It’s been more than 5 weeks now….
The excitement of the first week when everything is new and cool had turned into questioning my initial decision – why am I here, why did God send me here?
All the things which make this volunteering program amazing and I was looking forward to, such as community life, learning about new cultures, going on trips together, were suddenly hard. I started to miss my car, my uninterrupted sleep, my comfort zone…
I guess I needed to encounter this phase to understand that God’s plan is different than mine. I don’t need to know my purpose here right now, because it will be known to me at the right time. All He is asking me now is to have faith in him, to unconditionally rely on him. In the same way as the woman from our Encounter chapel had. She suffered from bleeding for 12 years and when she touched Jesus she was healed. He told her that it was her faith that healed her. It is really unbelievable that I repeat this to our pilgrims on daily basis (I started giving tours couple of weeks ago) and yet I don’t have this faith in Him for my life! I look at my life with my human eyes whilst he said that I was created for heavenly things. I’m glad I came to volunteer for a longer period of time because until I passed the turmoil of my emotions a month had passed and only now I can start comprehending and living the new life God has prepared for me.
As I mentioned above, I started giving tours to pilgrims who come to Magdala. It is an amazing job to talk about Jesus to other people and connect different religions with the Magdala experience. Now, you might think: “what can be a better job in Magdala than this!” Do you know how I start my day as a guide though? By cleaning toilets! And so, yes, staying humble is very important, and I definitely realized that all the jobs are equally significant and that I came here to serve by Jesus’ example.
I do love giving tours. I love to see how Jesus touches the hearts and minds of pilgrims coming here. I love to pray for them and see them leaving full of joy and courage to proclaim the gospel in their families/countries. I also love when they pray for me. Protestant pastors, catholic priests, women converted from Islam- all these people prayed for me on their own accord. Magdala is truly an amazing place that connects all of us in prayer.