I was going to post this when I got back from Guatemala, but I got busy and forgot so here it is...
God taught me so much this summer, but the one thing that He has been working on my heart is waiting on His perfect timing. God showed me last summer that He wanted me to move to Guatemala to do mission work, but He has me back in the states to finish school until He calls me there. It can be really hard because my heart longs to be there. I think about Guatemala everyday and all the love that the people there have for me, but God says wait because I know what is best for you right now and I know what I have planned for your life.
This summer God allowed me to do mission work in New Mexico for two weeks and mission work in Guatemala for three weeks. I wanted to stay in Guatemala for the whole summer, but that was not God’s plan. He had me going to New Mexico. When I first got to New Mexico, I dreaded being there. God turned that around. He showed me that I was not there for myself, but for Him and His people. Later in the first week of the New Mexico trip, God showed me why He brought me to New Mexico. There was a girl there about my age that was going through the same mess that my birth mom went through. I could tell that this girl was longing for hope. She said that she read the Bible, but they were just words on a page. We gave her another Bible and she said that she was going to read it. I was really encouraged by that, but what gave me the most encouragement was one of the people on the Texas team, Mikki. When we got back to the church that we worked with, she asked me questions about my childhood life. I told her the story of my birth mother and all the things I went through. We both cried our eyes out and then she told me her story. She said that she was very encouraged to hear my heart even though I went through some hard stuff in the past and it showed her that adopting kids going through hard stuff was good. She said that in the past, she would be scared to adopt kids going through stuff I went through. I believe that was another reason God brought me to New Mexico so my past could help her see that kids going through hard things like me needs a loving family and that we are not bad people. He also opened my eyes and showed me that I could help people that are going through the same stuff I went through and experienced.
God did some amazing work in Guatemala. He opened the hearts of the lost and they surrendered their lives to Christ. He allowed me to share my life with some high school kids. There was one school we went to that was close to the church that we worked with. One of the ladies on the team was telling a Bible story and the guys in the back were cutting up and acting like fools, but once I got up there and shared my story they stopped and listened with open ears and an open heart. I could tell that they were taking in every word by the faces they were giving me.
I am so blessed to be able to travel and share the Gospel with the unreached and lost people. I consider my life as an Esther. Like in the Bible, God allowed her to be picked as Queen to help her people even though she hated the idea. As for me, God allowed me to go through those hard times so He could use my life to help His people. What a powerful God we serve and I will be waiting on His perfect timing even when it is hard.
“For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” ~Esther 4:14
~Brittney Cleveland
