The lasting impact of a short term vision trip

The sound of the fan whirred overhead, making little difference to the intense heat in the small room we were gathered in. Outside the impatient sounds of honking motorbikes and popping exhausts contributed to my confusion. It was the summer of 2011, the second week of a short term vision trip learning about remote people groups in a closed country.

The objectives of the vision trip were:

• Learn about life in the country
• Experience the ministry of those serving
• Learn about myself and grow spiritually

It had been an intense few weeks of preparation, leaving my busy London life, going on orientation and getting to know my three fellow travellers. We finally arrived at night, after a long journey. I took my life in my hands weaving between motor bikes and headlights, to cross a busy road to get to our accommodation. I realised that this really was an exercise in trusting God! I opened my suitcase to find my bottle of 70% deet insect repellent had leaked all over my clothes. You could say I had stepped outside of my comfort zone!

That night before I went to sleep I remember praying ‘God, please show me, what am I doing here?’ I even texted a Christian friend saying ‘I have no idea what I am doing here,’ their reply was ‘stick with it, all will become clear.’

The first week of the trip was a complete adventure involving visiting people groups in remote villages, sleeper buses, speeding through rice paddies riding pillion on the back of motor bike taxis and getting food poisoning after a local family had cooked us fish head soup! I was in awe of the people serving here and the work they were doing but I was struggling to see how it related to my daily life in London.

A week later we met the second family on our vision trip to learn about their ministry. We were taken into a hotel room so that their work could be explained confidentially. I got goosebumps as he explained he was a businessman, involved in a very similar type of work to me, who was using his business as a way to bring other believers into the country to share the gospel. Suddenly I realised what God was trying to show me, he had put me in the business world for a reason.

For the previous few months, I had been increasingly disillusioned with working in a competitive commercial environment in London. I was confused about what was next and how to reconcile my Christian faith with my work. I felt like God was saying to me ‘get out of your boat and look to Jesus’ (Matthew 14 25-33) but I was too afraid to do so. I was searching for a new job but was not prepared to consider moving or changing my London life.

On return to the UK, my perspective on life had changed. God was telling me clearly to step out of my comfort zone and teaching me that anywhere can be your mission field, even a corporate head office.

I changed jobs and moved cities. Seeing the courage and example of others who had moved their whole lives overseas to live out God’s plans for them was the encouragement I needed. It was the start of the journey that led me to live in Leamington Spa and 12 years later start working for Global Connections. Before the vision trip I was thinking about leaving the business world, now I am using the skills I learned there to serve.

I still get the newsletters and pray for the people I visited. For security reasons I can’t share names or location. The vision trip opened my eyes to the daily life of overseas workers and their families. I was humbled to have met them and ashamed of my own rigidness to be more open to God’s plans for my life. They made a lasting impact on my perspective of the value of work. Most of all they made me realise that God has the greatest adventure in store for all of us, if we let go of our own plans and look to him.

Philippians 2 13 ‘For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfil his good purpose.’