Letter of Reflection

During debrief we had this lovely family of missionaries through Campus Crusade in Australia host us. They had a section of celebration, conflict resolution, encouragement & applying what we had learned here back at the States. During one of the sections, they had us reflect on what God has taught us & what God is calling us to take out of this trip. We wrote it on this paper that they would send back to us in 3 months. I wanted to share with you guys what I have learned.

When applying for Australia summer project, I didn’t even understand how much God would change me in the course of six weeks. I remember praying that God would reveal himself to me & change the areas of my life that He wants to make more like Him.

Before leaving for this trip, I had a fear of randomly sharing the Gospel with strangers. I felt like a secret agent looking for people are sitting alone so I can attack. Kind of lame picture to illustrate but I just really wasn’t comfortable with just going up to people even if it was to say the Gospel. However, since God is mysterious in His ways, I was given Outreach leader at UCLA. The upcoming sophomores can apply to a couple of different leadership areas and outreach was definitely not on my list. However, the staff that was choosing the leaders saw something in me. They saw my love for others and felt that I would be perfect for outreach. I prayed about it a lot and felt like God was saying “Trust me, I got this.” So there ya go! I accepted to be outreach leader despite my fear of actually doing outreach – crazy huh?

Oh don’t you worry, it gets crazier. So with being afraid to do outreach I apply to a summer project aka six weeks of doing outreach. God put Australia on my heart & by the grace of God I got in! Support raising was a huge trusting discipline that God has definitely taught me. You can read my other blogs to see how that process was (: Now back to Australia.

This has been the biggest amount of growth in faith since I decided to take my spiritual walk seriously in high school. These past six weeks will affect the rest of my life.

In Australia, I have learned the importance of keeping Him first. This might seem like a simple concept, but it definitely isn’t. I have realized that I have made so many idols in my life. What hit me is that God has blessed me with good things even biblical things – but those have become idols in my life. Friendship, biblical knowledge, relationships, academics, etc. All of these things are good but not better than God Himself.

Through putting Him first multiple truths and disciplines have been applied to my life. Most importantly for me, I have learned the power of prayer. Prayer has been a constant theme even starting at the support raising process. On project prayer has been key component of our spiritual strength as a team and myself as an individual. This summer when I earnestly prayed with my whole heart – He answered. I prayed for support to come in and money from people I least suspected came in. I prayed that He would reveal a glimpse of Himself to me and when He did I suddenly had this craving to read and study the Bible. I prayed that my fear of evangelizing would disappear and He gave me a new heart for the lost, gave me an eternity mindset and gave me courage to go up to random people to share the Gospel. I prayed that I wouldn’t miss my family, friends and boyfriend as much as I was and He reminded me that HE is my home, my father, my husband and my friend. I prayed for salvation on La Trobe campus and through His power four people came to Christ! I prayed for lasting relationships to be created on this trip and He blessed me with Pauline, Jerusha, Nina, Michelle & EVERYONE on my team. I prayed for Him to reveal to me what surrender looks like and He is current revealing that to me. He has shown me that I can dedicate my time at UCLA to striving after Him through outreach team, classes, working at Jimmys coffee, my relationship with Nate, with the freshman class, with my family & so much more.

This is just a glimpse of the things God has taught me over this summer. Not to mention all the things I learned about my faith when I was sharing on campus, organizing the One Question event, worshipping with my team, reading the Word in my bible study, studying the Word during date nights with Jesus, etc. This trip is so hard to put in words and I know that even if I was more eloquent with my speech – no one else would be able to understand how much God has shaped my life through this project.

It doesn’t stay here in Australia. I now have this new heart for the Lord. A heart that craves for Him. A heart that earnestly wants to strive after Him. I know that I’m not perfect & I will slip up – but now I have this new mindset. A new mindset regarding my personal faith & regarding my relationship with others. Through seeing so much apathy in Australia, I am urged to break down that apathy at UCLA next year! I know I can’t do that on my own strength, but the Lord is with me. If God is with me, whom shall I fear?! This project has created a fire within me – a fire burning for Him. I know I’m prone to wander, Lord knows I feel it, but I pray that He takes my heart and seals it with His. God is my FATHER, PROVIDER, and FRIEND. He is even more than just that! But that is what He has shown me in this short time.

I am sad to leave Australia but I’m more excited to apply all of the things I’ve learned to my home in California.

Supporters, family & friends – I can’t explain my trip with simple words. Just know that I am truly thankful for all who supported me. You not only changed my life with a simple donation but you have helped me to plant a seed in over 50 people’s lives. With my team we had around 250 spiritual conversations and saw 4 people come to Christ! Praise the Lord! Thank you so much for all your prayers and your donations. The Lord sees that and looks down on you with joy!

Our God is great! Please continue to be in prayer for Australia – there is still a lot of apathy in this country.

I will never forget Australia.