Abide, Depend, and Go | A WLI Share Your Story Blog

This year, I’ve learned and experienced the power of prayer and abiding in Christ.

Last spring, as I was finishing up my junior year of college, I felt lost and confused. The summer after junior year is when college students are expected to have that big internship that will prepare them for the future. But I had nothing lined up. It felt like I was stuck in the waiting.

I remember asking the Lord to give me peace in the waiting and to trust His plans for me. A few weeks later, a friend invited me to apply to the Woodside Leadership Institute. I had asked the Lord to increase my trust in Him, and this was an opportunity to walk by faith.

A few weeks later, I joined WLI as an intern for Collective, Woodside Troy’s young adult ministry, while working part-time as Woodside’s human resources administrative assistant. As I served young adults and learned from other leaders in the church, there was one word that God kept placing before me: abide.

ABIDE

John 15 states that Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. We’re fully dependent on Christ, and as we abide in Him, we begin to bear fruit. This fruit is the evidence of Christ in our lives.

My biggest prayer over the summer was, “Father, teach me to abide.” My heart desired to have a deeper intimacy with the Lord. I wanted to become more like my Father. I was burdened by the reality that not everyone knows the same God that I know and love. Not everyone has experienced the sacrificial love of Christ or the hope of the Gospel. There are people who are lost and hopeless in their suffering. This started to tug at my heart. I wanted others to know my God.

BEAUTIFUL FEET CARRY THE GOSPEL

One morning at our WLI meeting, a missionary shared Romans 10:15 and Isaiah 52:7, which says, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’”

As the Lord continued to burden my heart for the lost, I began to pray and ask the Lord where He wanted to take my feet for the spread of the Gospel. I asked God to break my heart for the souls of the lost and to give me a deep desire to see others come to know Him. I wanted to be used by God.

DEPEND: OUT OF MY COMFORT ZONE

As I finished my summer internship and began my senior year at Cedarville University, the Lord continued to give me a desire for missions. A burden for lost souls continued to grow in my heart, and my desire to see others come to know the God that gave me life, joy, and freedom deepened. I asked myself, “How will they know Him if they have not heard?” (Romans 10:14-15).

I wanted to be pushed out of my comfort zone. I wanted to be challenged in my faith and to share the good news of the Gospel with lost souls. So, I again asked the Lord, “Where do you want to take my feet for the spread of the Gospel?”

I went on my university’s global outreach website and applied for an international evangelism trip. A few months later, I found myself on the plane traveling to London, England.

GO: LONDON

I traveled with a team of 40 other Cedarville University students and partnered with Cru’s Agape ministry to evangelize on college campuses. London has a diverse college population with students studying abroad from all over the world, allowing for a diversity in cultural and religious beliefs.

During my time there, I had both encouraging and difficult conversations. There were people who had ears to hear, people who were not ready to hear, and people who openly rejected God. But I was reminded that evangelism requires full surrender and dependence on the Lord through prayer and abiding in Him. We are simply the vessels that God uses to share His good news, and it’s God who softens the hearts and waters the seeds that have been planted. We must humble ourselves to the Lord, pray for opportunities, plant seeds, and ask that His spirit would work in and through us as His vessels.

By the grace of God, our team was able to reach 57 nations, have 312 spiritual conversations, and share the Gospel 178 times!

Now, meditate with me: If one student accepts Christ and brings the Gospel back home to their nation, how many more people could come to know Christ? One conversation can take the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

NEXT STEPS: CONTINUE PRAYING

The hardest part of a mission trip is coming back home. One moment you experience the power of God at work, and then the next moment you’re back in the mundane routine of life.

I returned home feeling heavy and burdened for the people I talked to. It was difficult walking away from those conversations not knowing if they would receive salvation. I didn’t want the trip to end. I wanted to trust that God was still at work.

So I challenged myself to stay on mission through prayer over the salvation of their souls. I prayed that God would use my planted seeds to further His kingdom. I may never know the outcome of these prayers while on earth, but I believe in the power of God and hope to someday rejoice in Heaven with some familiar faces that I met one day in London.

As you read this, please partner with me in prayer over the individuals that my team met in London. Pray that their hearts would be softened to the Gospel and that they would have ears to hear. Pray that God would surround them with other individuals that continue to water the seeds and point them to Christ. Pray that the Gospel would spread throughout the nations and that God’s kingdom would be furthered. Pray over Matthew 9:37-38.

OUR CALLING: LIVING SACRIFICES FOR THE GLORY OF GOD

Romans 12:1-2 (KJV) says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

Every person has a calling. No matter who you are or what you do, we are ALL called to be a living sacrifice for the glory of God. This is our only reasonable response to the love, sacrifice, and forgiveness Christ has shown to us. This means that we are all called to be full-time missionaries in our occupations, families, relationships, and daily lives. We are called to be members of the local Church, share the good news, make disciples, and baptize through the power of the Holy Spirit that indwells in us (Matthew 28:19-20).

May This Be Our Prayer: “Father, teach me to abide. Let my feet carry your Gospel and let me be a vessel that plants the seeds. May I be a living sacrifice for You and bring glory to Your name for the furtherance of Your kingdom. Amen.”

Ashlyn Shares More About Evangelizing to Students in London:

Podcast: Leaning on the Lord | Lavender and Honey