I started GoWeek expecting to be taught how I was going to grind through a summer of burdensome support raising. Instead, my eyes were opened to the opportunity and ministry I have before me for the next 100 days as I intentionally pursue my community in mobilizing them to reach Muslims in the Middle East. In addition to realizing that this week, for the first time in my life I was surrounded by people equally as passionate and adventurous when it comes it going to the nations with the gospel. A group of 20 missionaries that clicked so fast it was almost unsettling, but, at the same time it was too fun to even hesitate being yourself around these people.
God’s work did not stop there; he did something interesting before GoWeek even began. On the train ride to the campus GoWeek was held at, a Somali man, named Mohamed, noticed my Arabic bible and sparked a conversation with me in Arabic. It gave me a chance to practice Arabic, and to see the utter curiosity on his face when he saw a Bible in his language for the first time. We exchanged information, and at the end of the week we met for breakfast, he put up with my broken Arabic, and asked a few questions about the Bible. I gave him my Arabic copy as a gift, and he seemed greatly appreciative and curious. Even in the midst of a week of looking overseas to the nations, God was still moving in the nations right where we were. He’s so awesome; please pray for my new friend Mohamed!
A week of polar plunges, new friendships, late night talks, early mornings, heartfelt prayers, and 50+ classroom hours later we’re hurtling back towards our hometowns in planes and cars with a fresh vision for what it means to Go, that is, that it starts at home within our communities. We’ve seen what it looks like to live 1 Thessalonians 2:8 among each other by “sharing our lives” this week, now it is time to do the same among our friends and family, and then the nations.