Frances

在今年YSMP的服事旅程中，Frances经历了一段出乎意料的转折——一次突如其来的头部受伤，成为她学习谦卑、经历医治，并深刻体会神奇妙带领的关键时刻。

This summer at YSMP, Frances’s journey of service took an unexpected turn. What began with a painful head injury became a powerful lesson in humility, healing, and God’s providence.

YSMP has always held a special place in my heart. Every year, I look forward to being able to serve with my brothers and sisters in Christ and get to know them more. Whiteriver is one of my homes away from home, and I am always honored to be able to serve there. I’ve always known what to look forward to in Arizona, but this year had some unexpected challenges. I didn’t expect to get injured on the first day of YSMP. We had just finished brunch at McDonald’s when I decided it would be best to take a nap in the car because I was getting a little sleepy and motion sick. I leaned back and hit a seatbelt cover that I didn’t know existed. Usually, in the middle seats of the car, it’s flat, but in this van, there was a plastic box covering where the seat belt extended from. I thought I was fine as it hurt for a second, and it felt like just a small bump. However, when I woke up at our next stop, I had a headache forming. I assumed it was from dehydration as I slept the whole time and didn’t have a chance to drink some water. I hydrated and went back to sleep. During our next stop, I didn’t notice any difference and went about the day as normal. I assumed my headache would be gone by the time we made it to Phoenix, but I was wrong. As we made our way to the opening rally, I realized my headache had gotten worse. Pastor Jon was playing some worship songs in the car, and my head hurt every time I tried to sing along. I decided to ice my head with an ice pack that was in the cooler with the snacks. Thank you to He Jie for packing us snacks for the car ride! After the opening rally, we made our way to dinner with the church we would be working with, C3. I am so blessed and thankful for so many people on the team making sure I was okay. We bought some Tylenol and I took it before bed. They suggested that I should get my head checked out, but I still thought it was just another headache I got, and it would go away by morning. Once again, I was wrong. 

I woke up and felt the same as I did the day before. We had breakfast, and Anna from the local Phoenix church graciously gave me an ice pack to take with me on the car ride to Whiteriver. Throughout the car ride there, nothing changed about how I felt. It wasn’t until after we finished cleaning up the church that I started to feel worse. My headache wasn’t getting better, and the altitude was making it worse. For dinner, we had Indian tacos made by the local church. It was delicious and I enjoyed it very much, but as I was finishing up dinner, my vision started to change. I was testing my vision by looking at the other table when I noticed it was out of focus. It’s like when your camera is trying to focus on the object and it’s almost focused but not quite. While I was doing this, Pastor Jon was asking me if I was okay. I heard him speak to me, but it was like I couldn’t respond normally. It took me a second longer to respond, and that’s when he highly suggested that I go to Urgent Care, and so I agreed, even if I didn’t want to. I don’t enjoy going to hospitals, but God was teaching me to take care of myself before I served Him on this mission trip. Pastor Joe, Jill, and Greg went with me, but the Urgent Care radiologist had left for the day. We were referred to the Emergency room and waited to be seen. It took a while, as all E.R. trips do. It was my first time getting an I.V. Drip, but it felt like it didn’t make my head feel better. While this was going on, I was asking God to heal me so that I would be able to serve the local community. There was a chance that my head injury was severe, and I had to be taken back to L.A. Fortunately, praise God, they scanned my head and it was clear. I’m really thankful to Jill for staying with me the whole trip and taking care of everything so I could rest. John 13:34 calls us to “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” and Jill did just that. I also felt the love of our Church community, and I’m so thankful for your prayers. I was told not to do anything straining and to rest for the whole week, but if you know me, I tend to be quite stubborn.

We were able to make it back to Sunday Service and I decided that I felt well enough to still be on the Worship team. Even though my head hurt more every time I sang, I thought to myself, “How can I keep from singing your praise?”. I couldn’t help but worship through music as I really felt the Holy Spirit moving in the church as everyone sang. Now that I was back to our regularly scheduled YSMP, I was in charge of morning Arts & Crafts and teaching Kindergarten for VBS. With my head injury, it seemed like it would be challenging to teach Kindergarteners. God really taught me how to be patient and loving to these children. “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.” 1 Corinthians 13:4. It is through God’s help that I was able to be patient with these kids and understand that these children have already gone through so much. All I could do was be that little break in their life and make sure they were enjoying VBS. It seems like we’re not doing much, but in reality, I can see how much these kids enjoy VBS and how it’s a safe haven for them. Because of my head injury, I felt like I wasn’t doing as much as I could, and I wasn’t able to share the gospel outside of VBS. However, God had heard my worries, as he always does, and provided me with an opportunity that I never thought would happen. 

It was Thursday, our community outreach day, which was also our final day before heading back to Phoenix. Ethan, Enoch, and some of the YSMP team prepared a skit to perform for the community, and I was in charge of music. Before the skit began, I was walking around the playground and noticed a girl sitting by herself. She wasn’t playing on the playground, and she wasn’t interacting with anyone else. I looked around the area and wondered if this was a sign from God to go up and talk to her. I decided to take the opportunity handed to me and nervously walked over to her. I asked her if I could sit down with her and she agreed. She told me her name was Leslie and she had heard about this event from her Summer teacher Paula, who is Pastor Hoyt’s wife. If you don’t know, Pastor Hoyt is the pastor of the church we were working with. I asked her all the questions, like if she believed in Jesus and if she went to church. The way she answered these questions made me feel like I was talking to someone who is very wise. She discussed how she thought Jesus was returning soon because of the current situation in the world and asked me about the Ten Commandments. I went over them with her, but was cut short as the skit was starting. It seemed like the conversation abruptly ended, so I went to look for her after the skit. She seemed to enjoy sitting on the floor, something I also enjoy, and I sat with her.   

Throughout our conversations, she asked if she could share some things with me, but asked if I would keep it a secret. I nodded my head, and she shared with me a lot of things that I feel like no kid should ever go through at her age. I thought I was talking to someone who was going to start high school, but she’s actually only ten years old. Part of me was shocked, and the other part of me was disappointed to hear that she was going through what a lot of the kids were going through on these reservations. Every year, we hear countless stories of how these kids are going through so much at home and how much of an impact we have on them. We may not think we are doing enough, but to them, it’s a blessing. Leslie told me that this was something she only told her friends, and it touched my heart that she could think of me as a friend so quickly. Suddenly, one of the local church members, Nina, decided to sit with us. She asked both of us if we went to church. I said yes while Leslie stated no, but she wanted to. Nina asked me what church I went to, and I stated it was back in California. She hadn’t recognized me and thought I was one of the local kids. I was able to witness Nina share the gospel for the first time. She led Leslie through Romans road, and it felt like she was a natural. It wasn’t until our debrief that I learned it was her first time. I felt very blessed to be a part of this conversation. 

Earlier, Leslie had asked me if I listened to K-pop, and I listened to a couple of groups that I listen to, including BlackPink. I actually don’t listen to BlackPink as much anymore, but it turns out that she made a bracelet based on BlackPink and wanted to give it to me. Out of all the K-pop groups I could list, it so happened that I listed the group for which she made the bracelet. Now, that’s God working in this conversation. When her mom arrived, she didn’t want to leave, but I told her that I would walk with her to the car. Before this YSMP trip, I had a bracelet with the words “Blessed” on it. It’s from a company called the “Little Words Project,” where you wear this bracelet until you feel like someone else needs it more than you do, and you give it to them. I gave this bracelet to Leslie and let her know that I will always be thinking of her. I used to use this bracelet to remind me that God is working in my life and I am blessed to know Him. He will care for all of my anxieties and worries. I hope that she will be reminded of the same thing every time she looks at this bracelet. I prayed for her, and she went on her way home.

1 Peter 5:6 states, “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you at the proper time.”. I was so worried that I wouldn’t be able to serve the community that I forgot that it’s through God that we can reach the community at Whiteriver. When I wasn’t so focused on my own abilities, but on the Lord, He provided me with a Spirit-filled opportunity that felt natural and Christ-centered. God has allowed me to find part of His purpose for me, and I hope to continue to strive towards God’s will and seek out what He has in store for me. Prayer is powerful. Just as you prayed for YSMP before and during the missing trip, I ask that you continue to pray for the community and Leslie at Whiteriver after the mission trip. Each year at YSMP is a blessing and allows me to grow spiritually in so many ways. Blessed are the blessing. 

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