Princess, Purpose and Peru

Some how, God saw fit to give me a heart for people and a heart for the mission field. It's weird because I have never been on an international mission trip but just the mere idea of being used as a messenger to spread the gospel sends tingles up my spine. My first visit to Victory World Church showed me that underneath the surface, I was a missionary at heart. Hearing Pastor Dennis update the church on the wells that had been dug in Africa thanks to their faithful tithing and offerings melted my heart because I was in a church that understood God's heart for His people outside of our little comfy suburb.

Tonight we had a meeting with everyone that is going on the Peru missions trip in June. I was feeling a bit discouraged about Peru lately mainly because of the $1,700 price tag. With me trying to create a budget, pay off some debt and start saving, coming up with $1,700 started to seem like such a daunting task. Peru started to become less of a priority and my heart started to ache about it. I was feeling a bit bummed about going to the meeting tonight, knowing I hadn't even begun to write my support letter or even began to start raising money for the trip.

But something amazing and so timely happened today. A princess appeared. My princess appeared. Sabrina appeared. God totally rocked my world with that surprise! I had prayed for Sabrina for so many nights and in all honesty, I thought I would never hear from her again. Her life, her story, her rescue, her struggle, her return to a life of prostitution absolutely changed my life.

When I look back at last summer, God divinely orchestrated a series of events that changed my life and ignited my life's purpose. God had me at that Fusion service when the Sunday to Sunday in town mission trips for Summer 2010 were announced. Though I didn't have the money to pay the fee before all the spots filled up, God knew my desire and He already had granted me favor. It was His planning that had me and Heather engaged in a conversation about S2S, my inability to pay but desire to go, that had her tell me to contact Dede directly and explain my situation. Dede so graciously extended my time to pay until July even though the trip I would take would be in June. God favored me. It was His divine plan that because of the threat of rain we had Princess Night on Thursday instead of Friday. It was on that day, in the dark of the night, out the corner of my eye, I saw a girl in a dress and flip flops walking with her pimp, folding her hands over and over again because of nerves and fear. It was God's plan for my life to be forever changed in that one night.

I believe that God is at work yet again, divinely putting together a series of events so that I am apart of the Peru mission team. I believe His plan for me is to see how the commercial exploitation of children is so much bigger than what my natural mind can grasp. He wants me to have my heart broken for the street children of Peru and for the girls far younger than Sabrina that are forced to sell their bodies to survive. He wants me to see His bigger picture and to know that these are the people that need His love and that I am the messenger that needs to deliver the Good News. He needs me to have my life changed. He needs me to plant seeds of hope and faith into the children who may one day change their country for His good. He needs me to capture that passion that He has placed in my heart and use it to fuel my purpose. He needs me to see the problem first hand so that I can be apart of the solution. We can rescue every street kid and child prostitute from Atlanta to Peru but someone has to help rehabilitate them, counsel them and show them God's love in action. That seems to be God's plan for my future.

Sabrina, my Princess, has marked me forever. She has left her impression on me in a way that words cannot even begin to describe. Knowing that Sabrina is still alive and well reminded me that even though she is still in that life, those seeds of compassion and hope are still planted deeply in her spirit. God needed me to know that He hears my prayers for her. He also wants me to know that He works in the supernatural and that nothing is impossible when it is His will for my life. I am supposed to go to Peru and Sabrina is my reason why. I couldn't save her but there are so many more Sabrinas that need to be helped. This is my Gideon moment. Though I feel weak and ill equipped, God is preparing to do some amazing things with my life.