Have you ever had the occasion to visit with someone who has recently returned from vacation and their excitement is palpable because of everything they saw and experienced? If you are like me, you find yourself genuinely excited about their experience until they pull out the pictures, and they want me to relive the experience with them frame by frame. There is something lacking when it comes to experiencing vacation secondhand. It’s why we have the phrase “I guess you had to be there.”

Recently, I had the privilege to travel to Africa to observe and serve alongside some of our key ministry partners, and I must tell you, the Lord is doing powerful things everywhere we went! In many ways, it is impossible to convey what I witnessed and to hope that you will experience the same awe that I did. But the apostle Paul instructed the Christians in Rome to live in perfect love with one another, and he gives this instruction to them (and by extension to us): Rejoice with those who rejoice! (Romans 12:15).

Will you just rejoice with me for a minute?

We met young adults in Ethiopia who live in areas of the country where they experience forces of evil daily. They are being trained to go back to their towns and share the Gospel and raise up other Christian leaders (specifically in the universities), so that they might dispel the darkness with the Light of Christ. Their training lasts 12 hours a day with only short breaks to eat and stretch. I commented to one student on the length of the training day, and he looked at me and said, “I don’t mind that the training day is long. It is vital that someone be trained to combat the evil that is taking over the area where I am going to serve. God has chosen me, and I am honored.” Wow! Can you imagine being honored that God is calling you to confront evil in such a direct way? We are called to that too, you know. But if you are like me, you have let those ideas rumble around in the back of your mind rather than waking up each day and asking the Lord to give you the honor of fighting evil with the power of Christ that lives in you. I was humbled in that moment as I listened to the student tell me about the assignment God has given him.

Today, will you ask God how you can join Him in the work that He is doing near you — in your home, your neighborhood, your school, your workplace, our city? If we will approach God with humility and urgency, we can witness the goodness of the Lord for ourselves. That beats a secondhand experience any day!