Undisclosed Nation 2023

Undisclosed Nation 2023 was my first mission trip outside of the United States. This mission trip was eye-opening and challenged me in new ways. For the first time I had to have a translator to teach classes, I came up with my own lessons, and I had to hide my faith for I was in a closed nation.

During this mission trip, I mainly taught classes to children but I also got to teach a few women’s classes too. I loved being able to share scripture and testimonies of the Lord with some really great people. It was amazing getting to encourage the women on their own walk with the Lord, teach the kids how this world came to be, and see countless smiles as we introduced new games. The culture of this nation was very welcoming and kind, and it was a blessing to be there.

I was in this nation for 2 weeks and got to make some really cool relationships with our contacts who lived in the country. They all helped us tremendously and welcomed us with open arms. Most of our contacts already had classes they were teaching so we got to be guest speakers for the 2 weeks. Seeing how they handle and teach a room of kids was cool and inspiring. The kids were definitely ‘kids’ and had some rowdy moments, but we got to take some time and teach them about the parable of the best seats.

The parable “The Best Seats”   Luke 14:7-11   is a story Jesus shared. This story is about a dinner party with many guests, and what seat to sit in. Sounds really important doesn’t it? This parable is about being humble by putting others before yourself, and not being selfish. I shared with the kids that even though we think we may deserve the best, there may be someone more favored, so we have to be willing to leave the best seat and take the worst, then if we are called higher, we get to take the best seat. The best seat needs to be a gift from someone else instead of a place that we think we deserve. This really is a lot like salvation, we need to understand that salvation is a gift from God, not a label we believe we deserve. (Wow, the whole Bible really does always point to what Jesus did on the cross.) The parable ends with this statement from Jesus: For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted - Luke 14:11. Now, teaching this to a bunch of kids definitely was challenging but I think they understood most of it. 

Now, during this lesson, I realized that I loved teaching kids! Who knows, maybe someday I’ll get to have a class of my own. Getting to see them in awe of the lessons we taught them brought me so much joy. I taught the creation story to one class and they were in utter disbelief of how the world was made. One girl was sitting in the front row looking at me with her jaw dropped. She was amazed, to say the least. These kids really did warm my heart and I know the Lord will use what we taught them to bring a little more light into their lives. 

My teammates also taught the kids a lesson about Noah’s Ark. My friends Ashleigh Colford and Sofie Kate did a wonderful job teaching this story and the kids loved it a lot! The kids were amazed by Ashleigh’s Art on the whiteboard and they loved replicating Ashleigh by painting their own pictures, just like hers, to take home! 

This whole trip warmed my heart, to be honest. I got to experience the world in a whole new way, and it was different than I could have imagined. The transportation in buses for hours, the amazing but very different food, the chai that was absolutely delicious and not like any chai I’ve had in America, and the astonishing language that I couldn’t even begin to understand. This nation really did challenge me but gave me a new view of what the world looks like. 

Thank you to this beautiful country for welcoming me for a couple weeks, and thank you Lord for giving me new eyes to see the world you have created.