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“Do you want to come to trivia tonight?” my friend asked. “I can’t, sorry”, I responded, “I’m leading a Bible study, but I not sure if anyone will come, so if they don’t, I’ll come to trivia”. We had 10 people join that night (see pic below). The next day, I told my friend “I know we’re planning a bonfire, but I don’t think anyone’s coming, so I’ll let you know if we should cancel”. We had a wonderful turnout of old friends and new faces (see pic above). As I laid in bed that night, I felt like God was saying to me “oh you of little faith”.
How could I come out of a five week mission where I continuously saw God working and providing in amazing ways and then have such low expectations for ministry back home? The same God in Puerto Rico is the God in PA. (Now, an important clarifier - whether 2 or 200 people come to something is not a reflection of how much faith you have [if so, I think every ministry employee would be very discouraged], but not expecting anyone to come is a sign of little faith).
I’m not going to lie, coming back from Puerto Rico was pretty hard for me. I went from constant community with 9 wonderful people to working on a staff team of one (my boss was on sabbatical, although we do have a wonderful volunteer). Also, this was a trip I had been planning and looking forward to for 5 months. I went from 5 months of planning, to 5 weeks together on mission, to suddenly done, “good bye”, “see you in a few months”. For a few weeks we continued to communicate in our group chat, but even that slowly dwindled out as people returned to their normal lives, and the Lord showed me that’s exactly what I needed to do too. And He was so kind in how He did it.
I am so blessed that, while I love Puerto Rico, I have an amazing community to return to in PA. On days I struggled with loneliness the most, the Lord provided in amazing ways. One day, I ran into a family from church on my lunch break, they bought me lunch and invited me to sit with them. Another day, I ran into three different friends at a coffee shop, one was leading a Bible study and they invited me to join, I got to reconnect with old friends and make new ones too! Cru events were also super encouraging. We had great turnouts (uncommon for college ministry in the summer) and I got to see old faces and meet new students. I got to celebrate highs with close friends (like a friend's bridal shower) and make new memories (like a beach trip). I even got to take a class with one of my good friends from the Summer Mission, it was so great to keep in touch with her! Overall, it was an at times hard, but very good July. I’m so grateful God’s faithfulness is not reliant on my faith, that’s a lesson He patiently continues to teach me.
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