On Trip - Day 7 - June 15th, 2007

Read and think about Matthew 8:1-3.
He knew he wasn't supposed to get close to the crowds, but he also knew that Jesus was his only hope for getting his life back. Who knows how many miserable years the man had lived with his sickness that caused his body to rot away, and demanded separation from his family and friends. So he did it. He somehow passed through the crowd and made it to the feet of Jesus before anyone could stop him. "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean." He was confident in the power of Jesus to heal, but what probably caught him offguard was the touch of Jesus. Who knows how long it had been since this guy had had anyone touch him? Who knows what the crowd was thinking when Jesus, who was quickly becoming known as a holy man of God, defiled Himself by touching a man that was declared unclean by the law? Whatever the case, Jesus' touch made the sick man see that Jesus was not only out to heal the body, He was out to heal the heart as well.

From this passage, what do you see as the relationship between meeting physical needs and meeting heart needs?
Physical needs easily connect with heart needs. Physical pain can make the heart depressed and cry out for relief. If you heal the physical, the heart can't help praising.

Who is someone you have met this week that needs a "touch of Jesus"?
Dara has lost her voice completely. And...I've wanted a healing touch ever since the headaches began. God has given me strength to carry on, though, and I'll go through it however long He wills it.

Spend some time praying, asking God to show you how He wants to use you to touch that person's heart.

Today was so great. This morning we had nothing planned, but there was talk that we'd do more construction work. We decided to take all of the missionary groups, and all of us were to spend 10 minutes in prayer to see what God wanted us to do. It was amazing how God revealed to every single one of us that He didn't want us to do construction. He wanted us to do a prayer walk. So we split off into groups of 4. Beau, Bradley, Brianna, and I were a group. I've been talking to Beau lately, encouraging him because he's very shy. This mission trip has definitely changed me in a way. I've become more outspoken. So on the prayer walk, I did all the talking for the first few people about salvation (I even walked up to a couple people and started talking to them about the salvation message and realized that they had marijuana...didn't realize that at first, but I kept witnessing anyway and they were really friendly...I got out fairly quickly though). Then I decided to let one of the others in my group do the talking. So I asked Brianna. "Oh no, no, I'm not gonna do it." I asked Bradley. "Nah, not me." I could just see the extremely nervous look on Beau's face as I asked, "Beau, will you do it?" He wanted to say no. He honestly did. But he said yes. He trusted God to give him the words to say, and God did. I'm very, very proud of Beau.
We stopped at a boy's home. Not for very long (the Georgians and New Yorkers stayed longer than we did), but enough to see what it was like. Basically it's a home where orphaned boys and extreme troublemakers go. Before we even got off the bus, the boys were fighting, hitting each other in the head with rocks and stuff. I was pretty nervous, but we were safe.
Today was our last day of VBS. Renise, the little girl who'd written me the note earlier, leaped into my lap and gave me a huge hug. She is so nice. I'll miss her bunches.
Well, that's our last work day. Tomorrow is our reward day. We're going to Ocho Rios so we can shop and then go to the beach. :)
Btw, I've made a couple new friends, one from the Georgia team and the other from the New York team. The one from Ggeorgia, Carlie, looks almost exactly me (which is what initially drew us together) and we have so much in common. Right now she's lying in bed sick from a huge centipede bite. I was the first person she asked to see, because I've kind of gotten a reputation of being the encourager and the compassionate one on this trip. It was cool. I hope she feels better tomorrow. She's 17. The one from New York is a guy named Christian (a name that fits who he is very well). He's 15 and really shy and quiet. But I find out he's a homeschooler like I am! Having that in common, we got to talking right away.
We also did this really cool thing during group devos. We were all instructed before the trip even began to bring a bunch of index cards. So what we were to do was first, one person would stand up and pick one person that inspired them that week, and then that person would pick another person, and you couldn't pick the same person, so you'd go around until every person was picked. Pastor Harold started it out, and he picked me. Throughout the week, I got the feeling that he was very impressed with me.
Then after that, to whoever touched us that week, we'd write notes of encouragement on the index cards and give them to them. Man, I got so many, even from people I didn't get to know very well. It was awesome.

TRIP UPDATE
What was the weather like today? Hot and humid (notice a pattern here?)
Which person has had the most impact on you this week?
Either Jordan or Brede. Jordan spurts out inspirational things when you never expect them, and Brede is so amazing with kids. He led one kid to Christ on Thursday. It was amazing.
What was the best part about today? VBS.
What was the hardest? Boys home.
Did anyone say anything quote-worthy? --