Germany Outreach | The Reality

Outreach is a hard thing to put into words that really suffice, even if it was only three weeks. God never stops speaking and I love it! I wasn’t supposed to be on this outreach in the first place, but I really felt like God was giving me a nudge to take a risk. It was more than I could ask for. The finances weren’t there, but He provided, the team to go on outreach wasn’t exactly there, but He provided. I was able to share God’s love along side amazing friends, work with ministries that are crazy passionate about His kingdom, see the beautiful country of Germany and experience the blessings that is the beauty of Germans who are incredibly in love with Jesus. There were a ton of laughs, some hard days, but God was faithful in showing me more of himself and giving me a deeper passion to share His love. He never disappoints.

I always feel like I cheat the places we go to reach out. I go to serve, teach and love and I walk away from the time feeling like I was served, taught and loved on so much more. I pray that wherever I step my foot that our Father’s presence overflows from what was poured into me by others and the Father himself. But you can’t give away what you don’t possess yourself.

I was reading through journals that I wrote in throughout SOIP and outreach. A prayer I prayed from the beginning of SOIP and whether it was teachings, prayers or in conversation this topic was constantly brought up throughout outreach.

The thought and desire that God wouldn’t be only some theory or idea, but a REALITY in our lives.

As I read through stories, thoughts, prayers and revelations that I journaled I was in awe as I read just how faithful God was to make himself known as more of a reality in my life these last 6 months.

In outreach God was made more of a reality through the friends and mentors he surrounded me with to grow and sharpen each other as we reached out. Through encounters we had with people on the streets of Germany that shared how they literally felt His presence through our words and joy. The reality that we are able to align ourselves by His spirit with Gods heart through prayer and worship.

On outreach I encountered God in such a personal way that I had never experienced before. And when you really get even the tiniest glimpse of His joy, peace, love and holiness you can’t help, but want to give it away and hunger for others to experience the same. God was faithful in showing me the reality that Christ lives in me. Before Jesus Christ died people had to go certain places and do certain things to find God, but it is a reality that through Jesus’ death and resurrection He lives in us in the fullness. It is a reality that He never changes and that He will never forsake us. It is a reality that He is love and is our provider. It is a reality that He is the perfect father and that we are seated in heavenly places with Him. It is a reality that His mercies are never ending and in His eyes we are Holy and blameless.

This is a reality that has been poured into me, but how do I do outreach or every day life that communicates this reality to others?

I’m not an expert follower of Jesus, but I do hear Him speak and this is what I feel like I’ve heard.

You can’t give what you don’t possess yourself. If we choose to be in His presence every day with our everything. He will be faithful in revealing himself to us. By His presence alone we are changed. No one can walk away from His presence unchanged. He promises life in abundance. If He is our reality then in abundance we will be filled by Him and He will overflow from us and others will notice. If we choose to be led by the Holy Spirit every day He will lead us in practical ways to serve and love. But mostly we must be humbled by His fierce love and know that relentlessly pursues us and those around us. By His presence overflowing from us He is made known as a reality in others lives. 

Psalm 146

Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!

I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
    

I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

Put not your trust in princes,
    

in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. 

When his breath departs, he returns to the earth;
    

on that very day his plans perish. 

Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
    

whose hope is in the Lord his God,

who made heaven and earth,
    

the sea, and all that is in them,
who keeps faith forever;  

who executes justice for the oppressed,
    

who gives food to the hungry.

The Lord sets the prisoners free; 

the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
    

the Lord loves the righteous.

The Lord watches over the sojourners;
    

he upholds the widow and the fatherless,
    

but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

The Lord will reign forever,
    

your God, O Zion, to all generations.