My experience overseas this summer is one that I will always remember. Not because I was in a really cool place eating amazingly good food or because I got to take some awesome pictures with my new friends.  This journey will be remembered because Father provided me the funds to go overseas and step into the Ancient Work that has been going on for centuries. This summer I was blessed with the opportunity to join Father’s Work in Paris, France with iGo Global.

While I was overseas, my team and I were given the opportunity to learn more about Father, to worship, and to pray. We also had the privilege of engaging with people of various nationalities and cultural backgrounds. Father allowed us to have conversations with these people, to share His Story, and to connect them with the M’s who live in the areas that we were working in.

There are so many memorable moments that occurred during my time overseas. So many incredible things took place and I would share them all if I could, but I would like to share one particular story with you. While overseas, the trek group I was a part of was on a Metro Hopping Team. My trek group wasn’t at just one or two sites every day. We spent our time at five to six different locations.

While we were prayer walking around one of the parks our hearts continued to break for the people that we saw. As our time was coming to an end at this particular park, Deborah and I sat in the grass and began to pray over a conversation that one of our guys was having. We began praying for our teammate Sam and asking Father to give him an opportunity to share the Story.

After his conversation had ended, our trek group met back up. When Sam shared what happened, I was in awe of how Father works. L, the man that Sam got to speak with was from North Africa. He told Sam that he wanted to meet more Americans because the French refused to trust or accept his people.  L also told Sam that he had met an American two years ago, who shared the Story with Him.

When I heard that, I was reminded of Ancient Work, one of the iGo Core Values. It was a reminder to me that we don’t start anything. In John 4:38 it states, “I have sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”  Long before we ever got to Paris, someone else was there, and someone else did the hard work. Father has been working in L’s life long before we ever arrived.

A few days after Sam spoke to L, another trek group from iGo shared during Celebration that they had met him as well. This was yet another reminder to me about Ancient Work. We didn’t start anything. And we didn’t finish anything. However, we were all able to find joy in this because we were all a part of Father’s work.

This whole experience was a reminder to me of the importance of prayer. Everything about this one situation revolved around the foundation of prayer. Long before we arrived in Paris, someone prayed for this area and the people that would be living or working there. While Sam was talking to L, Deborah and I were praying over their conversation, and specifically praying that L would one day see Christ as Savior. When the other iGo group shared that they had also met L, we prayed during Celebration that Father would continue to bring people into His life that would share the love of Christ with Him.

Prayer was the foundation of all that we did while we were overseas. If no one does the hard work of plowing, no one will be able to sow or reap. It goes back to what the verse in John says. We have reaped the benefits of other people’s labor. Other people have prayed, where we were able to reap. Later on others will reap, where we have plowed. We are all a part of His work though, and we can all find joy in that.
Father has used this experience with iGo to continue putting a passion in my heart for growing in my walk with Christ, to share the Story with people in my local community, and with those who are thousands of miles away from where I call home. I am excited to see the opportunities that Father will place in my life during this upcoming semester at college, and I am looking forward to wherever He leads me in the future.