It is a privilege to serve on a short-term mission. Still, there is often anxiety mixed with the excitement of preparing to travel. Our team received the confidence of knowing that our trip was covered in prayer.
BEFORE
As we prepared to travel, our team committed to praying individually and together. We were blessed by the congregation, with Steve leading prayer in four services. We were prayed for by our small groups, our friends and our family. We were prayed for by friends of friends of friends. Though we didn’t know it, we were prayed for by the local church in Guatemala and others in the community. Did God hear 5,000 prayers before we left? 50,000? 500,000?
DURING
As we were loading luggage at 4 am on travel day, we bumped into Great Banquet over-nighters, who prayed for us. We met strangers on the plane, who prayed for us.
We prayed as we opened and closed our days; at meals and on any occasion. We prayed at the Learning Center, in homes, and in the local church. We prayed in groups and in solitude. We prayed aloud and in silence. We prayed in English and Spanish. We prayed big prayers. We prayed with joy and through tears. We gave God thanksgiving, requests and pleadings.
On home visits, we were told by families that they pray for us every day. One day each month, local church members spend 24 hours praying for Connection Pointe’s partnership with VisionTrust. Overwhelming!
Time and again, we saw and experienced specific prayers answered.
AFTER
During the intensity of a short-term mission, it is easy to pray with focus and dependence. We challenge ourselves to maintain that level of intimacy with God in our everyday lives. We yearn to live and love in a manner beyond our own capabilities, in a way only possible through God.
1 John 5:14, “This is the confidence that we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.”
WRITER: Jeff Lovell, Team Leader of the Guatemala Trip
