Sometimes I feel like I am always the guinea pig. Do you ever feel that way? When I was younger, I always resented that because the first guinea pigs always get the hardest tests. In testing labs, they usually die the most gruesome deaths. "Oops! I guess we won't try that again..." I just watched a history channel - type video about World War 2's secret weapons and the development of technology by genius individuals. I kinda feel sorry for the test pilots of those aircraft that had never been tested before. It's not like there was a flight simulator available or anything... If they crashed, many times they died.
But, here's one thing that inspires me about "guinea pigs:" it's all about progress and development. If you find something that you can give your life to, it won't seem like that much of a sacrifice to be a guinea pig. Wanting to develop a way for missions to be done more efficiently and effectively, I've dedicated myself to become the guinea pig doing the test run on this. Why try to encourage others to try what I have not been successful at myself? With that in mind, I am eager and zealous to do something great in the local church that I am part of. This realization has been sobering too, but it has been an encouragement to work with Daniel (the Pastor's son) here who is also somewhat of a visionary. We see the great potential that Grace Baptist Church has to grow and expand in the community. Can I be completely honest here? It's completely by faith in what we believe God can do through two individuals willing to serve and obey God. When we are successful, not a single future missionary can use as an excuse that their church is too small to send them. We can point back to what God did (will do) with Grace Baptist Church. In light of what we believe about God, Daniel and I are planning on getting ready for future growth.
Along the same lines of being a guinea pig, God will never lead us into a situation for the purpose of hurting us. God doesn't experiment because He already knows the outcome. That's a comforting thought. Every guinea pig experience is a chance to develop. So, starting this Sunday, I will be teaching the teens and it will be my responsibility to handle all of the activities that we do each month. I have never been a youth pastor before - this is gonna stretch me. But that's a good thing. I pray for the young men and women that they will have the patience to stay as I grow into the role. I think the patience-thing will be a two-way street. Without God all over this, I will fail miserably -same with the Gospel Lilypad Project. Here's to being a guinea pig!
