And the Mission Trip Location Is....

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, we have our Spring Break Mission Trip destination confirmed. Over the last four weeks, we have been building up to the reveal night (tonight). The reason for doing this is because we want students to feel called to go on the trip, not because of the country we are visiting, but because they realized that God has called all of us to go (found in the Great Commission, Matthew 28:18-20). I spoke briefly last week, sharing my experience from my trip to Honduras nearly two years ago (wow! that long ago?!) and how God showed me that money, or a lack of, is not an excuse for not going on a mission trip. I also touched on how everyone has a story about something that God has done in their lives that can benefit another person.

So, tonight (after a somewhat embarrassing video of the 2008 Honduras Mission Team), we revealed our destination. This March, Longwood Chi Alpha will be traveling to Northern Ireland! We (the LUXA staff) are very excited about this trip (to say the least) and are praying for a great team that will travel with us. We had a brief meeting after TNW tonight to speak with students who are even remotely interested in going and had about 15 students in that group. God is doing some amazing stuff on this campus and I can't wait to see what He has in store for this mission trip.

On a different note, I also had the opportunity to set up a two-on-one discipleship meeting tonight. Two freshmen girls and I will be meeting every Friday for about an hour to talk. We will probably read through a book together (I haven't decided which one yet) and discuss it. This is probably one of my favorite parts of my job...meeting with these students and teaching them to teach others. I remember my sophomore year, a Chi Alpha student leader began doing the same thing with me and the cool thing is,she's the sister-in-law of one of the girls I will start meeting with tomorrow. So amazing to see how God works things out. :)

Also, Saturday is our annual Hayride/Hoedown at the Hertzler Farm. This family has opened their farm one Saturday (usually in the fall) for LUXA for at least the last five years and invites us out for a hayride, bonfire, hot dogs, s'mores and a lot more. We always have a blast on this trip and it is one of our most successful events. One of the reasons this event is so successful is because we are in a very relaxed environment. There is no pressure for anyone who may not know Christ to accept Him right away. This is a time for students who may not be familiar with or involved in Chi Alpha to become more familiar with who we are, what we do, and why we do what we do. It's also a great time for us to just love on people and hang out with one another.

Well, this is a pretty full blog and it's getting late. Please be in prayer for our upcoming mission trip and for the team that God is going to bring together. I know this is going to be something great and I can't wait to see what's going to happen not only in the lives of the people in Northern Ireland, but in the lives of our students as they prepare and experience this trip.