God’s awesome at blowing my mind, and He’s done it lately by turning the tables to let me pour into others what I needed this time not too long ago. I find myself talking to others who are going “out into the world” about my own experience and passing on my favorite advice – the very things I was clinging to when I first learned them before I went to Haiti for my 12 months with CompassionCorp.

Want to know the most important thing I tell people? Outside of Jesus, the big thing that people need – the crucial key to mission? Okay, here’s the secret recipe:
Be a student.

No matter your age, what you know or don’t know, previous experience, goals, the form of relationship – no matter what you’re doing or where you are, learn from the people around you. One of the best reminders posted on the wall before I walk out of my bedroom door is about learning from people. That is an accomplishment in itself, no matter what else the day brings.

(This takes humility, patience, listening, observing without quick judgement.)

You benefit, they benefit, ministry benefits.

There’s no one – not one person out there – that has absolutely nothing to teach you.

Don’t miss this: if you’re reading this but you aren’t “going off” into a mission field or living in some foreign context…you’re not excluded. This is the same amount of truth no matter what your “mission field” is.