A New Perspective On Missions
By Lisa Main
Over a year ago, a piece of Mexico was deposited on my heart when I first heard the leaders at Lifestreams share about the JCME Mexico trip. I did not get to attend with them in 2018, but from then on The Missions JCME Mexico trip for June 2019 would not leave my mind. From what I have observed, most people set out to go on a missions trip to love on orphans, widows, the poor, the needy, to bring the truth of His word, His love, to feed, to heal, to pray, to encourage. All of those things are true, but now after returning from this missions trip in Mexico, I have a new perspective and am completely changed!
One of the many things that impacted me was during our time with the children, when a beautiful little girl named Jasmine grabbed my hand and we got to do every single activity together. (I only know a few Spanish words, so anytime I wanted to communicate to her I had to find a translator). The very last activity we did was face painting. She did not want her face to be painted and I understood, but after seeing the artistic drawing she did for me at the previous activity, I offered her to paint on my face. She was excited and said yes. They had pictures that we could look at to give us an idea of what to paint, and she had picked one and started to paint above my eye. But then, all of a sudden she took a paper towel and wiped it off. Then she started to paint on my cheek. There were no mirrors, so I could not see what she painted. When she finished, I asked one of the women next to me, “What did Jasmine paint?” They responded, “I don’t know.” I pulled out my phone and took a selfie with her so I could see it and asked her what it was. (Through our time together, I learned that she did know a few English words, but I just pointed to my face and asked her, “What did you paint?”) She pulled me in and covered my ears with her hands and whispered “It's a window.” I just looked at her and smiled. There were no pictures of windows, and in that moment I realized that God had her do a prophetic painting on my face, a picture that would give me confirmation on a specific area my heart has been seeking Him about. I was blown away. The Lord used His beautiful 11 year old daughter, who I was there to love on for Him, to give me a prophetic confirmation. Our Heavenly Father’s ways are so above ours!
I took these three things with me from the trip and want to share them with you: first, all our lives are a mission field. What mission in our journey does He have for us today? We are invited to live every day with Him in an abundance of His love, joy and peace. Second, have faith everyday in a “yes” that is choosing growth! Get out of your comfort zone, challenge yourself, ask the Holy Spirit, “How can I love boldly for you today?” And finally, take on the mindset with Jesus that the best way to travel is seeing the Lords creation, His land, His people. May you forever be changed with each new day, awakening with eyes to see the mission field He has placed before you!