Vanilla Ice Cream
I Traveled Thirteen Countries Looking for God. He Was in Mexico the Whole Time.
You don’t need everything figured out before God can use you.
You never did.
You just need to begin.
I’ve been rereading Matt Perman’s book What’s Best Next for the second time after nearly two years. The first time I read it, I was a different man. The accumulated knowledge, experiences, victories, failures, and lessons of life have given me an entirely new set of eyes. The same sentences now carry different weight.
One chapter stopped me cold: Finding Your Life Calling.
It wasn’t because the content was new. It was because I recognized myself—both the man I used to be and the man God has been building since.
“The glory of young men is their strength, and the splendor of old men is their gray hair” (Proverbs 20:29).
Young people are admired for their energy and speed. Older people are honored for their wisdom and the lessons earned through life’s journey.
As I begin to see more silver in my hair, I find myself genuinely grateful to God—not for the gray, but for everything it represents.
Four lessons from a book, a surgery ward, a prayer room, and an ice cream shop.
Here is what God has been teaching me.
Do not wait for a perfect moment
One of the most striking quotations I encountered in Matt Perman’s book comes from Charles Spurgeon:
“If you stop and do nothing until you can do everything, you will remain useless.”
For several years, I delayed starting a physical church.
Fear drove almost every decision.
What if nobody comes?
How will I manage the expenses?
What if I fail?
What if people reject me?
I had what I now call the “polish to death” mindset—waiting for perfect circumstances, perfect knowledge, perfect ability before I would begin.
Here’s the irony: earlier in my career, I launched technology startups with almost no money. Some of those projects generated significant revenue, created opportunities for others, and changed my life. I did it then without hesitation.
Somehow, I was afraid to rent a room for a few hours on a Sunday and teach the Bible?
Unimaginable.
And it happened.
I waited for my pastoral degree to finish. I waited for God to show me the perfect place. I traveled through thirteen countries expecting to hear the voice of God from heaven—and what I failed to realize was that God had already shown me Mexico when I first arrived here in June 2023.
Three years passed.
God remained patient with me.
And eventually, the courage came.
I did not wait:
to become fluent in Spanish before starting Bible conversations.
to have a church building before gathering people.
to have a large audience before writing books.
to have perfect finances before serving others.
to know everyone in Mexico City before beginning ministry.
I simply started.
On May 28, 2026, Calvary Bible Conversations began. Less than thirty days later, the WhatsApp group has grown to more than twenty people. Average attendance is six. People travel long distances through Mexico City traffic to be there.
All glory belongs to God.
Consider the Scripture:
Moses said, “I cannot speak.” God said, “Go.”
Jeremiah said, “I am too young.” God said, “Go.”
The disciples said, “We have only five loaves.” Jesus said, “Bring them.”
Small obedience is better than perfect intentions.
Don’t wait for the perfect season.
Don’t wait until fear disappears.
Don’t wait until you know everything.
Take what God has already placed in your hands—and begin. When you obey in small things, God opens doors you could never open yourself.
Start the mission with what you have. Then watch God provide what you don’t have yet.
Do Things for the Right Reason
Another line from Matt Perman’s book hit me hard:
“Take steps for fundamental reasons, not instrumental reasons.”
In simple terms: do something because it is inherently right, valuable, or meaningful—not merely because it leads to something else.
Let me show you the difference with two examples.
Instrumental Reasons—Doing things for what you get back:
Study a subject because it will help your career.
Complete a computer course because it will get you a job.
Pray to receive something from God, not to draw closer to Him.
Give to others expecting a tenfold return, not out of compassion.
When every action is measured by its return, people become transactions. Relationships become investments.
Even God becomes a vending machine.
Fundamental Reasons—Doing things because they are right:
Pray because God is worthy.
Read Scripture because it nourishes your soul.
Serve people because Christ calls you to serve.
Love because God first loved us.
I grew up in a culture where every action was measured by its return. Naturally, I carried that mindset into my relationship with God. But God began changing me even in my teenage years.
He taught me one simple truth:
“Do not expect anything in return from people. I provide.”
For more than thirty-five years, He has remained faithful to that promise. He provides shelter, food, health, books, transportation, cognitive ability, and miracle after miracle. Because slowly—one decision at a time—I began taking steps for fundamental reasons.
A few days ago, a woman in Mexico City whom I knew only through WhatsApp bible group called me at 10:30 PM. She was scheduled for surgery the following morning. Her family had refused to accompany her because of personal conflicts.
She asked if I could come.
I immediately said yes.
I didn’t even ask where the clinic was.
Only afterward did she send me the address and ask whether it was too far.
I replied: “I said yes before knowing the location. Even if it were 100 kilometers away, I would still come.”
I slept only a few hours that night. I woke up at 5:00 AM. Called an Uber at 6:00 AM. When I arrived at 6:50 AM, she became emotional. I stayed nearby throughout her five-hour surgery and left only after her helper arrived.
Here’s the honest truth: I already knew she works weekends and would probably never attend a Sunday service.
I still went.
Not because of what I might receive.
Not because of what could happen later.
I went because she asked without pride, and because I believed God wanted me to go.
“Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39).
“I was sick and you visited me” (Matthew 25:36).
Jesus fed people because He had compassion.
He healed people because He loved them.
He obeyed the Father because it was right.
The outcomes followed.
Do things to please Him. Not always asking what you will get—but asking whether it is the right thing to do.
When we act from love, compassion, obedience, and truth, God takes care of the outcomes. The result is not emptiness. The result is outpouring.
Because He provides.
Stay Faithful in Prayer
Many people think: I prayed. Nothing happened. Therefore prayer did not work.
But Scripture presents prayer differently.
Prayer is not a transaction.
Prayer is remaining close to God.
Depending on God.
Trusting God.
Bringing your burdens to God.
In Luke 18, Jesus tells the parable of the persistent widow—and He explains exactly why He told it:
“...that they ought always to pray and not lose heart” (Luke 18:1).
Prayer prevents discouragement.
For several months, I suffered from double vision.
I prayed.
Others prayed.
Weeks passed.
Months passed.
Today, my vision is completely healed, 100%.
Suppose I had stopped praying after two weeks.
I would have missed the testimony.
The same principle applies to ministry.
I prayed for Mexico, for Calvary, for people. Attendance was sometimes seven, sometimes five, sometimes one, sometimes zero.
Yet I continued.
That is staying faithful in prayer.
Consider the Scripture:
Elijah prayed seven times before the rain came.
Daniel prayed for twenty-one days.
Hannah prayed for years.
Paul prayed while imprisoned.
Jesus prayed in Gethsemane.
Every day I pray for more than one hundred people. Nearly ninety percent of them don’t even know I pray for them. I don’t know the outcome. But my responsibility is not the outcome—my responsibility is faithfulness.
Prayer often works slowly.
Seeds grow underground.
Roots grow underground.
Churches grow underground.
Character grows underground.
Many of the things God does cannot be measured immediately.
That is why Paul says:
“Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
Not because God is deaf.
But because prayer keeps our hearts connected to Him.
God’s timing is often slower than our expectations.
But His faithfulness is never late.
Keep praying.
God is still working.
Your story is not finished yet.
Walk With Wise People
This Sunday, I went with a church family for ice cream. The mother had become a friend, and her two children came along. Her daughter Camila is twenty years old—deeply interested in tourism, dreaming of traveling the world.
I always order vanilla.
No need to look at the menu.
In some regular places they bring it without asking.
One less decision in life.
Suddenly, Camila said: “Vanilla flavor comes from vanilla seeds.”
I did not know that.
She explained that vanilla plant is native to Mexico, and that Madagascar is the world’s largest producer—because French traders took it there centuries ago. What amazed me even more: the vanilla flower blooms for only a few hours. During that window, the flowers must be pollinated by human hand, because the natural pollinators are not always present.
See the beauty of God’s creation. Though vanilla originated in Mexico, the right climate and labor conditions eventually made Madagascar the ideal place to cultivate it.
Even a seed sometimes needs to travel far from home to become what it was always meant to be.
I thanked God for giving Camila wisdom, curiosity, and knowledge at such a young age.
“Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm” (Proverbs 13:20).
In ninety minutes at an ice cream shop, I learned several things. Camila’s knowledge impressed me—the depth of what she knows is remarkable. But beyond her knowledge, what moved me even more was her character.
Curiosity keeps a person learning.
Generosity keeps a person humble.
A global perspective keeps a person growing.
Camila showed all three.
When I asked the cashier for the bill, Camila had already paid for everyone’s ice cream. She works for FIFA services. She earned some money—and decided to share it with us.
Knowledge can impress people.
Wisdom can teach people.
But generosity reveals character.
God bless this young woman.
I have eaten vanilla ice cream since childhood. In 2026, a twenty-year-old Mexican young woman taught me where the flavor comes from.
God often reveals new things to us through unexpected teachers.
Spend time with people who make you think, learn, and grow.
Stay curious.
Stay humble.
And when God blesses you—give generously.
The Thread That Holds It All Together
Four lessons.
Four different settings.
One faithful God.
Don’t wait for perfect—begin.
Do things for the right reasons—love.
Stay faithful in prayer—trust.
Walk with wise people—grow.
These are not four separate principles.
They are four expressions of one life surrendered to God.
Maybe you are reading this from a city far from home, wondering whether the calling you carry is still alive.
Maybe you have been waiting so long the dream feels distant.
Maybe you have been praying and seeing nothing yet.
Let me tell you what I know:
God is not finished.
The seed you planted underground is growing. The prayer you prayed in the dark is still moving through heaven. The small yes you gave—the one that felt insignificant—God is building something with it right now.
Take what is in your hands.
Go to the person who needs you.
Pray one more time.
Sit with someone wiser and stay humble enough to learn.
Think about that vanilla flower. It blooms for only a few hours. God designed an entire system—human hands, the right climate, the right soil, a journey from Mexico to Madagascar—just to bring one seed to its fullness.
If He did that for a flower, what do you think He is doing with you?
And watch what God does with what you already have.
Prayer
Father, forgive me for the times I waited when you said go. Like the vanilla flower that blooms for only a few hours—teach me to open fully, right now, in this moment you have given me. I give you my small loaves, my imperfect obedience, and this ordinary day. Do something extraordinary with it. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
What is God calling you to begin—not someday, but today?
About the Author
Lawrence Manickam is an Evangelical Pastor of Calvary International Church, Mexico City. Called to serve across nations, he was born in India, shaped in Canada, and now carries a heart for Mexico.
He shares the love of Jesus Christ across cultures through writing, teaching, and personal ministry. In July 2024, he completed his Master of Arts in Pastoral Counseling from Liberty University, Virginia.
He is the author of three Christian books:
📘 Trump & Jesus
A bold and provocative exploration of leadership, faith, culture, and the spiritual forces shaping American history.
📘 Hearing the Holy Spirit in Everyday Moments
A collection of true encounters, testimonies, and reflections on learning the voice of the Holy Spirit in daily life.
📘 Free From Lo-Debar
A journey into restoration, identity, and the God who brings His children out of forgotten places.
If you need biblical counseling, prayer support, or simply a listening ear, feel free to contact him.
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