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Making a Difference
By Linda Benso

This is the third trip I have been on with International Interns. Each time I go, I have hopes that God will use me to make a difference for Christ in the lives of the people. In all three cases, I am never sure that my being there has made a difference. God does not seem to use me to lead people to Christ as is my hearts desire, but I do think that God uses me to be a seed planter. I don’t always get to see if there is a harvest of those seeds. Was I mistaken in going? I don’t think so. In every case, if I have not made a difference in their lives, they have certainly impacted mine.

This trip has been the most eventful for me. As a team, we experienced what I would consider spiritual warfare, meant to discourage or keep us from interacting with others. Even so I had some very exciting moments. One such event would be my meeting Feride. She was one of several people from the refugee camp that came to the English camp in Czech Republic. She was in our beginning English class; though I am sure she already knew much of what we were teaching. Over the week, she often sat with us at meals and I was able to build a relationship. She told me one day that her name meant “Pearl”. Immediately I thought of the parable of the pearl of great price. I used it to convey to her that she is a pearl of great value to God and that He gave everything to purchase her by giving his Son Jesus to die in her place.

Before I left, I wanted to leave my Russian/English New Testament with Feride. At first, she would not take it, stating that she never reads the Bible. I convinced her to take it because the Russian and English were written together and it might help her with her English. She asked me to write something in the Bible. I wrote again about how Jesus loved her and paid a price for her. She started e-mailing me and I include a passage of scripture each time I respond to her. She has now asked about where to find the parable of the pearl in the Bible. I am praying God will help her to come to a knowledge of Him and so be saved. I am praying for there to be someone to water and someone to harvest when the time is right.

Jim always says, “Just show up!” and I like that because we can never be sure what God intends for us when we go. Each time I return home, I long for the relationships God has allowed me to build while on the trip and a piece of my heart is left there. I now have pieces of my heart in Moldova, Russia, and Czech Republic. The exciting thing is that one day, all the pieces of my heart will become whole again as we all meet in God’s eternal kingdom, and I will have lots of catching up to do with all those I have met.