“Heal my heart and make it clean.
Open up my eyes to the things unseen.
Show me how to love like you have loved me.
Break my heart for what breaks Yours.
Everything I am for Your kingdom’s cause.” Lyrics from Hosanna by Hillsong

These are the verses that have become a regular prayer for me. In 2011 I was leading my 4th team on a mission trip to Guatemala. While gathering together on a roof top terrace for our worship and devotional time we sang the song Hosanna. Its words cut deep into my heart. Since my first trip to Guatemala in 2008 my heart had been broken and it was moving me to want to do something to make a change but this was something different. I was starting to see the suffering of the Guatemalan people not through my own scale-covered eyes but I would say a little bit more through the eyes of Christ. I was praying for God’s will in my life in regards to continuing work in Guatemala and what it was to look like. God made it clear to me that moment with the lyrics of that song that the things that were breaking my heart didn’t even touch the tip of the iceberg of how much more it broke God’s heart. He showed me on that trip how differently things were in serving as His hands and feet with Him being the center of all of it. He blesses the works and time even more richly when we are focusing on carrying out His will, His purpose and His plan. How humbling it is to have the privilege to aid in furthering His kingdom even with our imperfect and lacking abilities. What matters to Him is that when we are moving in tune with His song, He allows us to be a part of His ongoing miracle of loving on others as an extension of His beloved son Christ Jesus’ hands and feet.

This morning at church I was again reminded of this time of confirmation of continuing on with mission work in Guatemala. There was a missionary sharing about his serving in Japan for 42 years and Ukraine, Siberia for another 15 years. His message made it so clear how as the body of Christ we are all in some way a part of Global mission work. That just because we may not step foot on foreign soil while proclaiming the saving love of Christ, that God uses us to further His kingdom throughout the world nonetheless. He talked about how a mailman played a starting role of another missionary that brought hundreds of thousands to Christ through the planting of a church. We are all able to play the role that mailman played….by simply witnessing to a lost soul surrounding us and years later they may become a missionary or perhaps that day they become saved and raise their children to know the love of Christ for generations to come. The closing song to today’s sermon: Hosanna by Hillsong. Thank you Father God for again reminding and confirming the work I feel at times is busting my heart to pieces while you continually mend it back together with every act of love done in your name in Guatemala.

I thank God for being gentle with me. For providing me with His never-ending grace and loving guidance as I fumble my way through how best to lead teams in Guatemala to grow His kingdom and love on His people.