VBS Testimony

At the beginning of my trip to Mexico, I started off way more nervous than I usually am for trips. Knowing absolutely no Spanish at all made me terrified. Everyone else on the trip kept talking about how it doesn't matter if you can't talk to the kids at the VBS in Marcos deLeon, you can spread God's love by a smile on your face or by just kicking a deflated soccer ball around in a circle. This made no sense to me. How was I supposed to "communicate" with these village kids if I can't speak Spanish?! I prayed for a while with my missions trip small group that God would wipe away the nerves that I had for the camp. I definitely felt like my prayers weren't being heard at all and that God refused to listen to me. I wouldn't be able to connect with the kids of the VBS and that was that. Tuesday night, one of the girls on our team came up with an idea to get to know some of the older middle school girls who didn't want to participate in the activities we had set up for them. We thought making bracelets would engage them for sure! Right as we began to connect with the girls just by a few words of our horrible Spanish, some string and scissors, one of the leaders came up to me and asked if I would be willing to share my testimony with the girls we had been sitting by. My first reaction was I'm not prepared for this at all. I didn't even know what to say. I felt a calling to share my testimony before even going on the trip. I just didn't expect to be put on the spot with no idea what I wanted to say to these girls. I began my testimony a little shaky but I did my best explaining to the Marcos deLeon girls how my relationship with God had progressed through the experiences I'd gone through with family situations. I'd never shared my testimony in a group like this before and while talking I felt like God's words were literally flowing from my mouth. After the tears had stopped and I finished my story I felt a sense of relief. All the nerves I had felt before about not knowing Spanish and being worried that God's love would never reach these kids. God provided me with an opportunity that changed my missions trip to Mexico and I'm beyond thankful for that.

Elise Almer