My First Mission Trip to Serve the Lord by Cindy Oriol

Once I was seated with everyone else at the mission conference, a minister started calling out the names of different couples to come forward and speak to us about their adventures of becoming a missionary. The Holy Spirit had spoken to their hearts about where their next adventure would take them to preach ”His Good News.”

Some of them were headed to countries that were so dangerous they could not even share where they were going. One by one, a couple would come up on stage to share their stories. The husband spoke first, telling us that one day, the Holy Spirit placed in his heart to go to a certain area and teach, later that same day the Holy Spirit put the same idea into the wife’s heart. They spoke to us about coming together to tell each other about what the Holy Spirit had laid on their hearts. That is how amazing our Lord is. When things like this happen in our life, we just know that it is coming from the Lord.

After all of them had spoken and shared their testimonies, they asked us to pray for them because they would go to dangerous territories, that we were not even allowed to know the name of the destinations. They were not afraid because they were on fire for the Lord. They were eager to help advance His kingdom.

The minister asked if there were anyone of us that would like to dedicate our lives to the mission field. I had this overwhelming tugging in my heart. I could not jump up and run down to the stage fast enough. I fell to my knees, begging Our Savior to use my ransom life anyway He chose. My tears were out of control but, I cried because through all my despair He was with me. I was out of control and yet, it was the most loving experience I have ever felt.

I then realized that this was part of His plan from the beginning when I was eight years old, and the Lord had placed on my young heart that I would take care of others in the mission fields. The plan that He had mapped out for my life. I laid on the cold, hard floor, crying my eyes out to Him. My heart felt as if would explode from so much of His love pouring into my body. I could feel Him holding me in His loving arms as a father does here on earth. He wiped away the tears as they ran down my cheeks. It was like an out-of-body experience. I was half there and the other half of me was somewhere else. Realizing that He had always been with me through every storm. I placed all of me down at His feet. I could not worship Him enough. I started thanking Him for never leaving me when I needed Him the most during my storms in life. He showed me how to love Him unconditionally, the way He loves us. But most of all, He showed me how to trust Him in all things.

I did not want to get up from the floor. That was the closest I have ever felt through His spirit. I know He loves me and I desperately love Him. I knew that deciding to be a missionary was going to be a decision that would touch my heart and change my life forever, but I wanted to and had to do this for Him. I knew that this would make Him happy. He loves it when we are obedient and grieves when we are not.

That same spirit that had laid me on the floor, helped me to get back up and return to my seat. My body felt as if I had electricity in it and I was on fire for Him. I couldn’t wait to share my experience with the other ladies that I had come to the conference with. After the conference was over, there were stacks of pamphlets on a table, I took several of them from different countries. This was my first step to becoming a missionary. and I was excited to bring others to Christ and share His Good news.

Satan will try to come between you and the Lord in any way he can and that’s just what he tried to do to me. I made some phone calls to search around for my first mission trip, but I kept seeing roadblocks up ahead. I received messages like, “I am sorry ma’am, but you are too old” or “the mission trip is already full.” But I was determined to keep trying because I just knew that the Lord wanted me to be a missionary. Satan is the father of all lies. We do not want to give him credit for anything; instead, we plead the blood of Jesus and he will go away.

Around two weeks after my wonderful experience, I woke up one morning and started reading the newspaper and the first words that jumped off the front headlines were about orphanages in Ukraine. That really touched my heart. That same day, while I was looking at a bulletin board while waiting for my Bible study to begin, I saw the word Ukraine written on a piece of paper. I thought to myself, “I think the Lord is trying to tell me something.” And to confirm that thought, at the end of class, some woman that I had seen and spoken to before, came up to me and said,” Cindy, I know that we do not know each other very well, but I have seen the hurt in your heart from previous times in your life. I see the compassion you have for the Lord and others.” My husband and I have been talking and we want you to go on a mission trip to Ukraine to help in the orphanages for a couple of weeks.” Well, the Holy Spirit had shown up once again and done His job. No wonder I kept running into roadblocks. I was not meant to go on those other trips, I was meant to go to Ukraine. Can I get an amen?

The mission trip was wonderful and you could see the Lord working in every aspect of the children’s lives. Being with all of them opened my eyes to different customs and languages that are a part of the Lord’s creation and watching them praise the Lord in their own country was special. My heart grew stronger than even I could have ever imagined.

That trip has changed my life forever because Jesus wanted me to go. He promised there would be more trips in the future to serve Him. He gave me the money I needed for this mission and the other trips. This was just the beginning of bringing others to Christ; the beginning of my missionary trips and how I could best serve Him.

IN CHRISTIAN LOVE

BE A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS (Photos by Karen Ruhl)