Missions Adventures: Scotland.

After going to Honduras, I was hooked. I couldn't stop thinking about missions. In February of 2009, I was sitting on our family room floor one Sunday night, researching "missions trips for teens." One of the first results on Google for my search was Global Expeditions. As I clicked on the website a picture of a little dirty girl on the street suddenly popped up. As I stared at  the screen, more pictures came up. Some were of children who were obviously living in poverty. Others were of teenagers hanging out at parks. One after another, these pictures captured me. I immediately started looking at the different missions trip options Global Expeditions had. I wanted to go everywhere!! But when I clicked on Scotland, something happened. I can't explain exactly what happened, but all I know is that God couldn't have made Himself any clearer. I was going to go to Scotland. After mustering up the courage, I took the laptop to my mom and showed her everything I could find out about Global Expeditions and Scotland. Although I'm sure she wasn't thrilled with the idea of her nearly 15 year old daughter flying to Europe for two weeks with a group of people she didn't know, she said that if dad was ok, she would be ok with it too. Dad was the easy part. What pastor wouldn't want his daughter to go to the very country where our family originated?? He really had no choice but to say yes. Getting my parents permissions was just the beginning, however.

I had about 5 months to raise almost $3,000. This sounds extremely overwhelming, and believe me, sometimes it was more than overwhelming! However, some of the greatest lessons I've learned have come from fundraising for missions trips. Just when I think it's hopeless, God reminds me that He will never ever give me more than I can handle. If God has called you to something, even if it's something big (actually, especially if it's something big!), don't ever doubt His faithfulness. He WILL provide. It just might not be in the exact way you're planning.

June came very quickly. Before I knew it I was studying for exams and making a packing list for Scotland. I was giddy over the thought of going on another trip. Everyday at school my friends asked me how many more days because they all knew that I had a countdown. It was about the first week of June, and I knew I still needed 1,000 more dollars in the short amount of time I had before I left. I was overwhelmed, scared, and even frustrated. Why would God call me if He wouldn't provide? Well, the answer is simple. He wouldn't. You see, God, He's not waiting for us to fail. What He's doing is waiting for us to trust. My mom and sister put together a last minute yard sale that made me $700. I was so close. The week that I was leaving, I still needed 300 more dollars. I wrote an email to a group of close family and friends, and within hours I had $400 committed to my trip. God is good. Need I say more?

The reason why I write so much about my fundraising experience is because trusting God for money to go on missions trips has been a huge part of my life and has even made me who I am today. God has showed me just how much He cares for me by providing every single time, without fail.

The night that I met my team for the first time, I journaled this... "It's been fun getting to know teenagers from all over the country who are just like me. It's good to know I'm not the only one who wants to make a difference." This tells you just a little about the type of people I had the incredible opportunity to get to know while I was in Scotland. When you put a group of strangers together to do the work of God, it will result in a family. This is exactly what I experienced during my time in Scotland. 

We were in a beautiful country with incredible people staying in a castle. Seems like the life, right?? Well, not exactly... you see, we were tired, jet lagged, homesick, and overwhelmed. We were doing a lot of work around the castle, to make flats for single moms and their kids to live in. The abortion rate in Scotland is sickeningly high. The Overton House (the in-country mission we teamed up with while there) was doing something to reward the girls who had made the difficult, right decision to keep their babies. 

Too many teenagers in Scotland are faced with issues such as abortion, drug abuse, depression, self-inflicted harm, and physical abuse. You see, Scotland isn't a third-world country. Physically speaking, they don't need help. I didn't experience any poverty there. I didn't see any hungry children begging on the streets. I didn't witness to any gang members. But what I did see, broke my heart just as much, if not more. 

I had the opportunity to speak to a 15 year old girl in a skate park one afternoon. She was there with her boyfriend who had some sort of tracking device around his ankle because he was in trouble with the police. She was telling me that her father had physically abused her so she moved in with her boyfriend who was a drug addict. Because of the emotional pain from the men in her life, she had resorted to cutting and had attempted suicide. She knew that her boyfriend wouldn't be a good father, so she aborted two of their babies. This is just one story. I've never forgotten it and often find myself praying for this young girl.

Scotland is close to my heart because it's not like any other missions trip I have been on. As I said, it's not a third-world country. Because of that, people don't need anything from what they call stuck-up Americans (to be honest, I must agree with them sometimes!). To them, they don't even need Jesus. But what I experienced in Scotland told me the very opposite. These people need Jesus just as much as orphans in Honduras do. Their need simply looks different. I couldn't simply give them some food to show them the love of Jesus. I had to step out of my comfort zone and find creative ways to show them the love of Jesus.

What God taught me in Scotland has made me who I am today.  The people I met in Scotland have made a life-long imprint on my heart. Going to Scotland taught me that God's calling comes in all different shapes and sizes. So do His people.