Missions Trip
Moe over at Motherhood asked me to expound a bit on our missions trip after I suggested she send her kids on one...
It was two years ago. My two oldest girls were 17 and 15. The church we attend had decided to go with a larger group of people on a trip to Chetumal, Mexico to help the Christians there with their efforts to learn how to evangelize the communities in which they live.
My girls are not spoiled rotten brats by any means. They are very loving and caring people. I wanted them to go on this trip more to see what God can do with them... their talents and abilities.... and to show them that they can give and care for others in ways they never thought they could.
So, we headed out for a ten day trip. A trip we all will never forget.
We spent 10 days in the 110 degree heat, going from village to village, inviting children to come to the park for a program we put on for them... to show them who Jesus is... we did dramas, puppet shows, played with them, music, stories.... all of the things kids love to do. We learned so much during this trip. So much about who we are, and what we can do for the Lord if we are not distracted by the materialism that so consumes our lives in the US.
We had fun... and we worked hard. We learned what we were made of. And we learned that we have so much to give. Even though we may think we have very little compared to others around us, we have so much to offer...
Here is a section of a journal entry from the beginning of our trip:
As we walked to the bus after getting off the plane, one of the youth said "sweet--- those are really nice buses -- air conditioned and all!".
We all got pretty excited as that was not what we had expected. The buses were lined up in one area and ours, we were told, was on the end. We couldn't see it from where we were, but it was looking good.
As we walked to the end and saw our bus, many almost gasped. It was the one -- the only one -- at the end of the line that was very old and broken down looking. It didn't even appear to run. The windows were all open, many of them broken, curtains on them, seat covers on the seats. God only knows what is under those seat covers. It was 86 degrees and humid.
The bus driver - Julio - was a great driver. The first thing I noticed about Julio is that he didn't stop for any of the "ALTO" signs. Now, I don't speak spanish,... but they look a lot like a stop sign. And I'm pretty sure Julio drove about 85-100 kph. One of the guys thought Julio didn't drive over 75 mph, but I'm pretty sure he did. Either way, it didn't matter. Because it was so hot that I welcomed the wind blowing in the broken windows to keep me cool and comfortable. --- it's going to be a great trip!
It was two years ago. My two oldest girls were 17 and 15. The church we attend had decided to go with a larger group of people on a trip to Chetumal, Mexico to help the Christians there with their efforts to learn how to evangelize the communities in which they live.
My girls are not spoiled rotten brats by any means. They are very loving and caring people. I wanted them to go on this trip more to see what God can do with them... their talents and abilities.... and to show them that they can give and care for others in ways they never thought they could.
So, we headed out for a ten day trip. A trip we all will never forget.
We spent 10 days in the 110 degree heat, going from village to village, inviting children to come to the park for a program we put on for them... to show them who Jesus is... we did dramas, puppet shows, played with them, music, stories.... all of the things kids love to do. We learned so much during this trip. So much about who we are, and what we can do for the Lord if we are not distracted by the materialism that so consumes our lives in the US.
We had fun... and we worked hard. We learned what we were made of. And we learned that we have so much to give. Even though we may think we have very little compared to others around us, we have so much to offer...
Here is a section of a journal entry from the beginning of our trip:
As we walked to the bus after getting off the plane, one of the youth said "sweet--- those are really nice buses -- air conditioned and all!".
We all got pretty excited as that was not what we had expected. The buses were lined up in one area and ours, we were told, was on the end. We couldn't see it from where we were, but it was looking good.
As we walked to the end and saw our bus, many almost gasped. It was the one -- the only one -- at the end of the line that was very old and broken down looking. It didn't even appear to run. The windows were all open, many of them broken, curtains on them, seat covers on the seats. God only knows what is under those seat covers. It was 86 degrees and humid.
The bus driver - Julio - was a great driver. The first thing I noticed about Julio is that he didn't stop for any of the "ALTO" signs. Now, I don't speak spanish,... but they look a lot like a stop sign. And I'm pretty sure Julio drove about 85-100 kph. One of the guys thought Julio didn't drive over 75 mph, but I'm pretty sure he did. Either way, it didn't matter. Because it was so hot that I welcomed the wind blowing in the broken windows to keep me cool and comfortable. --- it's going to be a great trip!
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