Dear Future Goers,
My life has forever been changed. My heart and soul have been imprinted with a new culture, a new people, a new life. My eyes see life with new colors, my ears hear different sounds, my mind expanding to understand others' way of life. My life is rich and colorful, surrounded by an international community of believers that so clearly portray the diversity of Christ’s church. I have seen God move in more ways than could be imagined, through me and through others. I have seen the need throughout the world, the heart cry of millions of people, crying out without even realizing it, reaching for something they don't even understand, longing to know their Savior. Throughout my life ı thought dance was the thing that brought me the most joy, but now it's no longer true. Telling people the wonderful news of salvation through Jesus Christ is the thing that makes my heart sing for joy, and using dance to do it is just a bonus. All this I have found simply because I said yes to Jesus and came halfway across the world. Follow him! He's worth it. If you fall, He will catch you.
For those who are still deciding whether to go, my advice is to take a lot of time to just be still with the Lord, listen to Him, and do whatever He is telling you to do. One of the things I have learned in my time overseas is that I am happiest and most peaceful when I am doing God’s will. So do whatever God is calling you to do. If He is calling you to go overseas, GO! If He is calling you to stay, then stay. But live your life full out for Him regardless where you are on the planet. That being said, my personal advice is just to GO! İt will change your life in the most amazing way possible. I really believe that every person should spend some time overseas in their lifetime. It will open your eyes to new cultures and worldviews and help you empathize more with people from different backgrounds. Your faith will be challenged, and you will grow so much closer with the Lord as you are ripped away from everything that is comfortable and forced to rely solely on Him. It will be hard, but in that trial your faith will be refined and you will feel the presence of God so closely. Don’t let fear of anything hold you back–not fear of fundraising, of moving overseas, of placement or team–nothing. Don’t make decisions out of fear, make them out of faith. If you fall, He will catch you.
Fundraising seems like a daunting task at the beginning, but don’t be dismayed. GoCorps helps you through the whole process and gives you invaluable training that makes it much easier. Also, remember, if God wants you to go, He will provide. One of the clearest ways God speaks is through fundraising. It truly is a beautiful time of trusting in God and seeing Him come through in miraculous ways. Don't let fear of this keep you from going! If you fall, He will catch you.
For those who have already decided to go, don’t freak out! If God called you to something, don't second guess Him or yourself, just trust Him. As you wait to move overseas, the enemy might try to plant lies and doubts in your mind. James 1 talks about a man of doubt, who is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. Don’t be like this wave, but be like a rock, standing firm in what God told you. Don’t freak out about the future either–He has called you, so you are in His hands. It is the best and safest place to be. I spent the 3 months of fundraising constantly freaking out about everything, and in retrospect, every single thing I was worried about came to nothing. So breathe, relax, and trust God. If you fall, He will catch you.
One of the biggest doubts I struggled with before I moved overseas and during my first few months was “I am not enough for this”. Not holy enough, not spiritual enough, not old enough, not wise enough, not experienced enough, not trained enough…..and the truth is, I was right! I am not enough, but God is! God is the one who does the work, not you. The times that I have seen God do miraculous things have been when ı have simply surrendered to him. You don't need a lot of knowledge or experience or talent, you just need a heart of obedience. God does the rest. One of the verses that kept me going during fundraising and the first year on the field was 2 Corinthians 3:3-5: “Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God.5 Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (ESV). Christ is the one who makes you sufficient. If you fall, He will catch you.
During the first months on the field, you will be exhausted, and that is ok. Your brain will be exhausted from language learning, your body will be tired from adjusting to a new climate and home, your emotions will be stretched thin from culture stress. It’s ok, it is perfectly normal. Give yourself grace and take lots of time to rest. You will need it. Before I left, my coach did a session with our group about self-care on the field. We made a plan to do certain steps for self-care….and when I came to the field I did none of them. After a couple months, I felt exhausted and worn out, and at one point felt like I was nearing burnout. Through this process, I learned a valuable lesson. You cannot care for people if you are dead yourself. You need energy to help them, and for energy you need rest. Rest is a very important part of God’s plan. It is not selfish, it is one of God’s 10 commandments. God commanded the Israelites to take one day of rest. It is that important. Don’t delude yourself into thinking that because you are doing God’s work you don’t need or deserve a day off. You do. You need it.
But not only do you need physical rest, you also need spiritual rest. You need time with the Father in order to do His work. I have come to realize that the fruit from my ministry is directly correlated with how much time I spend with Jesus. If we look in the Gospels, Jesus took lots of time away from ministry to just go and pray by himself. It is in our time with the Lord that we receive strength and vision to carry out our ministry. Find the most effective ways to give yourself spiritual rest and fuel. The biggest thing I learned overseas was how to listen to the Holy Spirit and just go and do whatever He says. There were several things that taught me that (you can read about it in my blogs “Learning to Hear God’s Voice”). But it all started from me just taking hours to sit in prayer and silence with Him. In Psalms it says “Be still and know that I am God”. So that’s my advice. Be still before God and listen to Him. If you do that, He will speak and will show you how to wisely use your time and energy in ministry. Find rest in Him and be still before Him. If you fall, He will catch you.
Some random other pieces of advice:
-If possible, find mentors and community outside your team. It is important to spend time with your team to build team relationships, but it is also healthy to have community and an outlet for processing things outside of that..
-Meet with more experienced workers and just ask them about their ministry and what they have learned. Ask lots of questions!
-language learning: keep trying. Even on the discouraging days, keep pressing on. Your brain just needs time, so just keep trying to do a little bit every day. One of the most helpful realizations for me was that every language has a different way of thinking. Some things you cannot translate to English in your head, so it is more helpful just to throw out the English way of thinking and try to learn their way of thinking. Finally, practice speaking. It is the hardest part of learning a language. You will feel dumb and childish at first, but just keep practicing. Don’t let fear of sounding dumb stop you, or you will never learn to speak. Meet as many new people as possible. One of the best things I started to do was to go out every day and meet new people on the street. New people always ask you the same questions–what is your name? where are you from? how old are you? You get to repeat the same answers over and over, and it is very effective practice. It is also very effective to find some friends learning English and meet to practice both languages. They will understand the need to speak slowly and simply, whereas someone who only knows the language you are learning may speak at a million miles an hour.
-at about the second or third month of being overseas, you will probably feel like giving up. This is normal. The excitement has worn off and the culture stress sets in. Give yourself grace and just try to take a step forward every day.
-Find a balance with contacting loved ones at home. Especially at the beginning, you want to be as present in your new situation as possible. Immersing yourself in your new culture will help with culture shock and homesickness. At the same time, you don’t want your family and supporters to feel like you abandoned them. My suggestion is to make a plan before you leave for how frequently you will contact them.
-build friendships with locals. Friendships are one of the most effective ways to do ministry, and they are also important for your mental health.
If you notice, my constant refrain throughout this has been “If you fall, He will catch you”. One of my favorite songs that I discovered during my time overseas was “Catch Me” by Elyssa Smith–go listen to it, because it is amazing! It so deeply spoke to every fear I had about moving overseas, and also all my fears about boldly stepping out in faith daily to obey God’s voice. The constant question in the song is, “If I fall, will you catch me?” and the answer is YES. My dear friends, don’t let fear of failure hold you back from answering God’s call. He will catch you.
https://open.spotify.com/track/0Z8HTBvbz5LNLPgkKR82OE?si=0e79105695cb4a…
If I fall, will You catch me?
If I get lost, will You find me?
I feel afraid of leaving what’s safe, but I can’t stay here
If I fall, will You catch me?
If I walk through that doorway
And the look on their faces say I’m crazy
I’m learning that risks feel like mistakes, but isn’t that called faith?
And if I fall, will You catch me?
If I fall, will You catch me?
Sometimes the valley looks too low
Sometimes the mountain looks too high
There must be more than what I’m seeing
How can I know if I don’t try?
And if I fall, will You catch me?
If I get lost, will You find me?
I feel afraid of leaving what’s safe, but I can’t stay here
And if I fall, will You catch me?
Will You catch me?
Will You catch me?
And what if the doors all close and lock
And I find out I chased a mirage?
Wondering if I even heard You at all
And what if the cost is high to pay
And I’d rather you take the cup away?
I second guess if the choice I made was worth it
But what if Heaven is cheering me on?
David’s pleading, "Sing your song"
Mary’s shouting, "Waste it all
He’s worth it!"
And You will catch me
You will catch me
And You will catch me
You will catch me
Oh, say You'll catch me
I know You'll catch me
You will catch me