God At Work - Before The Trip

This post is written by REBECCA DINKINS


Getting To Russia
About 9 years ago when I was 18 I traveled with a group from Grand Parkway to an event called One Day. This conference was led by the likes of Louie Giglio, Beth Moore, Chris Tomlin, Watermark and more. Basically it’s “One Day” where thousands of college students and adults from around the states and world got together to sing the name of Jesus and hear His words preached. There are many stories that each of us had from the trip, that range from – it rained the entire time, to – the ride in took forever – thousands of people on a one lane road trying to get in. . .


But my story is a little different because this is the exact point in time when God called me into missions. I remember standing up and having people pray over me and thinking to myself – really God – me? It took 9 years but it finally came to fruition. Oh sure I’d been on mission trips before but it wasn’t until summer 2009 that God really began to reveal what He had for me.

God Changing My Heart

Once it was decided that I would be able to go to Russia, and all the money was in (that was a total God thing!!!) I knew that I was going to be in for the ride of my life. God began to renew that passion in me for missions and specifically orphans that was so fervent in me 9 years prior but that I had let fade. I began praying for the kids we were going to meet and thinking about what I could do not just once a year but year round. My prayers became more specific for those babies that are placed in mental institutions their whole lives all because they do not have the physical interaction every baby needs to develop. I also began to pray for those leaving the orphanage because they are too old and for the future that awaited them. I knew the stats that stated most didn’t live past the age of 30, that they are targeted by the mafia, that many of the girls are prostitutes even before they leave the system. It was then that God started planting the seed in my heart about maybe working in a transition home, being there to help those guys and girls as they leave the small contained system and head out into the big open world.