Day 8 -- Life Outside My Comfort Zone

Katie begins to log some changes happening inside her during this mission trip

By Katie Croft | 26 January 2009

I am thankful for the many colorful experiences that Africa has added to my otherwise taupe-colored life. Photo by Matthew Cushman

Cameroon Journal

Editor’s Note: This is the eighth of 10 entries from writer Katie Croft.

Day 8

Something about this mission trip has brought a new sense of life to me, more than all the sermons I’ve heard for years.

Here I am surrounded by people who have never heard the gospel story, and I am seeing the Great Commission in action.

As I see Christ crucified on screen for the fifth or sixth time this week, I begin to wonder -- how can I go through another Christmas or Easter season or even a week without wholeheartedly thanking the Lord for being a willing and perfect sacrifice for my sin?

Loving Jesus More Than Comfort

I want to love Jesus more than I love comfort, and very little about this trip has been comfortable:

scorching sun
unfamiliar foods
countless hours of waiting

But there is nowhere else I would rather be.

Being out of my comfort zone makes me tender again to the Lord’s leading in my life and I find myself recognizing blessings that I would probably miss in an everyday routine. Things like:

teaching Cameroonian children how to play duck-duck-goose and singing camp songs like “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes”
getting to know a teammate on a deeper level as we explore and learn a new culture together
watching a village hear about Jesus for the first time

I am thankful for the many colorful experiences that Africa has added to my otherwise taupe-colored life.

And this film -- the story it tells -- has the power to change lives. I’ve seen it happen.

I wonder what God has in store for the people who will watch tomorrow.

I wonder what God has in store for me.