Tag: 1 corinthians 13

My Mission Trip to Kenya

~ Em ~ Leave a comment

Some of you may already know that I have been selected to go on a short term mission trip to Kenya this summer. Ever since I graduated from college in 2010, my heart’s been yearning to go out and do God’s work. This opportunity arose last year when I attended a young adult small group at the Dream Center, which is a part of Seacoast Church in Charleston, SC. There was a panel of young adults sharing about their experiences and service all of over the world. While listening to each of them speak, I could feel my heart wanting to burst out of my chest. I just knew that God was leading me to do more with my life and this trip to Africa was my first step. So that night, I decided to sign up for my first mission trip.

15dd35f1a9088bd653cf4c1e6f91e04eThe mission is the first two weeks in July and is affiliated with the Bread of Life Mission (BOL), a non-profit group that focuses on reaching the unreached by sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, enhancing discipleship in communities and showing compassion by serving people in need. BOL is currently serving four different people groups/areas in Africa: the Maasai, Pokot, Turkana, and Toposa. I will be serving in Turkana with about ten other people, spreading God’s love by continuing to build the community and ministering to its people.

God has opened this door for me and I plan to experience every aspect of the journey. But before I can walk through that door, I will need to prepare myself spiritually, physically, relationally and financially. The total amount of money that I need to raise is $3,500. This pays for travel, food and accommodations. Any amount would make a huge impact to my trip and would be such a blessing. If you feel lead to donate to my trip, please click here and then click on “support.” You can donate as a guest and select my name, Emily Steele, for the team member that you would like to support.

If you are unable to donate at this time, I completely understand. In that case, I just ask for your prayers as I step out on faith to reach heights I never knew existed. I am so excited to see God’s work and to experience His presence unlike ever before. I know that He is good and He will provide for you and for me and for the beautiful people that I will meet in Kenya. I can’t wait to share the experience with you through testimony, pictures and videos when I get back. I love you all so much and I am so grateful to have support and love from all of you in whatever form that may be.

In closing I want to share a word that God lead me to recently while praying about my trip, Psalm 34:

“I will extol the Lord at all times, his praise will always be on my lips. I will glory in the Lord, let the afflicted hear and rejoice. Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant, their faces are never covered with shame. This poor man called and the lord heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him and he delivers them. Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. Fear the Lord, you his holy people, for those who fear him lack nothing. Lions may grow weak and hungry but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Whoever of you loves life and desire to see many good days, keep you tongue from evil and your lips from telling lies. Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their cry but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil to blot out their name from the earth. The righteous cry out and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all; he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken. Evil will slay the wicked; the foes of the righteous will be condemned. The Lord will rescue his servants; no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.”

Thank you for your time to read this and thank you in advance for any donation or prayer that you send my way. Thank you also for being a blessing to me as friends and family in Christ!

To learn more about Bread of Life Missions, please click here.

What Faith, Hope and Love Means to Me

~ Em ~ Leave a comment

If I speak with the tongues men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do no have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish thing. For now we see in a mirror dimly but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love. -1 Corinthians 13

My rings

Corinthians 13 is one of the most quoted chapters in all of the Bible. Of course, we recognized it mostly from weddings and anniversaries. But to me, this chapter means more than a relationship between two people getting married or who are in love. To me, these are the rules or the standards in which I try to live by on a daily basis.

As a daily reminder, I wear three rings. One reads “faith,” one reads “hope” and one reads “love.” These rings were given to me by my older sister as a gift one Christmas. She wore the same ones and I, being the younger sister, wanted to be just like her so I asked for a set of my own. At that time, I didn’t really understand the significance of the rings and I”m pretty sure she knew I didn’t either. Eventually, the rings became a part of me, which I think she also knew would happen as well. I wear the rings everyday and rarely ever take them off.

What I didn’t know when I started wearing the rings was that God wants us to be strong in faith, steadfast in hope and unfailing in love. The words above and these three concepts are essentially describing what it means to be a Christian, to have a relationship with God. Over the years, as my faith deepened, I learned that there is a simplicity in these three things. Don’t get me wrong, it is not always that simple but it is that basic. God instills these gifts in us and wants us to use them in everything that we do.

Paul described these gifts as the greatest of all gifts that God has given us. In the previous chapter, Corinthians 12, Paul talks of the use of spiritual gifts and how God has enabled us all with faith, hope and love so that we can fight the good fight in His name. And that is what I am learning to do and attempting to do on a daily basis. This is why I titled my page, “My Faith, My Hope, My Love.” I want to share my journey and how these gifts assist me in my life and in my struggles. As I discover my special gifts in which God has given me and as I bring to light His purpose for me, I pray to continually be strengthened in my faith, adamantly hopeful and unshakable in His love.