the mountains are calling and i must go...

Written in my journal on June 3rd 2015- We are like a tree rooted deep in the mountainous rock just as our hearts are rooted in the Blood of Christ: Firm but bending as the Spirit moves.

May 31st through June 5th a group of 12 from CrossPointe Church, {The Tennessee Twelve}, set forth to be the hands and feet of Christ in Appalachia.  Our drive took about 11 hours.  The Lord showed up right away.  We had a couple close calls during our drive, but He was looking out.  By the time we arrived, I felt as if our CrossPointe team had known each other for years, when the fact of the matter is, it was the first time a lot of us had spent together.  

We did our mission work through an organization called Adventure in Missions (A.I.M) and worked alongside our brothers and sisters from Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, and Georgia (I'm sure I missed a State or two in there...).  There was a total of 27 people (and 1 dog) and we were broken down into 5 mixed groups.  We stayed in the mountains in Duffield, Virginia at Grace Community Fellowship.  Our work took place in Virginia and Kingsport, Tennessee.    

Now that the stage is set, I can get to the really good stuff.  
This was my first mission trip in the States.  For many people in our group (and the other groups) it was their first mission trip ever.  The Lord showed up in mighty ways - So much in fact, it's going to be hard to put into words all the amazing things He led us to and through, but I'm going to do my very best to paint the picture for you.  Let me start with Scripture that made my heart sing and made my surroundings dance as I read it during my time in the mountains.

The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
The skies display his craftsmanship.
Day after day they continue to speak;
night after night they make him known.
They speak without a sound or word;
their voice is never heard.
Yet their message has gone throughout the earth,
and their words to all the world.
God has made a home in the heavens for the sun.
It bursts forth like a radiant bridegroom after his wedding.
It rejoices like a great athlete eager to run the race.
The sun rises at one end of the heavens
and follows its course to the other end.
Nothing can hide from its heat.

The instructions of the lord are perfect,
reviving the soul.
The decrees of the lord are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
The commandments of the lord are right,
bringing joy to the heart.
The commands of the lord are clear,
giving insight for living.
Reverence for the lord is pure,
lasting forever.
The laws of the lord are true;
each one is fair.
They are more desirable than gold,
even the finest gold.
They are sweeter than honey,
even honey dripping from the comb.
They are a warning to your servant,
a great reward for those who obey them.
Psalms 19:1-11 NLT

Holy Echo

No expectations, but expectant of The Lord to show up and move in mighty ways.  
He did.  Our A.I.M. leaders, Megan and  Danae, did a great job of explaining on the first night that if we had expectations we should leave them at the door.  This was something our CrossPointe leader reminded us of every time we met prior to our trip.  {Side note: Did I mention our CrossPointe leader was my Daddy?!}  There was different locations that groups went to over the course of the 4 working days.  Ridgecrest Nursing Home, PACE - adult day care, home visits, Providence Summer Day Camp, Hawkins County Lunch Box Program, The Fire Escape and more.  

I was blessed to go to the nursing home, home visits on the second and last day,  and day camp during my time on this trip.  It was an emotional roller coaster, but oh so rewarding!  
I was reminded during this trip of a word that was given to me a few times while in Romania which was: "The Lord's okay with you being a Martha, but He also wants you to be a Mary." (If you're unfamiliar with this scripture, read Luke 10:38-42)  I was reminded of this on the night of our arrival, prior to any of the things we accomplished those 4 days.  I'm so thankful the Lord reminded me...I ended up with a few physical issues (surprise, surprise...seems to be a common thing when I'm doing The Lord's work) that hindered me from being "Martha" during the home visits.  It wasn't until the end of our trip that I saw how The Lord used the "Mary" within me to minister to the people and ultimately be "in-tune" with the Holy Spirit so I knew when He was prompting me and what He was prompting me to do.


The nursing home was heartbreaking.  SO many of them carried such deep sadness and such an emptiness; yet we were able to bring them so much joy simply by having conversation with them.  A group of ladies from our church sewed pillow cases for us to gift the residence, and oh my goodness did the tears flow! Attached to each pillow case was Psalms 4:8.  When we read them the scripture, so many were moved to tears.  
One woman I became very attached to, I'm going to call her "M".  She was in the locked down memory ward so I knew it would be challenging to hold a long conversation with her.  Within the first few minutes of talking we had moved each other to tears.  We were sitting together and listening to old hymns and she was singing right along.  Throughout the day I made it a point to sit and visit with her.  She retold me some of the same stories each time.  When our time there was coming to a close, I wheeled her back to her room and asked if I could pray with her.  She replied, "I'd love that."  As I closed in prayer she began to thank me for the entire day.  She remembered things I told her only once earlier in the day.  She ended with "God bless you and your mission work overseas and thank you for putting up with my singing out of tune."  The Lord blessed me by placing "M" in my life if only for a brief moment.  (I have her address and am now sending her cards! :-D)


The Summer Day Camp was challenging, but fun.  I was in a little bit of a "funk" since the nursing home was emotionally hard on Monday and the home visits on Tuesday were emotionally hard and my physical issues started to arise with my lungs and joints so by the time Wednesday rolled around it was like I was in a daze.  
When we first arrived we were a little late and we jumped right in.  The children's director at Providence Church, Mr. Kevin, needed two volunteers to go with him to a different location where there was potentially more outreach.  I was super excited when I heard this because it sounded similar to my time in Romania, walking in the villages getting kids to come to different ministries, so I jumped at the opportunity to serve in this area.  Me and another member from my CrossPointe team went with Mr. Kevin.  We got to the location and there was one 10 year old boy waiting in the parking lot for us, sitting on his bike.  He was pretty shy and when I tried to talk to him, he would shrug his shoulders and mumble.  When we got into the building, we sat down and played games with him.  I played him in Connect 4 and we played best of 5....He won :)  By the end of the 5th game he was smiling and talking a bit more.  We moved to Jenga and played a pretty intense game and by the end of that we were holding more of a conversation.  His mom and 2.5 year old little brother came and it was so adorable to see the interaction between the brothers.  Seriously so sweet.  
We began playing a game of ping pong (but with a balloon instead since the table wasn't liking the ping pong balls) between Mr. Kevin, the 10 year old, my CP team member and myself.  He was giggling and jumping around...a completely different kid.  We ended by reading the story of Daniel and the Lions Den and closed in prayer.  My heart was filled.  We said our goodbyes and he got on his bike and peddled away, stopping every 15-20 feet to fix the chain.  On our drive back to the church, Mr. Kevin told us that it took over a week to get this little boy to open up to him and others in the church and we were able to get him smiling, laughing, and talking within 20 minutes.  My heart was filled and slightly broken because his little testimony was heavy.  {Fast forward to our drive home to WI and when we stopped for lunch, my team member and I talked to the rest of our group about how we wanted to bless this beautiful little boy.  We pulled our money together and some other outside donations and bought a new bike for him that he will be blessed with on June 10th! Praise God!!}
When we returned, the rest of the camp was amazing.  Little children running and jumping on you and just being happy.  Such a wonderful organization.  I highly encourage you to check out their facebook page!  These children are there from 9am-4pm and are provided breakfast, hot lunch and snacks and this organization is always looking for sponsorship! :)


Almost every night we had a campfire that included worship that was not planned and conversations that were anointed by the Holy Spirit and this is where the Holy Echo came into play.  People would come and go from the fire and join in on conversations and almost always things were echoed even though we were all at different locations.  By the end of our trip we were all a big family, actually we still are.  We all worked so well together, even though none of us knew each other.  I even found a mentor and a mighty prayer warrior from MD that I look up to and would never have met if it wasn't for this trip.  I am overflowing with joy from this mission work, despite the set backs I endured.  God is sooo good! Those embers in my heart are burning even stronger now after this!


Everything you just read was a very BRIEF synopsis of SOME of the things I was involved in.  Keep in mind there was ministries that I didn't work with and the Lord moved tremendously in everyone involved with those as well!  I could probably write a book about the 6 days of this trip and I still wouldn't be able to put it all into words.  Some things you just need to experience and this is one of those things...Thank you for taking the time to read this and hopefully you made it to the end of this blog post ;)


God bless all of you!
xx-Becky