by Laura, High River SERVE Participant, 2014
In the summer of 2014, a group of students from my church, Maranatha Christian Reformed Church in Edmonton, Alberta, embarked on a SERVE mission trip to High River, Alberta. High River had been hit with a disastrous flood one summer earlier, and as a result, the entire city had to be evacuated for 10 days. Our mission on the SERVE trip was to assist the town in cleaning up any damage that had come from the flooding… and there was a lot of it!
We painted battered fences, rebuilt decks and houses, landscaped, built gardens, etc., but we did so much more than just the physical labour. We also listened. We listened to numerous accounts of disaster and strife, and we listened as locals cried when they recounted the emotional aspect of the flood.
One of the most amazing parts of the trip though, was when we were honoured with the opportunity to listen to the miraculous things that Jesus had done during the flood. Amidst houses being torn to pieces, and lives being turned upside down, it was beautiful to see that people were so aware of what God was showing them and what he was accomplishing in the storm.
A particular story that stuck out to me was told by the pastor of a local church. The church had been hit just as hard as every other building, so when Pastor Paul was allowed back into it, he expected to see everything in the basement in disarray. As predicted, everything in the room had been knocked down, forced into different places or broken, but the table that was holding the Bible was solidly standing where it belonged.
For me, this was an incredible and direct message from God. When you feel knocked down, like you’re in the wrong place, or when things in life seem broken, God is never failing. He doesn’t leave us when our lives overflow with sin or when we keep falling down. When I heard the story, and was reminded of this aspect of God, it made me feel so secure in my relationship with him, like I was seeing Jesus in a very direct way.
I look forward to hearing, experiencing and sharing many more miracles as I daily strive to live for Christ, and I’m so thankful that one of the places I could do that was on my SERVE trip to High River.
This is an excerpt from the Youth Unlimited Summer Magazine. To view the whole magazine, click here.
