So what's the plan (Sign No. 3)

In my last post on the series of 20 signs, I shared about how God made a way for me to take leave I didn't have, from a job I had just started, to go on a mission trip.  With a start like that, how could the actual mission be any less amazing? :)

Since that first trip to BBB, I have returned twice more, and I hope I will go again soon.  Each time is a learning experience!

I remember being particularly excited about that first trip to BBB - I had gone on a mission trip before, but not one that involved going out into rural areas.  I eagerly attended every preparatory session, but to my puzzlement, none of the preparatory sessions actually seemed to involve any planning.  We would pray for each other, figure out what to bring, have some vague conversations about how some Bible terms should be translated into the local language, and that would be about it.

By nature, both my wife and I are scrupulous planners.  Each day and each hour is mapped out - on my phone calendar for me, and on a diary for my wife.  I have a documented schedule for almost everything - when to meet someone for lunch, when to chase someone to respond, when to apply for this or that or the other, when each specific piece of work is due, whether by myself or someone else, and a reminder to check on that very thing a couple of days before!  My wife is the same.  We're like the nerd version of Hannibal of the A-Team :)

So as you can imagine, my wife and I were seriously discomfited by the apparently complete lack of specifics on what we would actually do when we arrived in BBB.  But as the mission rookies, we simply took some comfort that our trip leader had it all planned out, and he would tell us what to do at some point.

We were rather mistaken.  One week before the trip, no plan.  One day before the trip, no plan.  At the airport, waiting to board, no plan.  After multiple flights, we finally arrived - no plan.  I remember it was late at night and freezing.  We were supposed to start off the next morning.  Still no plan!  Then the next morning, we woke up, gathered to pray, and finally we heard our leader's words... OK let's pray and ask God what He wants us to do here.

?!?! You mean you haven't figured it out yet?!

So anyway, we prayed.  In my agitation, I heard nothing obviously, other than the voice in my own head saying, we're going to be lost for the whole week in the mountains aren't we.

But after praying, my leader serenely declared, we're going to go to this village school.  And so, in hope, I asked - oh is the school expecting us?

Nope.

Uh.  So we're just going to turn up?

Yup.

... OK...

So we went.

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You know, one of the most profound things I have learned from my pastor is how he makes a conscious effort to listen to God.  The Bible says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways, acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight"  Proverbs 3:5-6

My pastor listens.  He isn't just blabbering on when he prays.  Prayer is two-way, not just us asking and telling God stuff.  God wants to get a word in edgewise too.

I'm not saying that we shouldn't plan.  I am still a great believer in planning.  But too often, I plan so much that God has no opportunity to say - go this way instead.  I'm listening to my own plans, and stop listening to His.  I forget to ask Him - hey Lord, here I am, in this time and place.  I think I should go this way, and I think it is a good idea, and I've even invested a lot of time and effort to get to this point, but... I know You know best.  Is there something else You would like me to do instead?

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So we arrived at the school.  Turns out the principal does know the team leader.  Hey, what a surprise to see you, so nice to meet up again!  The team leader asks, well, we're all here, how can we serve you?  And the principal says, you know, it's amazing.  All the teachers are busy today with some activity (I can't remember what it was), so all the children are having a free day in class today, with no one to look after them.  Would you help us conduct some English classes for them?

WHAAAATTTT???  God - are you kidding me?  We had no plan - but You did.  You made the whole school come to a halt, just so they could hear us share Your Good News.

And so we went in.  Had a great time teaching and interacting with the kids.  Made friends, asked where they lived, and later that weekend, went to visit them in their homes on their parents' farms (many of the children live on the school premises because their homes are too far away, so they only go home on the weekends).  We were able to bless so many families that week.  So many of them were so happy to see us - to meet people who cared enough for their children to come out to the farms to visit.

And I learned.  Jeremiah 29:13 promises "You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart".  Isaiah 55:8-9 says "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways... As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Life is messy.  Life is complex.  Life is busy.  But when we take time, look up from our own precious little plans and ask and listen...  God answers.  He sends signs and wonders.  His plan is way better than ours.  This story is Sign No. 3, but I plan to write down Signs 4-20 that I have already seen, and fully expect more in the years to come!  So come, and know this amazing Good Father.

So.  More stories from BBB in the next instalment - it's got Einstein and the Great Salmon Rebate in it.  With an intriguing hook like that, you've got to come back and read that right? See you here next week :)