How many times have you had a friend come back from a mission trip, and say things to you like “I felt so full of God’s love”, or “I went to help others but it seems as if I was the one being humbled”, and all you can think is how great of a Christian they must be, and wishing you could feel the same way? Well let me tell you, as a first time missionary it is no less intimidating, if not more. As we were leading up to the trip all I could think and worry about was if I would come home feeling the same way, and what it would mean if I didn’t. However, as the week progressed I found myself doing things out of my comfort zone and forming relationships I feared I never would. At first, being the person I am, I felt proud of myself that I was doing what I thought I couldn’t. Notice how many “I” s there were in that sentence. One morning at our daily devotionals my group came across the scripture “…for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13)
FINALLY something clicked. All the times that week that I had had the urge to act goofy for a kid, start up a conversation trying my best with the language barrier, or just a simple encouraging smile was not me - it was the spirit of God within me. It was him who was using me to show his love to those around me. And although I could go on to talk about myself, however much I’d like to, that isn’t what this trip is about. We came to serve others by being the hands and feet of Jesus. And the people we were serving were the most amazing joy filled people I’ve personally ever met. They were so spiritually rich though they were materially poor. Something that really stood out to me was that during food distributions we would ask what they wanted us to pray for, and the woman in the worst situation’s first request would be to thank God for their many blessings.
It amazed me how grateful they were when, compared to us, they had almost nothing. On Wednesday of this week, aka the Fourth of July, we had a field day and took the kids to a waterfall and then went back to the Honduran Life Center (HLC) for fireworks. I realized about halfway through the night that the Fourth of July was purely an American holiday. (I know you’re all thinking wow she’s so smart!) This showed how much they cared about our team and wanted us to feel right at home even though the day meant nothing special to them. Also not only were the interns and house parents extremely hospitable towards us, the kids were also so loving. Every morning when we would go to do service projects the kids would run up and hug us right as we got off the bus. It didn’t matter if you’ve never come before or if you had been back for several years, they loved on everyone.
One of my favorite times with the kids was when we had the fireworks. You could tell that some of the kids were pretty tired but the entire time they just ran around laughing and hugging on everyone and at the end of the night, a bunch of us sat on the porch with our arms around each other watching the fireworks. My daily devotionals group talked about how we tend to be careful about what relationships we pour into if we aren’t sure what will come of it or if we can trust them or not.
However, these kids have new people come in every week. They know they won’t see the same group again for a year if not longer - yet they aren’t guarded. They just pour and pour into every relationship and don’t let it hold them back. As the week is coming to a close we have to make this transition easier for the kids. Tonight is the Final Banquet, and I can safely say that the only thing we won’t miss, is the flies. Therefore, what we can think of now is how God will use our experiences when we come back home. This brings us back to the beginning, and the all too familiar quote of missionaries, “I feel changed”.
C.S. Lewis, the author of The Chronicles of Narnia, says this; “It would be nice and fairly nearly true to say that ‘from that time forth, Eustace was a different boy.’ To be strictly accurate, he began to be a different boy. He had relapses, there were still many days when he could be very tiresome. But most of those I shall not notice. The cure had begun.”
Taking this quote into relation of myself, coming back from a mission trip is, to me, reassuring. It tells me that I am not expected to all of the sudden be a perfect Christian, but that God will use this experience to shape me to be more loving and to have a servant’s heart. So, please be praying for us all as we come back home and hasta luego Honduras!
FINALLY something clicked. All the times that week that I had had the urge to act goofy for a kid, start up a conversation trying my best with the language barrier, or just a simple encouraging smile was not me - it was the spirit of God within me. It was him who was using me to show his love to those around me. And although I could go on to talk about myself, however much I’d like to, that isn’t what this trip is about. We came to serve others by being the hands and feet of Jesus. And the people we were serving were the most amazing joy filled people I’ve personally ever met. They were so spiritually rich though they were materially poor. Something that really stood out to me was that during food distributions we would ask what they wanted us to pray for, and the woman in the worst situation’s first request would be to thank God for their many blessings.
It amazed me how grateful they were when, compared to us, they had almost nothing. On Wednesday of this week, aka the Fourth of July, we had a field day and took the kids to a waterfall and then went back to the Honduran Life Center (HLC) for fireworks. I realized about halfway through the night that the Fourth of July was purely an American holiday. (I know you’re all thinking wow she’s so smart!) This showed how much they cared about our team and wanted us to feel right at home even though the day meant nothing special to them. Also not only were the interns and house parents extremely hospitable towards us, the kids were also so loving. Every morning when we would go to do service projects the kids would run up and hug us right as we got off the bus. It didn’t matter if you’ve never come before or if you had been back for several years, they loved on everyone.
One of my favorite times with the kids was when we had the fireworks. You could tell that some of the kids were pretty tired but the entire time they just ran around laughing and hugging on everyone and at the end of the night, a bunch of us sat on the porch with our arms around each other watching the fireworks. My daily devotionals group talked about how we tend to be careful about what relationships we pour into if we aren’t sure what will come of it or if we can trust them or not.
However, these kids have new people come in every week. They know they won’t see the same group again for a year if not longer - yet they aren’t guarded. They just pour and pour into every relationship and don’t let it hold them back. As the week is coming to a close we have to make this transition easier for the kids. Tonight is the Final Banquet, and I can safely say that the only thing we won’t miss, is the flies. Therefore, what we can think of now is how God will use our experiences when we come back home. This brings us back to the beginning, and the all too familiar quote of missionaries, “I feel changed”.
C.S. Lewis, the author of The Chronicles of Narnia, says this; “It would be nice and fairly nearly true to say that ‘from that time forth, Eustace was a different boy.’ To be strictly accurate, he began to be a different boy. He had relapses, there were still many days when he could be very tiresome. But most of those I shall not notice. The cure had begun.”
Taking this quote into relation of myself, coming back from a mission trip is, to me, reassuring. It tells me that I am not expected to all of the sudden be a perfect Christian, but that God will use this experience to shape me to be more loving and to have a servant’s heart. So, please be praying for us all as we come back home and hasta luego Honduras!