Finding Church Abroad

My whole dang trip was a huge string of God events, there is no other explanation. Heck, even how Josey and I got on the dang ship was a God thing (read that HERE).

Before I left, I had no doubt that if God had taken care of me up until that point (and trust me, He had), He wouldn’t just stop there (spoiler alert, He didn’t). But I didn’t know what that was going to look like, especially church. I mean, I knew what I was doing at home. I had a community of incredible people that constantly pushed me deeper in my relationship with Jesus. But I just wondered, would that look the same when I was gone?

The good thing is, like I said, God didn’t disappoint. I realized once we had been on the ship for a few days that I could see God in everything. There still is nothing like listening to worship, listening to a sermon, talking with friends, reading scripture, or whatever it is, with this view. I mean you can see Him in EVERYTHING (especially the sunsets).

I spent a lot of time in Bible study (THIS is my FAVORITE Bible there is) with friends or in the mornings and it was incredible. I also brought THIS devotional, which is almost in pieces I love it so much.

The other thing I loved was listening to podcasts on deck 7. My absolute favorite were ones by Michael Todd from Transformation Church. I’m pretty sure I downloaded every single one available on iTunes. For me, this was how I got my church teachings. Here is my favorite series:

But let me tell you, what really changed it, was the community. Guys, God calls us into community, we NEED it (Genesis 2:18). I mean it is literally how we get support (Galatians 6:2). As I said, God is always working because He put the exact people I needed on the ship: Christians at Sea.

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Christians at Sea was the way that I was able to build that community away from home. Guys, it was incredible to be able to meet people, even ones who shared different beliefs and join in community. I think it was one of the biggest reasons the ship felt like home. And holy buckets did these people emphasize the difference between church as a building and church as a community.

It helped me see the different aspects of Jesus’ character–the ones I knew, but more importantly the ones I lacked in. It helped me see the LOVE, the JOY, the GENEROSITY, and the HUMILITY of those around me (both on the ship and off). Because of these people and this time on the ship, I grew more in my faith and more as a person than I ever knew possible.

Why? Because God has His way in everything. Every. Single. Thing. I worried about, HE already took care of.

“The human mind plans the way, but the LORD establishes the steps,” Proverbs 16:9

The church service I went to right before I left, during the praise and worship was when the whole ‘I’m leaving for four months’ thing hit me.

We sang “Good Grace” by Hillsong United (watch it HERE) and for whatever reason, the tears wouldn’t stop flowing. I realized how blessed I was to be there, singing those words. And I felt such a peace about the unknown I was about to face.

That song continued to be a sense of peace for me, a crutch if you will, and was on constant repeat.

Why am I telling you this? Because that song was a God thing for me.

The day we got of the ship was Easter and the first place we went was church, Hillsong Church in Amsterdam. And let me tell you, it genuienly felt like home. The ship was home for four months and I loved it, but walking to church was like my second home.

The first song we sang was “Good Grace” by Hillsong. And I knew from the opening notes and absolutely lost it. I was like a freaking water fountain, but I wasn’t upset.

In fact, I felt the exact same way I did when I heard it before I left. It felt like God was saying, “you are exactly where I want you to be, doing exactly what I want you to be doing.” And let me tell you, its the most incredible feeling.

Throughout that song, a few of my friends would hug me. We would sort of all just hold on to each other and sing. That song was peace for everyone. I truly have never been to worship like that, it can only be because of God.

For me, praise and worship is one of the most important parts of my relationship with Jesus. And in a lot of ways, that’s when I hear from him the most. In case you’re curious, these are two playlists that I listened to non-stop while I was gone.

Am I going to tell you that it was always perfect? Of course not, nobody is perfect–I certainly am not. There were days it was hard, I mean really hard.

There were things that we saw that made my heartbreak and ask the question, “God if you are good, then why is this happening?”

There were things that I saw that I didn’t understand, especially about other religions. We saw the body cremations in Varanasi (I write more about that HERE) and I don’t think I will ever truly understand and that’s okay.

But for me, all of those were God-moments because they revealed something I didn’t know or it made me ask a question to understand Him better.

I’m not saying I’ve totally got all of this figured out, truth be told I’m not sure anyone does or ever will. But as for me, I’ll keep striving towards those God-moments, no matter where I go.

Because like I said, God truly worked through my entire trip, filling it with God-moments and Christ-reflecting people. I can praise Him every second and that still won’t be enough.

Initaly I thought abroad would be more of a challenge on my faith. Which is true. But what I didn’t account for, was how much growth there would be too.

And for that, I’m forever thankful.

Until next time,

Katelyn