01/25/06 :: Not about me
Miami, FL >> James Tschannen (Sovereign Grace Church, Titusville, FL) spent a weekend in Miami last July—not to hang out at the beach, but to serve Palm Vista Community Church and share the gospel in Miami as part of a Mission:X team. James sent us the story....
The Miami Mission:X trip was one of the most memorable, fun, exciting, encouraging, and challenging experiences of my life.
Subconsciously, I think I was expecting a kind of conference experience, and I was really looking forward to that, but it was so much more than I was anticipating. I love conferences. I go to every one I can: Celebrations, men's retreats, Xtremes, and worship conferences. I even sneaked into a sound tech conference once. To me, these conferences are a brilliant combination of the most satisfying and enjoyable things in life: great biblical messages, passionate worship, and hanging out with friends, especially friends from other churches that I don't get to see as often as I'd like. My trip to Miami was all that, but so much more!
Conferences are always, in a way, self-focused. They are all about my relationship with God and my relationship with others. But Miami was totally different. Almost everything we did was about serving others. Somehow, though, that kind of experience was much more enjoyable. It felt like we were really helping people and carrying out the commands of Christ much more than at a Celebration.
The interaction and conversation that I had with people in Miami was richer than anything I have experienced at Xtreme. In those kinds of settings, I usually spend most of my time with people I know and only meet new people when our circles overlap. In Miami, however, I only really knew two of the other people that were going on the trip (not including my family) so I had no choice but to make new friends. The friendships that were started in Miami are so precious to me because they were born in the midst of serving God and spreading the gospel. There is just something about working alongside of people that makes relationships so much more real and valuable.
We also did a lot of driving that weekend. Four hours down and back, a four-hour bus tour of the city, and lots of driving to and from the hotel to concerts, churches, nursing homes, orphanages, and the mall. During those trips, I had many interesting, hilarious, God-glorifying conversations with people that I was just getting to know.
I will always treasure the friendships that were started in Miami, but what I value most about the trip is how God used it to show me how we as Christians are to interact with the world. Although it was a mission trip and a one-time event, I really think that it was a lesson in how we are to live our lives every day. In Miami, I was struck by how dependent our leadership was on prayer. I saw displayed a real humility and hunger for God that encouraged me to depend more on God in my own daily life.