Alaska..the beautiful and the unexpected.

A friend of mine, Rebekkah Lorenzo, took a mission trip to Alaska recently to help some people for God with a group of students from FBC Melbourne.  She's a high school student and she's a very insightful person, so I asked her if she share a little about her experience for those of us who couldn't go.  (You'll see, she's also a wonderful writer.)  Here's how God worked in her life through Alaska.

A couple of weeks ago I did something pretty uncharacteristic of me - I left the house during my summer vacation. But not only did I leave it, I actually went about as far as I could get from it without leaving the country, because I had the privilege of joining FBC Melbourne’s youth group on a missions trip to Alaska.

        Now, anyone who’s seen the movie The Proposal has probably lost any preconceived notions they once had of Alaska as nothing more than a huge stretch of frozen wasteland surrounded by arctic waters, and dotted with the occasional Eskimo village. And I can now say from experience that it really isn’t. It’s actually full of beautiful, untouched landscapes and quaint, old-fashioned towns. And though its weather is cold (and wet), it was welcome after getting through the first few months of Florida’s long, brutal summer. The people we met, especially the family we helped out during our time there, were hospitable and gracious. I was expecting all of this. I was ready for a nice, calming vacation where I would be able to enjoy spending time in a beautiful example of God’s Creation and to meditate quietly on His message for me. Because I like the quiet, and I like having time to myself.

Here’s a list of a few things I wasn’t expecting:

1. Playing a unique, real-life game of Tetris to fit about thirty or forty air mattresses on the floors of an apartment while maintaining a thin path through to the bathroom.
2. Sharing two toilets with all the owners of said mattresses.
3. Sleeping each night in a thin layer of the dirt inevitably tracked in by the feet of said owners of mattresses.
4. Cramped, hours-long van rides.
5. Cramped, even-more-hours-long plane rides.
6. The “buddy system,” which ensured my every waking (and, as a matter of fact, sleeping) moment was spent in the company of someone else.
7. Emesis.

        So what was beaten into my brain for the umpteenth time by this trip was that God rarely, if ever, gives us what we’re expecting. In fact, He’ll oftentimes make us painfully aware of how far from our expectations His Plan really is. Because God’s Plan doesn’t revolve around us. I realize this is pretty basic, Sunday-school stuff, but I did forget it, and I think most people probably do every now and then. And, thinking back, I could have had it much worse. So, for all it was, good or bad, my trip was enlightening, just as God had intended it to be. 

God will always work in your life, but sometimes it takes being away from your comfort zone.  This statement is true for all, no matter what age you are.  "GO" is a big part of the word "Gospel" and God uses that "going" to teach you well.  Bay West Church and FBC offer several trips inside of the continental USA and outside to countries like Haiti, Nicaruagua, Panama, Romania, etc... They aren't vacations, they are "grow-cations", because God uses them to stretch you, grow you, increase your understanding of His world and to enlighten you, as He did for Rebekkah.  Then He does something amazing in the process...He uses you to do the same for others and help them as well...it's a win-win.

Look at our website, www.baywestchurch.org for opportunities to go around the world, as we try to fulfill our purpose to make disciples here and everywhere.