After hearing about the Discipleship Encounter progam (DE) from our last short term mission trip to Helene, my wife and I decided God was calling us to kingdom missions. He had placed this program, and Mission Encounters International (MEI) in our path very deliberately, as the springboard to our new ministry.

The DE was an eye-opening experience, to say the least. It was both robust and life changing. Every day opened a new and real Biblical truth that brought us through many crises of belief.

We learned without training and a correct Biblical understanding of world missions, we risked causing significant damage to a foreign culture using only our “best intentions”. The devotional teachings and outreach events center around the text – Helping Without Hurting in Short-Term Missions.

MEI taught us how to recognize and even utilize the cultural differences, to successfully take Jesus anywhere in the world. We learned how to avoid the pitfalls that come from thinking cultural differences are bad, wrong, or need to be more like our home culture. We found judgement, anger, and depression are common, maybe even “normal” responses to culture shock, but there are better Biblical responses to these differences. Most importantly, we learned we serve a big God who is not limited to our personal experiences. He knows each and every person made in His image, and speaks through and to every culture, regardless of these differences.

What blew us away about the DE was how God equips us, sustains us, provides for us, and even allows us to go through the rough stuff, all in the name of His glory and for our greatest good. Through this epic 90-day experience, we learned how to live as a community. This included practical life like chores, shopping, and leading our children in the way they should go. It was very much a village effort that required a lot of communication. We learned, we grew and found comfort in this strange thing called unity. Ministry was much the same. Living life so close taught us though it’s very, VERY different from how we learned to live in the U.S., there is an unfathomable peace and freedom to be discovered!

It was almost alarming to find a space where it’s okay to be real, vulnerable, weak, and broken without judgement. MEI staff understood, NO, EXPECTED, we would make mistakes, not have all the answers, cry, doubt, and even sin. With this much needed invitation to lay all of our cards on the table, there was nothing left but grace, mercy, truth, forgiveness, mutual edification, joy, passion, friendship, fun and more laughter than we ever expected from a scary adventure into the unknown!

Our favorite part about the DE was that, though there were very difficult lessons, frequent tears, and major growing pains, we could see and feel a life altering spiritual growth was happening at an off-the-charts rate.

We were most humbled to discover being missionaries didn’t set you apart from those you were sent to minister to. Being missionaries simply means you are joining a new culture in LIFE. You struggle alongside your new community. You are corporately pursuing Jesus with your fellow missionaries. We love how we were taught to remain attached to the Vine, TOGETHER. We are equipped by the Holy Spirit, TOGETHER. We are emboldened with the Gospel, while navigating the unfamiliar… TOGETHER.

To sum up this life changing experience, we feel like we have received abundant grace from God by learning how to be truly effective for His Kingdom and how to avoid the dangers of simply “not knowing any better”. Plus, we learned how to live a community-oriented life, which mimics most foreign cultures, and how this Biblical model provides more grace, truth, support, love, and growth than we have ever experienced before.

The DE is not for the faint of heart, but if you ask us if we would do it all again? Without a second thought, ABSOLUTELY! If you’re trying to decide if the D.E. is right for you? If God has called you to the mission field, you can’t afford not to!! We hope to do life with you soon!

Blessings,

Levi and Cassie Riley