The opportunity to go to Paris was one that I never thought I would have. I have not been able to go on a mission trip in three years and I took a risk signing up for the Paris mission trip at Southeastern. After the bombings occurred,, everyone was afraid, and some of the people I knew could not understand why I wanted to go to a place where bombs had just been set off. To be honest, I was more afraid that the trip was going to be cancelled because of the bombings and I would not have the opportunity anymore. I tried not to let people’s fear get to me, which was hard, and just have faith that if it was God’s plan for me to go He would work everything out. God did work everything out. He provided the funding and even with some problems with the missionaries we would be working with, He worked it out. I just returned to the US a few days ago and I am still trying to process everything that happened on the trip. From day one, I could feel the Spirit working as my team and I walked the streets of the Paris Metro area. We got to see a different side of Paris, not just the pretty parts that people can see in pictures. I was thankful to not be spoiled with pretty sights. Instead it was eye-opening and honest. Most of what my team did was assist the missionaries there in locating the people group they wanted to minister to and finding places to reach them. It meant a lot of walking, which none of us were used to. My knee even locked up on me after the second day of walking more than ten miles, but I did not let that stop me from assisting in the furthering of God’s Kingdom. Limping along, I still walked around for the whole trip without much rest to get the work done. One day, we split up into groups and went to the foyers where the immigrants live to ask about English classes. That was probably the scariest, but best part of the work we did because I was the only one in my group who spoke French, which put a lot of pressure on me. When it comes to speaking the languages I know, I do not perform well under pressure. I looked to God for strength. The foyer my group went to did not make me feel very successful, and it wasn’t because I did not speak well with the people. They just did not seem as open to learning English. However, when I thought we were not successful, God proved me wrong. On our way to meet the others, we stopped in a park and spoke with one man, who knew a little bit of English, but really wanted to learn more. I was able to speak to him, and he showed up for the English class later that night, which gave me the opportunity to speak further with him. I really felt the Spirit working in his life that day. Towards the end of the trip I had an opportunity that I never expected to have. I was able to attend a church planting and revitalization conference in Paris in French. It was enjoyable and enlightening. I am excited about what God is doing in the life of the evangelical churches in France. On my mission trip God reminded me of several important lessons in ministry. The first was that in ministry, sometimes we have to do things that we do not want to do, such as walking around for days without a spiritual conversation. Secondly, God reminded me of humility; we need to look at the bigger picture. Thirdly, God confirmed that I am going into the correct field of ministry because he gave me the opportunity to attend this conference just before I started my internship doing research in church revitalization. Lastly, God reminded me that success is not always measured by the furthering of a strategy or how many spiritual conversations we have, it is measured by the work of the Holy Spirit. Yes, those things are important, but if the Holy Spirit is at work in just one person’s life it is successful. I cannot wait to hear updates about the work in Paris and I am excited about my internship this summer with the North Carolina Baptist State Convention. I started working there this past Monday and there will be further updates about what I learn over the summer at this internship.
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AuthorAshley Faulkenberry Archives
October 2016
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