city reflections: julie, robbie, jaime, cullen, beans, tori

julie: The Quest Experience was easily one of the best experiences of my life. Of course it was incredibly fun, but more than that it helped me to see God in a new way.

Since the nature of the trip was different from the others, I really went into it with no idea what to expect. To be honest, I was stressing out about everything I had to do or not do while I was there. But once I asked God to open my eyes, he totally did.

The pain and darkness in the city was so evident once I looked around. God showed me pain and frustration just among people I would pass on the street or on the bus. Knowing that it would be so incredibly difficult for these people to even hear about Jesus was heartbreaking. And I was further hit with a full sense of hopelessness when we took a trip to a hill overlooking the city. As I prayed, I began to question God about how anything could ever change in a place where it wasn't even okay for people to go on a mission trip. But as I was standing and overlooking the city, God brought to my head the song "God of this City." The lyrics said that Hes the God of the City, King of these People, Lord of this Nation. I realized that even in a country where 99.9% of the people are not saved and following something so false, God is still in control because He is the creator and ruler of everything. And if I could commit and submit to Him in prayer or any other way, He can and will do the impossible. He's a big God, bigger than any form of darkness, and I suppose I had been taking it for granted in the context of this trip and my own life. I am so grateful that even in a place so dark, God still shines His light.

robbie: This trip has impacted me in more ways than I can really describe. Going and being a part of a different culture for nine days, seeing how they live, and how they interact with each other have given me new ways of looking at things; both spiritually and in my everyday routine. God laid on my heart the power of genuine, consistent prayer, and al though I may never see the results of what I prayed for there, I truly believe that the prayers will be honored.

In addition, this week every person I talked to or shared a meal with was genuinely interested in me, they really listened to the response. As odd as it sounds that’s not something I was used to and I plan being much more genuine in conversations with others I know when I return.

jaime: In addition to this trip to the City I have had the opportunity to experience God’s hand in the Dominican Republic and China. It continues to amaze me the different ways in which He reaches out to his children in different parts of the world. God specifically touched my heart through the people. The City is incredibly dark spiritually and I became doubtful of our potential impact. But Jesus showed me something profound through this overall experience, it is not by our specific actions that anything will ever be completed; rather, it is by his will and his grace that saves us. It may be hard to see his impact in the City but absolutely nothing is too big for my God.

cullen: The last 10 days have been amazing for so many reasons. The experience of being in a completely new culture has been very interesting even if it was for such a short time. The people and the way of life differs so much from America, it really opened my eyes and challenged me to take some of the positive characteristics of the country and apply them to my daily life. Similarly my experience have led to me learning about myself and my relationship with God.

The people I have shared these past few days with have helped make the trip what it was. The experience would not have been the same if I was with a different group of people. As is, I cold have asked for a better people to share this life changing event with.

Pray that my return to the states would go smoothly and that the and that the things I have seen and experienced would draw me closer to others in my life.

Justin/Beans - What can I say about the City, except that it sure is one amazing place. Going to the City has definitely changed my life and helped me grow in my walk with Christ. I got to experience God working in a place that has been so covered with darkness. It's amazing to see God at work through the lives of the workers there as well as the very few native believers. I was touched by their overall hospitality and kindness.
Through this trip, God has showed me the power of humility, silence, and prayer. God doesn't need us to always be loud, but he has showed me that being sincere in our interactions and prayers can make a huge difference and help impact lives for Christ.

Tori - I always had my own view of what a missions trip would look like. I thought in order to be helping you must be building a church or sharing your testimony, but that was before the City. This trip taught me that the main principle in missions is to be a servant to God and trust that he'll show you the way. In the City our primary focus was prayer and just getting to know people - planting seeds of Christianity into the lives of many.
Ths trip has given a visual as to how dark the world we live in is. It's challenged me to be sincere in my actions and live for Christ even more. Going to a place where Christianity is frowned upon made me want to live out my faith in a new way. If lost people matter to God they must also matter to us, whether its half way aross the world or in our own city.