Hello withLove movement!
We are safely back from our missions trip in Glasgow, Scotland – a lot sooner than we have expected. After 9 hours of travel, we arrived to the Glasgow airport safely, and were rejected by the Scotland Immigration and Customs Border Patrol. Scotland has one of the toughest border patrols in the world, especially during the Commonwealth Games. Prior to the trip, they would not grant visas or regular entry into the country for christian missions work. We were instructed by our organizers to use the correct political jargon to enter the country which was as “tourists” and nothing more. However, as the customs border patrol agents cleverly questioned us, they acquired that we were a band and became highly suspicious of our musical equipment that we were carrying. They detained us and interrogated both us and our host in which they further acquired that we were there for “religious purposes” of missions work as a band. As a result, they denied us allowance into Scotland.
However, they let us stay at our accommodation for the night at the Bible Centre. When we got to the Bible Centre, we connected with the staff and the teams from all over – Germany, Texas, Virginia, London, Florida, Chick-fil-a owners, etc. They heard of the sad news that we were leaving the next day. So in response, we did what we do best – worship. Despite all 25 of us being jet lagged and awake for more than 24 hours (of travel), we spent the rest of the evening in song and God’s Word as withLove led the night in awesome worship. We all prayed for one another, cried together, and spent time being inspired and in awe of what Christ was doing that night – inspiring and stirring the hearts of the teams for the kingdom work that will be done that week. That is, to recharge the local church and win souls for Christ during the Commonwealth Games.
That night was a catalytic moment in all our lives that pointed us to total abandonment for His ultimate glory. The stories that begun there continue to thrive based on the work and the gifts of worship we brought to the teams there. So many people were truly impacted by meeting withLove and witnessing our passionate response to worship God under such tough circumstances. We were encouraged to know that we were just as effective for the Kingdom despite our surprise early departure. And they will never forget our story.
We can’t deny the emotional and spiritual discouragement we felt during this rejection. We can’t deny that it has been tough to accept these circumstances as a band in the aftermath and we are still processing everything that has happened. We experienced a “roller coaster” ride of emotions to say the least. We invested so much hope, prayers, and finances into this missions trip and it felt like we failed and our dreams went down the drain. But through His perspective, we didn’t fail at all. Through a lot of prayer, discussion, and affirmation from the Holy Spirit, we discovered that we came to do exactly what HE planned – to bring others closer to Christ through the stirring and inspiration of hearts with our worship! Even our own. Without a doubt, we confidently know that this trip and vision was truly inspired and birthed by God – confirmed through prayer and our spiritual authorities in preparation for this trip. Even though we don’t fully understand what God’s plan is right now in this moment, we continue to stand on the promises of God. Proverbs 3:5,6 –
“Trust in the LORD with all our heart, and not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”
In Isaiah 66:9 It says:
“Do I not bring you to the moment of birth and give delivery?” says the LORD. “Do I not close up the womb when I bring to delivery?” says your God”
We know that what God gives birth to, He will deliver and finish what was begun in withLove. And this story is no where near done. Because where one door has closed, God will open another in His master plan to something bigger and better than what we could ever imagine. So we ask you to stand with us in continued prayer in this tough season and for your continued support for whatever is next in His plans, because He’s not done with us yet. The best is yet to come!
Thank you for your support and prayers on this journey of faith, and even though this trip did not happen as we expected it to, we know that we did EXACTLY what God sent us to to do in Scotland – to reflect the truth of who Jesus is by reflecting His perfect love. Loving God and loving people through our music and ministry.
Do Everything,
withLove.
