“I’ll come with you!”  The words were out of my mouth before my brain had time to register what I was committing to. In a moment of uncharacteristic courage, I volunteered to go along with my husband on what would be my first trip interior … and I managed to pick a doozy.

The survey trip would involve one and a half hours of flying followed by a 3-hour boat ride upriver to an isolated village that has been begging MAF to serve their community. I knew it would mean hours of uncomfortable balancing in tipsy boats, hard floors for sleeping, questionable food options, unsafe drinking water, unsanitary bathrooms, limited privacy, and many unknown dangers.

As the date of our departure loomed closer, I began to feel afraid. What if I got hurt? What if the boat tipped over? What if I got sick and *ahem* needed a proper bathroom? The “what ifs” got bigger and more imaginative until I was nearly trembling.

At church on the day before our departure, the pastor began to pray, as he does every Sunday, for the many needs and requests in the church and region. Suddenly, I realized he was praying for us. As he spoke words of blessing and protection over our trip interior, I began to feel a great sense of peace. In my heart, I felt God reminding me that He was going with us.

Other people prayed, too – Facebook friends, teammates, family – and by the time I buckled into my seat on the plane, I felt utterly saturated in prayer and surrounded by God’s grace. I was no longer afraid. God was with us.

The trip did turn out to be epic. It was the kind of trip where God’s hand of protection is almost visible because it is so obvious. I came home weary and sore (and stinky) but never more aware of God’s promise:

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” — Isaiah 41:10 (ESV)

###

Watch the video and read the testimonies of what MAF accomplished with your help in remote and isolated villages in Indonesia, Haiti, Africa and five restricted access countries in 2014: www.2014impact.org.