Overseas and Under Pressure

CTI has really been a lot like a roller coaster. There are many highs and lows. There will be a couple of days where we’ll be very busy and always on the go, and then there will be slow days with traveling or simply resting. It seems like the busy periods are the times God uses to challenge us and teach us.

The theme of our team for the past week seems to be getting out of our comfort zone and sharing personal things during concerts that we didn’t expect we would be sharing. I’m thrilled to be learning this lesson together with my team! It means we’re learning how to be vulnerable and how to put ourselves personally into our ministry. That’s huge! Otherwise what we do could be boiled down to a formula. Formulas are great and all, but not for things that are intended to be personal (or so I’m told).

I think it’s awesome that we’re being challenged like this shortly before heading to Hong Kong, where we’ll surely leave our comfort zone at the airport. I know I’m pretty scared of Hong Kong. It’s going to be crazy! As someone who’s new to running sound, let alone playing at the same time, I’m not exactly looking forward to playing multiple, uniquely non-ideal setups in a day for several weeks. And although I know it’s going to be an especially challenging experience, I’m still looking forward to it. Every amazing experience in my life has revolved around a time of discomfort, and usually exhaustion.

Above and beyond all of my inwardly focused concerns remains the original purpose of me joining CTI: share the gospel in any and every way feasible. In Hong Kong we will have many opportunities for this. More important than the songs we do and the dramas we perform is the message we bring. It is my hope and prayer that we will be able to share the gospel of Jesus with many in a way that they understand and connect with. And as is the nature of God, I fully expect to come out of this experience having grown closer to my teammates as well as closer to God.