Passion in Action

I had an amazing morning. It is the final week of our Mission Adventures program, and also our biggest with nearly 60 people!! I am doing a full week with them at the church. I was feeling a little overwhelmed as I imagined the office work piling up for me when I start back on Monday morning. My bad attitude soon ended as when I met the teams and also when I realized that my good friends Wade and Joanna Pallister were coming to speak. Wade and Jo work with YWAM Vancouver and come to speak each summer as well as on each DTS we hold here so they are a part of the furniture really, we love to have them here.

I have been so blessed by the things God has spoken to me through their teaching and especially in my friendship with Joanna. The first time we met was 4 years ago during my DTS when my school went to Vancouver, Canada for a conference. There was a session which ended with the speaker challenging all of us to dance, I forget the context now but I remember the feeling. I wanted to dance SO badly, I felt God encouraging me to step out, to give up my pride and dance for Him, but I was frozen to the floor. I was so inhibited and embarrassed by how I would look. Joanna saw my face and walked across the room to me, she encouraged me to dance, telling me that I could do it. She took both my hands and began jumping, slowly and gently, but she jumped with me, she helped me overcome my fear. By the end of the conference I loved dancing and jumping before God. It is one of my most favorite memories and a time that I felt such a connection with God.

This week Wade and Jo have been speaking on the four P's of mission Adventures, (see Mission Adventures blog for details) This morning they spoke on 'Passion'. We had been talking about children trapped in bonded labor and as Christians what does our faith say our part can/should/could be in finding a solution. I agree with Wade and Jo that as part of taking about passion their needs to be an opportunity to take action! They explained to the group that to take action and make a difference we have to make a choice that takes us to somewhere uncomfortable. We must chose to give our all and be passionate about what we do.

They put on some music and read some scriptures which talk about dancing before God, they challenged all the students to dance passionately. They were challenged to dance for the people being held in slavery, dance for Jesus and how he died for us and dance to show us choosing to do something uncomfortable. Invited to shut their eyes and not worry about what everyone else was doing.

The teams this week are from 2 churches and their are lots of parents and leaders, so I wasn't sure how this would go over. I had also been frustrated by one of the boys here this week, he has had a bad attitude about lots of things and after being cross with him, I became sad that he was missing all the things God was speaking. I admit I was waiting for his bad attitude to surface again in this situation. So I prayed for him, and the group as the music started, and I knew God was going to do something.

Then I danced.

I jumped and shouted.

It was amazing!!!!

...and when I looked up at one point, I saw the room moving, alive with passion!! The leaders and parents jumping and dancing with the best of them. Then he caught my eye, the kid who had been driving me crazy, he was headbanging, eyes shut, passionately dancing for the Lord.

Then I lost it, and I was jumping and dancing and crying as I felt God transformations happening around me. And in me too, as I felt him take the pride from my heart, and again surrender my fear of the future to His plan. Tonight as I sit here and write this, I realize the freedom and lightness in my heart, and I know that I am blessed to be falling more and more in love with our Lord.