“When God calls you on mission, He also calls your family” “

I never knew what this quote meant until two weeks ago.

So my sister, Alyssa, arrived in Montreal from the Philippines last Friday morning at 1:00 am on April 19, 2013. I must say that it has been the longest 6 weeks ever.

This was her first time going to the Philippines alone. Her first time away from us for this long. Her first time attending ILC and GAT. Her first time serving for a historical event such as this. A part of me wished that I was there to experience it with her. But a part of me knew that God all planned it this way!

So heres a little back story on the relationship that I have with my sister:

We are two sisters. I am the eldest and the shortest between the two. I am the affectionate, childish, loving, and annoying older sister. She is the serious, fun, caring, and reserved little sister. Though we may have different personalities and personalities that have clashed in the past (We weren’t always the best of friends in a land long long time ago!) but our love for God allowed us to see the preciousness of our sisterhood.

I always try to show her that I love her…I’m different ways!

Whether it be every morning when I wake up or when I come home late from work and Alyssa would still be sleeping…I would purposely wake her up and annoy her and convince her to eat with me.

I would be pretty persistent.

Attempt 1: going up to her room and calling her name (a bunch of times!) to her wake up, head down to the kitchen and wait.

After a few minutes…not up yet.

Attempt 2: going back up to her room and calling her name and shaking her, telling her time to eat, head down to the kitchen and wait.

After a few minutes…not up yet.

Attempt 3: Going back up to her room, calling her name, shaking her from side to side and jumping on her bed and saying “alyyyyyysssaa…time to eat! Wake up! Wake up!” And hug her. Tehihi

And After a few minutes if she didn’t get up yet…you can imagine what else I would do!

So when she was gone…I was in withdrawal!

We grew up in the CFC-Youth and we have been serving the community for a few years now, which means…we do a lot of things together! 🙂 So with her gone for 6 weeks we were both challenged to do a lot of things individually.

However, through this withdrawal, the Lord allowed me to witness His work through my sister and for her to experience service on a different level and allowed me to experience my mission individually being miles and miles and miles apart away.

God has plans for her too!
And that He did!

When Alyssa was heading to ILC, she left her phone with my family so…we weren’t able to communicate. I thought to myself that it’ll be ok because I would be experiencing the ILC with her on Ustream…little did I know that I would be seeing a lot of her!

A sister texted me and told me to tune in to the ILC Ustream. When I opened Ustream I couldn’t believe my eyes…Alyssa was on stage filled with the Holy Spirit and trying to excite 7000 people, She was emceeing the ILC with two other brothers! My initial reaction was a single tear rolling down my right cheek (I know dramatic! Just kidding), a tear of joy! I was so proud of her, just seeing her there experiencing Christ and serving…allowed me to see a piece of God’s greater plan for her!

I’ve seen Alyssa grow up as a woman and have seen her grow spiritually throughout the years. But after her trip to the Philippines, I’ve seen her transform into a Woman of God! At that moment I realized what that quote meant, “When God calls you on mission, He also calls your family” I knew that even though we were far apart…we were serving Him.

When she arrived the other day, and we hugged…it was different..I knew she knew a piece of my heart about mission as I’ve shared in my first reflection,

“Mission work is creating intimacy with God. When I am in mission it is the most personal you become with God, the most real”

As we hugged, I knew we now shared this common feeling, this intimacy with God.

Lord, I thank you for taking care of my sister and the other delegates that went to Philippines from Canada and all over the world. I pray that all who attended the ILC and GAT, may they hear and be sensitive to the messages that God has revealed to them. I thank you Lord for revealing to me that serving is not an individual mission, but a family mission. I pray that my relationship with Alyssa continues to strengthen and that we continue to be instruments not only in the community but within our family. I cannot wait, O lord, what other surprises you have in store for us all!

Amen 🙂