If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Abby Linderman won the top award at the 2019 Bobby G Awards for “Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role” for her performance as Millie Dillmount in Thoroughly Modern Millieat Valor Christian High School. As the winner of this award, she traveled to New York to represent Colorado at The Jimmy Awards: National High School Musical Theatre Awards.
When Abby was offered the unique opportunity to invite her family for a trip to any location in the world, she had a tough decision to make. There were so many options! She thought about so many of the places she dreamed of visiting. Then she reflected on what God had done in and through her during her two previous trips to Hope Haven Rwanda. Instead of opting to go on a vacation to a comfortable spot, or to embark on an exotic adventure, Abby chose to bring her family back to a place that has become like a second home to her.
Abby, along with her mother, Nancy, her father, Michael and her brother, Aiden, traveled to Hope Haven Rwanda for a remarkable mission experience! They demonstrated God’s love to hundreds of children, built a home for a vulnerable family, worshiped with their Rwandan brothers and sisters, explored this beautiful nation, organized a teacher and staff give-away, enjoyed some time in quiet spiritual reflection, visited the homes and families of several students and led the teachers on an exciting excursion to downtown Kigali.
Yes, the decision to come back to Rwanda cost Abby something, but she definitely believes that it was worth the exchange! An exchange of an experience potentially focused on herself for an experience that was focused on serving others. Nothing in this world compares to pouring yourself out in service to others. When was the last time you experienced the fulfillment and meaningfulness that comes from setting aside your desires to serve another human being?
There is a giant theological word that applies here: “Anthropocentric.” According to gotquestions.org, an “anthropocentric life puts man at the center.” In contrast, “To be theocentric means to live in a way that puts God at the center of life or makes Him the main focus of life. To be theocentric is to be “God-centered.” A theocentric life is lived in the understanding that all things flow “from Him, and through Him and to Him,” reflecting Paul’s sentiment in Romans 11:36, “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.”
If God invites you to shift your next trip to an experience that is more theocentric, where will you go?