Written by a Cafe 1040 Student
We haven’t been able to run an overseas program for a few semesters now, but some of the lessons you can learn overseas you can also use stateside whether you’re waiting to go long-term, working to mobilize your church or school, or learning about unreached people for the first time. We wanted to share something one of our students from a previous semester learned on our program!
"Learner" has continued to be the number one role I have played during my time here.
Fortunately, that's been a pretty easy role to fill, because believe it or not, there's a TON to learn about the Father, His plan for the world, and how I can be a part of it.
Our classes played a huge part in that learning process, and I've thoroughly enjoyed every one of them, but I think the most valuable lessons have come from simply figuring out how to do life in a cross-cultural setting.
There are some things I just hadn't considered before arriving here, like if I was going to be capable of making friends, whether or not it was safe to eat shrimp head, and if it was even possible to learn a language where one word can have a thousand different meanings.
Fortunately, the answer to all of those things is yes, though none of them have been as easy as I might have expected (have you seen a shrimp head?).
The most important lessons I have learned though are definitely the ones about the Father. Here's a few quick snapshots of some of the things he has been teaching me in our times together:
Our hope must be FULLY set on Jesus Christ. Everything else pales in comparison, and we can never be let down if all our trust is in the one thing that never fails.
If there is anything in my life that is worth a grain of salt, it is only because it has been covered by the blood of Jesus.
The Father reminded me something about speaking to him I didn’t realize I had forgotten: that he hears me. He HEARS me. All the time, every day, no matter what I say. I have found so much joy in living out that truth.
When I try to be more than I am, I end up as less than I was meant to be. It's way more valuable to trust God and lean into my personal strengths and gifts as a way to honor the whole body and rejoice in the different strengths of others.
