Standing in the basement of the church, electric blades twirl and de humidifiers hum throughout the space. Occasionally you hear the thick plastic tarp flailing around as the fans oscillate near them. Just hours before teams were supposed to arrive on site in Staten Island, our project director pulled us together and informed us of what was taking place.
"Our second housing location just fell through…"
As a Trip Leader, your tempted to want everything to go smoothly. You want there to be enough ministry opportunities set up for them. You want them to have a good time, You want the participants to have the most comfortable lodging possible, with with food that everyone will like. In this case… I just wanted them to have lodging. Instead of housing 28 participants in our cramped basement, we were now going to house 72 participants.
I was concerned. I was frustrated. I was many different adjectives. The meeting quickly concluded and I was in charge of greeting teams as they came in. We split up and two of our trip leaders went over to our former additional lodging site to collect the cots and supplies there. I hung out with another co-leader to wait for the teams and just hang out with them. Thoughts of people being livid with Adventures in Missions were running rampant. I was afraid of what could come from this.
There are things you can control and there are things that you can not control. I had to determine what I could control, what I was responsible for, and allow Him to control the rest. Making decisions in stressful situations is probably one of the hardest things anyone can go through. Stress is impartial to any person. It will come upon anyone regardless of sex, age and circumstance. Stress will often come about because of change. Regardless of the stress, there is one thing we can count on… is that change will come.
Like Bob Dylan says "There's nothing so stable as change"
Navigating personal change is one thing, but when 70 plus people are involved, it's another. But does that really make a difference to God… He can do anything.
He created the World.
He can bring healing to the masses.
And He can prompt our Lodging Contact to open up his third floor attic for participants to sleep in.
There was no air conditioning, no insulation, and it was summer in New York City. But, there was a roof, there was enough space to bring in the cots from the former additional housing site. Ministry sties seemed to be sparse but God moved as we met and prayed over different people throughout the borough of Staten Island.
If I could some up this trip in five words, I would say that God moved despite perceived limitations
I was so encouraged by the attitudes the different church leaders shared. From when we broke the news to them the first night, to when we said our goodbyes at the end of the exhaustive week. They, and their youth chose to make the best of every situation. These participants served, ministered and had fun doing so the whole week. When I thought that time and time again that we were going to have a breaking point, God moved.
He was not and is not and will never be limited.
He can not will never be confined.
He is more than capable.
He is God.
