Right now I am supposed to be packing for college. I leave in two days so, of course, I waited until the last minute to start. But it's even harder to pack when my mind is elsewhere, in a different country honestly, so I've decided to give myself a break and (finally) write about my Scotland trip.
So, here goes:
My team and I left on a Friday morning from Dallas. After a long flight, we arrived in Glasgow International Airport. There, we were met with our first obstacle--getting past Immigration. Many people are unaware, but Scottish Immigration is no breeze to American Christian missionaries. Scotland is already tough on Americans entering the country as a sort of 'payback' for how our Immigration treats foreigners. At the same time, due to events in the past, they are very wary of allowing missionaries in due to a fear of the potential radicals that could enter the country, i.e. religious terrorists. While most of my team went through with no problem, one of my teammates and I were not allowed in for a few minutes because of 'suspicious inconsistencies.' After a few brief moments of panicking and worrying, we were eventually allowed in, so long as we promised that "any missionary work happened coincidentally."
From there, we headed to our home for the week and met the amazing Mcneill family. They owned the place we stayed at and were amazing hospitable Christians. Their children were amazing and I pray that they continue to grow into amazing followers of God like I know they will.
After a weekend full of tourist stops and training sessions, my team made our way to the church we would be working at all week. Wallacewell Fellowship Church hosted a Holiday Club (or a VBS as Americans would call it) for children in the area in the morning, and a Walk-In Youth Cafe in the afternoon. Many of the families surrounding Wallacewell do not attend a church anywhere so this was a big deal to have a Holiday Club there. We were warned that most kids would come from rough backgrounds and would most likely not want to participate in any of the activities we had planned.
We couldn't have been more wrong.
The kids were indescribable. They listened with open ears and open hearts. They were eager to hear what we had to say and they often wanted to stay as long as they could to talk with us. The kids that came were from ages 5-13 and they all were interested in what was going on at the church. All of my teammates, myself included, bonded with the kids quickly and became quickly attached to various ones. Getting to talk and be a part of the children's lives is something that I will cherish for the rest of my life.
As it turned out, leaving Scotland was the hardest part of the entire trip. Having to hug goodbye to people that I had only known for a week was more difficult than I could have ever imagined. It's been two weeks since then and I have yet to have a single day pass where I don't think about at least one of the amazing people I met.
It's been two weeks and my heart still hasn't found it's way back from overseas. And I am beginning to realize it probably never will.
Many people have asked me what happened while I was in Scotland. And while everything I've stated above is completely true, it is no where close to being as important as what the biggest thing that happened in Scotland was. God gave me a clear demand about a year ago. I thought I had answered it, but in Scotland I realized that I had only answered part of it.
God pushed me to a life of missions a year ago. And I agreed. But I hadn't fully understood what He was saying.
I realize now more of what He was asking. He wants me to commit my life to missions--outside of the US. I will always call America my home, but I know now that God needs me elsewhere. Somewhere far, far, far away. I have no idea where it is exactly. I probably won't know for a long time. But I know that as much as I love my life here, I am not supposed to stay here.
It's hard to explain this, but when I think about leaving the only place I've ever known as 'home,' I am overcome with peace. I have no clue where I will be in the next five or ten years. God does, and that's all I need to know.
So now is the time where I ask for prayer:
Pray for Wallacewell and the people in and around it. The hand of God is present but many people are still blind to Him.
Pray for me as I begin to try and figure out what all God has in store for me. And pray that I will use the time I do have here to bring glory to His name.
I want to thank everyone who supported me, both financially and prayerfully, on this trip. This mission has been more meaningful than any other one I have ever been on. And I pray, if it is in God's will, that I will be able to go back one day.
