how God has been at work in my life. I believe that God wants the people of Slovenia to experience the depths of His love and the beauty of His Gospel as well. I pray that I never forget the beauty of the Gospel. I am so thankful for this opportunity to experience God at work in the country of Slovenia and I can't wait to see what He has in store for the restoration of this country. Sorry if my thoughts don't run together, it's just a combination of what I've been processing for the past couple of days!
Pray for the safety of my team as we travel to Austria on Sunday and then head back to America next Wednesday. Also pray for our transition home and back into normal every day life. Pray that we don't forget what God has done in our five weeks here and the ways He has changed our own hearts.
