From time to time we will feature stories from different trips so you can see how God's been working through STM! Hopefully this will encourage you as you remember past trips and think about future trips you will lead. Thank you so much for being faithful in ministry!
Here are two stories from the NOLA trip February 2011.
Annaliese's story:
God did a ton of things in my life, especially in my relationship with my dad. We were close when I was younger. My school was near where he worked, so I spent time with him after school. But when I went to private school, it was farther away from his job and I never saw him. He's an athletic director and is out of town a lot. I felt like we'd lost our relationship, but I didn't talk with God about it. During a prayer exercise, God brought it up. He said that I needed to let it go. I started crying and wrote a note to my father. I gave it to him and now we're working on our relationship. He said God had put it on his heart too! I found out things I never knew about him, like how he came to Christ. It's been really cool to see how God has worked through that!
I get nervous talking in front of people, but our team's goal for the week was to go out and talk with people. I wanted
to stay in the bubble, but God was testing me. He switched my group on a ministry day and my group had a lot of conversations with people that day. We ended up talking with a group of homeless people and I met a man named Osbourne. We really connected in our conversation. Osbourne said that he'd been afraid, but God gave him peace.
Since being home, I've used listening prayer in my everyday life. Nothing formal- but sometimes when I'm texting a friend I ask God what I should say to that person. When I've sent the messages… it's been right on.
Taylor's story:
On the way to NOLA, our group listened to the song “Freedom Reigns”. Our Project Leader heard it during listening prayer. It became the theme of the week. There were a lot of people in our group carrying a lot of baggage. All felt like they were freed from chains they’d been tied down by.
The coolest thing was making relationships and God using us to talk with people who didn't speak the same language, like a man we met from the Dominican Republic. We played Uno and dominoes with him; and were able to make a connection because we spent time with him. When we saw him a few days later, he remembered us and talked with us again.
We also met a man named Willie who was also homeless. He was very talented musically- and also narcoleptic. We'd stand waiting for him to wake whenever he fell asleep. He'd wake up, finish his sentence, and fall back asleep again. He kept saying, “Love. Love on everyone you see.”
That’s the biggest thing I got out of the whole trip.
One day I met a kid named Eric by riverwalk. He was a homeless and shiny purple rocks with him that he'd find and sell in order to live. He gave me some and told me, “You can have them for free. Give them to your friends and tell them to pray for me. I’ll find more to sell tomorrow.” He gave everything he had to someone he didn’t know at all. I still have the rocks- and so do the people on my team!
After coming home, some friends and I went to Dallas one weekend. There were a lot of homeless people there. Usually I'd say, "Hi," smile, and walk by. But this time we stopped, introduced ourselves and talked with them. We prayed with them and I felt like God was telling me to give two of them a $1 each, so I did.
Also, our group has grown closer as well. There were some people on my team I didn't know before the trip. Now when we see each other at school, we're able to talk and laugh about the trip and our memories. We're quick to ask how the other person is doing and to encourage each other. It's really brought us together!
