No, I'm not Colombia-Bound for our son. I wish. Oh, how I wish that were the case.
For months I've prayed for an opportunity to go on an international mission trip. I went to Rio de Janeiro once, about 8 years ago. And it changed me. Big time. There's just something about being so far out of your comfort zone....new sights, people, completely different culture, words you can't understand and total dependence on a translator, eating food you've never eaten before...it just did really good things for my heart.
And I've wanted to go back. Not necessarily to Rio, but somewhere - overseas, way far out of my comfort zone. I want to get my hands dirty in working for Jesus so that my heart can get cleaned up a bit.
Our church has an amazing partnership with some missionaries in Colombia - 2 (or 5) of which are super close to my heart. And about a month or so ago, God answered my prayers.
I am Colombia-bound for a short, 4 day (plus 2 travel days) mission trip. I cannot board the plane fast enough. But it's still 2 weeks away.
Many people have asked me if I really thought this was a good idea. My heart is hurting and longing for our son so badly and there's nothing I can do to speed things up. (Which reminds me - I owe you guys a big update...it's a good one - no kiddo - but good news.)
Yes, I am going to be in the same country, on the same soil, looking at the moon from the same general area as a sweet little boy who God is preparing for me to be his mommy. And it's gonna shred my heart. It's more out of my comfort zone than I had originally wanted.
But here's how I'm looking at it: from my home, I can hit my knees in prayer every single day for my son. Prayer is a super huge and big thing. It is so powerful and I am so thankful that I can go to my Heavenly Father through prayer.
And now's He's given me the opportunity to go and get as close to my son as I possibly could. We will be training new Christians in discipleship and how to reach local unbelievers. For all I know, the very people that we talk to and train to share Jesus...could leave the building we teach them in and walk straight into the home where my son is.
What more could I possibly do right now, than equip people who could take Jesus inside the walls that my son calls home.
Sound far fetched? I don't think so. My God is pretty amazing.
So to help fund this trip, I'm bringing back the Apparent Project Bracelets.
If you don't remember the story behind them, you can check it out in this blog post.
It's not too early to start thinking about teacher gifts, stocking stuffers, gifts for friends, or to treat yourself to a sweet bracelet, made by sweet Haitian families. Half of the money goes back to the family and half of the money helps fund my mission trip.
If you'd like a bracelet, they are $8 each and you can pay by cash, check, PayPal (click on the PayPal button on the right OR my PayPal address is jmalcoleman (at) gmail (dot) com. Please include $2 for shipping (any number of bracelets).
My goal is $500 and anything over that will go to the adoption fund.
The biggest thing you could do - is pray. Cover this trip in prayer...the church and people we will teach, the missionaries who serve there, the unbelievers who will hear the gospel, and our team members.
I leave in 14 days and 21 hours from the time of this post...but who's counting?