My Story

Hey everybody!

My name is Cedric, and I'm part of this team that's going to Benin. I would like to take a little bit of time to share with you my story about how I came to be part of this team.

If you knew me just over 8 months earlier from today, you would have been talking to somebody who didn't have a true heart for the lost. I would talk about it and rationalize why we should go on missions and all, but I never actually lived it out nor let my heart truly burn for the lost. But all of this changed in literally 15 minutes. In January, I went to a retreat that really spoke to me and challenged me. The speaker was talking about fighting for justice and the urgency behind it. To make a long story short, God had opened up my eyes to how cold I had been and how distant I kept myself from truly knowing Him in avoiding a missional lifestyle. From then on, I knew that my calling was literally for those who had never heard that Jesus had died and risen again so that they may have salvation.

During the first week after the retreat, I was walking to class, and I felt God tell me, "Cedric, this term I am going to teach you about justice and injustice." I just shrugged it off, said "Okay" and decided to just go with it as it came. That Friday (a week after the retreat), I went to a class and saw a video called "The Ghosts of Abu Graib" which is about how American Soldiers were mindlessly torturing Iraqi Civilians. On my way home from class, I was INCREDIBLY upset and my heart rate was raised for literally a good 8 hours. As I walked, I prayed to God and complained about this world and asked how we can possibly do anything to save such a hopeless world.

"Why don't you try to start up a mission team with CCF people?" asked God.

"What?"

"You heard me. Gather some people to go on a mission trip this summer."

"You're crazy! We've never even really talked about that seriously in CCF yet. I haven't even gone overseas for a mission trip, and you want me to lead this??"

"Yes. Bring it up at CCF tonight, and see what happens."

"How many people should I expect?" I asked.

God put the number 10 on my heart. So I asked the fellowship later on that evening about interest in going on the mission trip. 8 people raised their hands, another person expressed interest later that evening after fellowship, and then including myself...exactly 10 people as God told me. With this confirmation, things became more and more exciting!

In March, I went to MissionFest with Janet so that we can do more research on what trips we can go on. Unfortunately, we got there quite late because we drove through a blizzard just to get there. So we didn't get to really visit as many booths as we had hoped, but among the few we checked out was SIM.

We contacted SIM shortly after, and things didn't seem to work out well, because the original team that was ready to go this summer could not go. After about a month, I had given up on SIM because things had seemed so bleak, but God would show His great timing. In April, I received a call from SIM telling us that the mission trip may still go through if we would like to still go - but we would have to decide in literally less than 24 hours! After having searched through so many mission organizations and finding nearly no opportunities that suited what we were looking for, this opportunity was definitely God-sent! It was an answer to both our prayer and Jim prayer, as he was looking for a team to go with him to visit Don and Erin.

Today, I still see God's hand at work in preparation for this trip. Financially, I had always been very challenged and burdened about how I could possibly come up with the funds for a mission trip this summer. But God had reassured me that I will not have to pay anything out of my own pocket because His grace will be all that I need for this trip. I have seen God's great provision, even through people who I have not met at all before! God has always been so faithful with everything I invested in Him and stepped out in faith with.

As I prepare for this trip in the last few days before departure, I see great support and love from many friends around me. Many times, I've stopped to realize how unfit and undeserving I am, but even still God loves me through the great friends and family around me. Thanks to everybody who has seen this trip come together and has supported our team in whatever capacity! God bless, and our team looks forward to sharing amazing stories when we return!

Cedric