Distraction.

That has been the topic on my mind a lot recently. 

Distraction - that’s what the government wants us under. 

Distraction - that’s what the enemy attempts to keep us in. 

Distraction - pulling us away from the purpose God has for us. 

Pulling us away from the mission set before us. They say you can hear God speak if you sit in silence and truly listen to him, so why do we still engage in the loudness, in the chaos, in the overstimulation. 

The Lord likes the simple. He tells us to live simple lives, working with our hands and remaining to ourselves, gentle, quiet, and joyful. Yet, many of us still choose to fall into the distraction of social media, of television and movies, of the latest news, of food, of gossip, of beauty standards. Whatever it is, we fall into it and end up taking our eyes off of Jesus. And when we take our eyes off Jesus, we take our eyes off of the mission and purpose he has for us. If only we look towards him and keep our eyes fixed on him, we will see the plan he has written just for us. 

Remember our mission and motivation in the face of opposition. 

I heard that quote at church the other day and it never left my mind. Jesus never let distractions phase him. When he was following the calling the Lord has for him, he didn’t look to the left or to the right. He didn’t look behind him to the past. He only looked forward and never losed sight. He didn’t let others' opinions affect him, but just continued pursuing the mission with full force that the Lord assigned him to fulfill. That’s how I want to be. Unphased by all the distractions the world puts in front of us and pursuing forward with the Lord and the calling he has on my life. 

I’ve been noticing distractions in my own life attempting to pull me away from the Lord. One of which is food obsession and body image. The two always seem to come back to haunt me. They are the same common lies the enemy always tries to bring me down with, to make me sad and insecure, but I am done. I give it to the Lord again and again and surrender it to him, and this time, I want to truly give it to him and never turn back to it again. The sermon talked about at church on Sunday described never turning back to your past and the old that you came from. You are made new in Christ, and the past is your old life and not you anymore, so why would you engage in it? Why would you flirt with the past, knowing you struggled with it? Knowing you could just as easily fall back into it? 

I can find JOY in the fact that that is not me anymore. I am not the girl that obsesses over every food she eats and over how her body looks. No, I am the girl that eats food solely to nourish her body and provide herself with the energy she needs to serve the Lord. I am the girl who loves the body that the Lord gave her to function and that he made in his OWN image, that is beautiful and crafted just the way he wanted it to be. I am the girl that enters each day with confidence, knowing fully who she is in Christ and walking in authority. I am the girl who only focuses on Jesus and makes the mission of spreading the word and loving others her main priority and nothing else. 

I have been learning so much over the past couple of weeks it's crazy. Common themes have been crossing over in church, life skill talks, conversations I’ve had with my friends, and scripture I have read in the Bible. One of the messages that has been getting brought up again and again is the two words “even if…”. Would I follow the Lord even if things get tough? Would I continue following the Lord even if I didn’t get that job I wanted? Would I follow the Lord even if he is calling me to do something that is not exactly what I want and scares me? Hearing this hit me and made me really stop and think. Following the Lord EVEN IF whatever comes after those two words truly shows your obedience, devotion, and surrender to the Lord. 

Would I follow the Lord even if he is calling me to do something that is not exactly what I want and scares me? We often make so many excuses when the Lord calls us to do something, thinking that we aren’t adequate enough or prepared enough, but guess what? When the Lord has called you to do something, it means he HAS prepared you. Why would he call you into something that you’re not ready for yet? Exactly, he wouldn’t. The task or mission may be a challenge, but that’s the point: to help you grow into the person he wants you to become. 

God doesn’t want you to stay comfortable. He wants you to step into the uncomfortable and often times, that means choosing suffering. Suffering could be many things. Pain, oppression, opposition, affliction. But even in all those definitions, they all lead back to shaping you into the person you’re meant to be. Pruning you to remove all the bad to make you pure and clean. Refining you with fire to turn into something beautiful, like the reference in the Bible of being refined by fire to turn into gold - “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith - more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire - may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 1:6-7

Most times on this trip, I haven’t been able to see the fruit that the Lord provides. I haven’t been able to see the reward or the bigger result of the work we have done. I usually only see the seed being planted and the entering stages of us reaching others with the gospel and God’s love. However, last Friday, I not only had the privilege of being able to see someone accept Christ, but also got to be a part of it. 

One of the types of ministry my team does is house visits in a small, rural town 30 minutes away from Antigua. It’s very quiet and is surrounded by the jungle. The two things we are tasked to do are spend time with the kids there in playing games, sharing our stories, and loving them as well as visiting houses. I love both, but house visits have truly been an incredible experience. The people we reach are hungry to hear the encouraging words of the Bible and of Jesus. They are looking for a hope to pull them out of the darkness they are stuck in to enter into the light. 

We usually spend the 2 hours of ministry time we have there visiting one or two houses. We ask the friendly hosts to share their story, where they are with the Lord, and encourage them with scripture, prayer, and words from God. This past Friday wasn't any different as we walked into a house with two sisters and one little boy. The older sister takes care of the younger sister named Brenda, who has special needs, and her son. 

They quickly offered us chairs to sit on as we formed a circle on their patio to talk. I began having a conversation with Brenda in Spanish to get to know her better. We talked about all the little things like her favorite foods, color, subject to learn, and music until we transitioned into the harder topics. She has been suffering with pain, not only physical of not being able to walk properly but also mental. She isn’t able to do many of the normal things I can do like learn any subject in school I want and participate in sports. Brenda explained that she has been having doubts that she even has a purpose and that she has any mission on this world. She felt like giving up and didn’t want to keep on going. 

We encouraged her with verses that came to mind and words of wisdom that the Lord gave us. She seemed lighter as we continued to speak life to her. I really felt for her. I can’t imagine being in the situation she is in, not being able to walk right, talk right, or learn right. I have so much respect for her that she continues to keep pushing forward even through the trial and suffering. That she continues to turn back to the Lord, even when things are hard and trusts that he has a purpose for her. 

The conversation then switched over to her sister who has also been struggling. She has to work a lot to provide for her sister and her son since they don’t have much money for necessities. She began tearing up as she explained her son complaining as she leaves for work late at night, begging her not to go. The woman felt as though she could never stop working and take a break, afraid that the Lord wouldn’t provide. As we kept talking, we found out she is not a Christian and didn’t know about the gospel. 

That is when our translator named Pablo looked over at me and said, “Hailey, would you share the message of salvation with her?” 

I was stunned. Even since being on this trip, I feel like I hadn’t shared the gospel much at all. I wish I had and here is this opportunity placed right in front of me to not only share the gift of eternal life, but also to share it in Spanish!! 

“Yes, of course,” I said excitedly as I turned back to the woman. 

Her curious eyes stared into mine as I shared the good news as well as I could in Spanish. She began to cry even more until she was fully bawling her eyes out. Once I had finished, I asked her if she wanted to accept Christ into her heart and she said yes. My soul seemed to jump in my body in excitement to what was actually happening before me. 

I asked her to repeat after me as we prayed and she officially invited the Lord into her heart and her life. We hugged for a solid minute after the prayer and I began to tear up in happiness as I felt her body shaking in my arms. I felt like all the sadness, all the anxiety, all the fear was leaving her body and was drifting away into the wind. All I felt within our embrace was pure love. Overwhelming peace. This is the best moment ever was all I thought. 

We released from our hug and I felt like I had just been transported back to the real world. I looked around at the rest of my team as we exchanged smiles and absorbed the last moments of what had just happened. After that, I knew I wanted to keep on doing missions with all my strength. I had already felt the call to go on Year 2 of Journey School to continue traveling, but this moment was reconfirmation to me that the Lord wants to use me to connect with others and to boldly proclaim the good news. This is why I came here, to fulfill the Great Commission and to make disciples of ALL nations, no matter the language, tribe, or tongue. And why would I not want to fully pursue that, seeing the joy that it brings to others and the way it changes their lives. 

That leads me to want to talk about where the Lord is leading after this trip. There is only a month left that I am on the field here in Antigua and I want to make the most of it. I have been praying that the Lord would give me energy and focus in learning, in ministry, and in community. I want to stay in the moment as much as possible since I know the Lord still has a purpose and mission for me here. But I can’t help looking towards the future sometimes as he continues to unfold it before me. 

He has been creating such a clear, direct path for this summer and the months after! It’s such an answer to prayer. In short, I will be working with a ministry in the summer called Bella Goose that is a coffee shop in both Wisconsin and Thailand and helps support women stuck in human trafficking. The Lord continues to put human trafficking on my heart to help with and be a part of rescuing women out of that. The other day, we actually did an activity with listening prayer and one of the verses my friend got for me was Isaiah 42:6-7 which says “I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind and to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.” 

As soon as I heard that, I knew the Lord was referencing women and children stuck in trafficking and I took that as a call to pursue this world problem with full force, so that’s what I’m gonna do. 

I am also continuing to begin the process of fundraising for Year 2 of Journey School to Asia and Australia, so if you would be willing to give or would like to call to discuss more about it, let me know! Here is the fundraising link down below! 

https://adventuresinmissions.servicereef.com/events/adventures-in-missions-3/2026-gapless-gap-year-asia-and-australia-26js0828gap-986141313/participants/hailey-studem

I love you all and thank you for continuing to be a part of this journey! 

Blessings, 

Hailey