Hello All!
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
-Joshua 1:19
I was never one to step aside from my comfort zone, until I felt uneasiness in this comfort. This break of rhythm bothered me enough to being open to different aspects of my service in the community. I was a newly transitioned member of CFC-Youth into Singles for Christ and not once did I feel the urge to continue on in this new ministry. I felt a weird calling through a friend to go on an international mission to Trinidad and Tobago. I found myself attending online meetings with people of higher calibre, wisdom, and experience. Not really paying attention to these meetings, I often dozed off thinking about how I’m going to survive a week with these people. After a few of these meetings, I boarded a plane to a place I have never been to, to serve with people I have never met in person.
Being a very shy, and anxious person, I had the hardest time looking forward to meeting these new people. I even instructed a brother to promise me that he will never leave me alone with the new people because of the fear I had in meeting them. It was in this promise of the brother where everything began. Instead of following through with his promise he ended up throwing me into the deep end and got me to follow him as we introduced each other to the group of missionaries. I began following him and mimicking every introduction adjusting only to my name and where I was from.
The next day, the same brother avoided staying beside me and opted for a seat with no space beside him. This forced me to actually sit with someone new and meet other people. At this same time we were all reminded of the tasks that we had been discerned for to complete during the conference. I was lucky and got only one task, to lead a recollection, while others had multiple tasks overarching each other. I had my heart set on doing my part and stepping aside to witness the conference. It was here again where the brother began stating my abilities to the leaders and other missionaries and from there I had added another role to the conference.
In my first two days on mission I was challenged so much to step out of my comfort zone. It wasn’t until now, where I realized that although the brother was the one physically pushing me past my comfort zone, but it was the Lord. The Lord was simply calling me to break out of my comfort zone to experience the mission to its fullest. For me not to confide in the easiness of comfort or to set sail onto still waters but instead to journey alongside my fellow missionaries in this uneasiness.
In Christ,
Cristopher Sy