My $20 Challenge Experience

For the $20 challenge a group of the girls decided to work together and right away we planned a trip to Seattle where we can busk, sell desserts and other homemade goods. However, that plan was pushed back and eventually fell through while the end of the month was approaching fast.

Although that plan didn’t work out, I still wanted to go to Seattle with two or three other people and busk at busy locations. To my dismay, I was informed that a license was necessary to busk in the city and furthermore, Seattle was hit with a week of rain that would make it difficult for us to stand outside and sing. At that point, I felt very rushed, anxious, and nervous about what I can do and talked to Pastor Younger. Pastor pointed us towards local areas where busking would be possible, Hmart being one of those locations. Fortunately, the manager at the popular Asian supermarket gave us permission to busk on their property and a final plan was set to busk at Hmart.

On the morning of, I woke up feeling a mix of excitement and nervousness about busking because it was something that was out of my comfort zone and something that I have never done before. As the hours were nearing, I suddenly felt a wave of insecurity and doubt and I thought to myself, “What if nobody donates,” and even more self-demeaning, “What if my voice isn’t enough to attract people to donate?” I was feeling very pessimistic and negative about what I thought was going to be a successful and fun experience. By the grace of God I was reprimanded about just how prideful and selfish my attitude was. When I shared my negative thoughts with one of the sisters, she told me that what we are doing is not for our glory or our achievement but solely for the glory of God and to help those in need. She told me that feeling this way was to lose the battle even before the fight began.

With a renewed perspective, a group of us finally arrived at Hmart right when it started pouring down rain. Thankfully, God provided, yet again, with shelter and a dry place where we could set up our equipment. As we began to sing and worship, all the jitters and butterflies gradually disappeared and it felt like we were all having fun and enjoying the moment. Furthermore, many many people contributed and together, we were able to raise about $200! Looking back on this experience, I really felt that God was constantly providing and making a way for us. Our God is a God who loves his children and who wants what is, ultimately, good for us. I know that the amount of money we were able to raise really wasn’t possible without the grace and provision of our Lord. And furthermore, his faithfulness to the people of Costa Rica was clearly seen. It was overall a very blessed experience which I thank our Father for.

A couple short clips from busking at Hmart