Ghana Trip Recap - Dan Young

Before leaving for the trip, I began to worry that I didn’t have the proper qualifications needed for a trip such as this one. I didn’t think I would be very good at leading the kids through the sports activities and the devotions, but as the trip began to unfold, I became comfortable in those roles. After the trip, I was listening to a podcast when a quote really struck me, “God didn’t call the qualified, he qualified the called.” I have always been quick to sell myself short. Whether it was me being humble or trying to avoid disappointment probably depended on the situation, but this quote enlightened me on this idea. A person doesn’t have to have a crazy amount of qualifications to make a difference and do God’s work. God gives us certain qualifications that are unique to each and every one of us to spread His word and do His works. This helped me understand that I never have to worry about being qualified as long as we have God by our side.
 
I would like to think that one of the qualifications that God has called me to use is my selflessness. I find it very satisfying to help somebody else whether it is with a task or with their emotions or simply getting them to smile. My selflessness has entered a completely new level now that I have completed this mini mission trip. It would give me so much joy to help those around me develop their own relationships with God. This can be such a difficult thing to approach; everyone back home is continuing with their normal lives and haven’t gone through such a powerful experience. They may not want to be nudged out of the normalcy of their lives, and it kind of seems silly to help them change their lives if they are already happy. However, I still want to spread God’s word and maybe light a spark that needs to be fed to become a flame. To satisfy my desire, I recently started asking three people a day if there is anything that I can pray about for them. Even though I have barely started, it has already been such a cool experience. It gives people a sense of encouragement and makes them think about Jesus at the same time; not to mention what a blessing it is to pray for others on very specific things going on in their lives.
 
Another idea that I have realized after going on this trip is to Dream Small. People are so caught up with the idea of dreaming BIG, which is great, but with so much focus on the big things, it causes us to lose sight of all of the small things. It’s the simple moments that change the world. We shouldn’t buy into the idea that we have to do it all. We need to live one day at a time and love God and others as ourselves. There’s nothing wrong with bigger dreams as long as we don’t miss the minutes on the way to bigger things. God, who does all things, makes oceans from rivers.
 
So why did I, Dan Young, a 19-year-old from small-town Nebraska, have to travel all the way to Africa for a three week mission trip to come to all of these realizations? I think one of the benefits of going on a mission to Africa rather than across the street is that it makes you appreciate it more. It gives you a sense of urgency to give it your best effort the first time because the opportunity will not always be there. A lot of people applied to go on this trip, but God selected me for a reason. I may never completely understand the reason some things happen, but it isn’t my job to make sense of everything. My job is to use the talents God has given me to be his disciple and spread his word. I will never be able to express how grateful I am to have had this opportunity. It is one that I will never forget, and I hope to one day have an opportunity to see the kids again, but for now I will continue to spread the word wherever I may be. Everybody has to be somewhere; we just have to let Jesus use us where we are, for it is God’s will, not mine.