Rebecca Thompson, Missionary

Over this past week, I was on a mission trip in Pittsburgh to help out with the Light of Life organization. Every time I was asked how my trip was, I would respond that it filled me with a lot of stories to tell. However, I haven’t told anybody this story yet. I figured that I should explain the whole story in depth with as much detail as I could.

It was Wednesday afternoon, the third day of our trip. We all had finished our jobs for the day and were gathering at the donation center. A large portion of our group had gathered at the warehouse section of the facility and was performing a concert. I was playing foosball with some friends of mine in a separate room. After our game finished, I saw waves of girls walking out of the warehouse, sobbing. I was told later that the concert had been playing really powerful songs that touched a lot of the girls’ hearts.  Seeing their reactions, I somehow knew that the Holy Spirit was working through the music in the girls. And I had missed it. I walked into the warehouse to see if the concert was still going on, but everything was being packed up. Filled with defeat and disappointment, I started to walk to the bathroom to wallow. Then, I ran into Jen, our team leader for this mission trip. I pretended to be fine when I walked past her, but she invited me back on some of the donated chairs to talk. I told her about the girls I saw and how I wanted to be a part of that. She consoled me and reminded me of Jesus saying “Blessed are they who don’t see but believe.” I truly owe a lot to her for being there for me. As we bid our farewells, I heard talk of a prayer circle starting up where the concert was. I was certain that I wouldn’t miss this. I walked in, and joined the circle.

My friends and I were all gathered together along with some other chaperones.  The circle was lead by the two volunteers in charge of the donation center, Lydia and Jess, and someone else who I hadn’t seen before. They asked us who would like to be blessed first, so I went to the center of the circle. That’s when everything started to happen.

With one hand on my forehead and the other on my shoulder, Lydia began to pray for me. As she was praying, I started to cry, nearly sobbing. I felt like I was hyperventilating. The whole world felt like it got heavier. I could hear my friends all around me crying too. I can’t precisely remember everything she prayed about in that moment, but what stuck out to me was that Lydia started to speak in tongues. Real tongues! She had never said anything about learning tongues before this, so I knew that this moment was a truly special time. After I sat back in the circle, the three women went to my other friends and blessed them.  Many of them were crying into my arms. I believe this is one of the reasons why the Holy Spirit came: to show how emotionally vulnerable we can be around each other. To gain trust with one another. But, most importantly, I think that the Holy Spirit wanted to show that God is love. God is so much love.

I felt so light whenever we finished. I felt like I had cried out every last tear I had. Even after we all left from the donation center, the sheer and raw emotions we felt during that prayer were all that we could talk about. Ever since then, I find that I have grown appreciation for the rituals performed in the church. I no longer just go through the motions, but I try to live every song, every reading, and every Eucharist. For God so loves each one of us that he sends us signs, big or small, every day to remind us that He is here. 

—Rebecca Thompson, Missionary