27 DAYS - ARE YOU READY?

Uncle Al here again, managing to make time while preparing for the day's work here in Sentosa to write today's blog as I am beginning to sense the physical weariness of our dedicated bloggers. They have done a great job updating this blog. But as you can see, there are gaps and dates without any updates.

The thing is, don't over exert yourself in whatever else you do as you won't be able to make time for the most important thing - having time listening to Jesus and what he is telling you, and telling others about it. That is why we have breaks in this blog. We are simply too exhausted to do it at times.

Now, it's less than four weeks to go before we fly off. But let me ask everyone again: How prepared are you for this? As individual groups, have you been regularly meeting, praying together, planning together, getting to know one another better so you can work together as teams? Have you seriously made time for this?

Is your spiritual self still transfixed on that CCA? On that choir concert? On tuition? If it is, it's time to re-assess your priorities at this time. "But Uncle Al, it is very difficult to juggle," one of you told me. But you don't juggle all these! You prioritise!

Mission trip requires  the ability to break from the day-to-day grind of life and spend dedicated time listening to God. Often, the most challenging aspect to manage, especially among the teens like you, is to encourage you to develop the ability to really break away from the routine of noise and busy-ness and to quiet your minds enough to hear God’s “still small voice” with any measure of clarity. So, often, a good preparation is simply making the commitment to set aside all the cares of the world for a while. For just a few hours per week before departure. This preparation can be as simple as ensuring you have told your CCA teacher you are preparing for a mission trip, get someone you trust to walk the dog out while you attend our formation sessions, and postpone or move your tuition sessions.

Second, in today’s world of hyper communication one of the harder things to do is to shut down all the means through which people can contact you during our sessions. That also means you are not contacting other people during sesisons. This will likely mean leaving your cell-phone switched off. This can be hard to do. Many protest, “what if there is an emergency?” My thought is always, “What did they do twenty years ago when there was an emergency?” Will a few hours of mission preparation without disruption really mean that the world will fall apart if someone cannot reach you?

You will likely have enough of a challenge finding peace within your own soul without having to fight off external distractions. The more channels of communication you leave open, the greater the probability that you will be interrupted. This is particularly true with those seeking to deepen their spiritual lives. The enemy will do everything he can to reach you, to keep you from preparing for the mission trip, and to distract you as you seek to turn your heart and soul to be the hands and feet of God.

Third, it is a good idea to pray for wisdom and insight as you head into the mission trip. If you can set aside an additional five minutes a day to pray the holy spirit novena - even just a decade - that would be a good step in the right direction. You might also increase your time of scripture or other spiritual reading. Believe it or not, a few minutes here and there can provide a great deal of insight into your mission journey. In your mission handbook, I have given you lots of scriptural readings.

Finally, and most importantly, relax. Bring yourself to God with love and openness. Trust him to give you whatever you need to make the mission trip a meaningful experience. Trust that if it should be a dry period, that he will work in it. If it should be a delightful time of consolation and peace, the praise be to him in his great mercy. Don’t construct in your mind what he can, will, or should do for you during this time. Just rest in him, turn your heart to him, follow him and listen carefully and peacefully. Regardless of what you hear or don’t hear, experience or don’t experience, keep your eyes on him.

And you will be ready.