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There are lots of teachers here.
This was my thought on day 1 as we went around the table and introduced ourselves. Even the ones who weren’t teachers or going to school to be a teacher (like me) were similar to teachers. (I’m a tutor, and another member, Patrick, wants to be a pastor.) It’s a good thing there is a tutoring center at the location we are visiting.
The first meeting consisted of the logistics, the meet and greets and a quick Bible devotional to set the tone. After the first meeting was over I had already forgotten half the people’s names. We had talked about the basics, and the team was coming together. The teams that meet grow together and are able to build a community together. They told us the teams that had never met with each other before the trip would be evident. This wasn’t the case with ours. People came fairly often to the get-togethers. God appeared to be central in each of our lives and so this was the most important thing. This is the reason we do missions.
I made a promise to myself this past year to get back to the things that were most important in life: God and people. As the two most important commandments go when Jesus spoke to the Pharisee in Matthew 22:34-40; “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” also quoted from Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18. The people here were striving as I was striving. Their hearts were honest and their passion for missions inspired me. I walked out the door thinking, this is the start of something great.
Sometimes helping can hurt.
We discussed this during the gathering for all mission trips.This is illustrated in the book Helping Hurts by Brian Fikker and Steve Corbett. I read the book a few years ago after a friend recommended it to me, so it was interesting to see it spoken of again. The ministry we are partnering with, Students International, does long-term missions in these areas to have a bigger influence. They focus on building communities over time with the skills the people in the community already possess. It doesn’t make sense to go plant a church when the people there are fully capable of doing it. We aren’t the people coming to save the other nation. We aren’t the saviors. We are simply helping and being exposed to another culture. This is why they call the trips Exposure Trips.
I wondered if any of my “helping” had ever hurt anyone. The biggest thing I got from this book had to do with people interactions. One of the most important questions you can ask someone is, “What are your gifts?” The people in the book asked the people they were helping that question, and what it did was spark something inside of them. They realized they had gifts they could use and they were the ones who would put their own community back together. It’s empowering.
The pastor spoke about how we do missions because the worship of God isn’t present, and God is the center of why we do missions. This message should be the driving force of our impact. God should be the driving force. I realized my reasons may be off. I wasn’t doing this to expand the worship of God. If I’m honest with myself, I was doing this because I wanted to. In that light I don’t think I’ve ever done a purely selfless thing in my life. Everything is tainted with some form of selfish desire. After the meeting I prayed for God to move me, to give me a new heart that is faithful. Transformation doesn’t come in a day; it comes over time.
This trip costs lots of money.
Paul, at the end of Romans, asks for money for his journey. Fundraising is a biblical idea. Still, some people in the group, including myself, felt uncomfortable asking people for money. There is a humility that has to happen before one can do this. I had to take a step down from my pride to send those support letters out. The purpose was to invite people to join in on the trip with us. Now they can be a part of the journey, whether it is in prayer or in financial support.
Another pastor told me once that people love giving, so it would almost be a sin not to send letters and take that love away from them. I don’t know if I’d go so far to say it was a sin, but I understood the principle. I remembered when friends sent me letters for their trips and when they asked for support. I loved supporting them, so why wouldn’t someone love to support me on my adventures and misadventures?
Romans is a rollercoaster of emotions of a passage.
One of our Bible study/devotional sessions was on the book of Romans. We had to read the whole book and then we talked about what our favorite parts were. The book, though complicated and wordy at times, is what some scholars say is the most complete gospel message in the Bible. It describes human nature, what Jesus did, the implications of why Jesus did what He did, and what we do next, all tied up with a nice bow on top.
Some people appreciated the first few chapters the most, explaining our sinful state before a perfect God. Others enjoyed the message of salvation given in the third chapter, while others enjoyed wrestling with the message that follows. Some found wisdom in the proclaiming of the message in the tenth chapter.
One of my favorite passages in Scripture is chapter 11, where it talks about the Gentiles being grafted in. This shows the message is for everyone, not just a select group of people. The Word should stir in us. Conversations about these things should never be comfortable, in my opinion. God is above us and is sovereign above us. If we forget that, we lose the message.
The future is bright.
We haven’t even left yet, and I can feel God doing tremendous work in everyone’s life. There are still people to meet and things to do in Costa Rica, such as sports, wood shop, social services, tutoring and worship. My emotions shift day to day. Some days I can’t wait to go; other days I wonder if it is even worth it. Are the people going to be moved by me? Can God really do a work through my life? The second is a better question to ask. It’s not about moving people. It’s about God. I would say the answer to the second question is yes.
I told a friend once, “If we are faithful to the things of God, then we’ll see God work.” In the Bible, Jeremiah preaches to the people for 31 years and nobody listens to him. I signed up in a matter of minutes and am instantly surrounded by godly people. I would consider myself to be blessed in that sense.
There are many people around the world who need the gospel. I had this mindset for so long, and one day it hit me, or maybe God hit me, who knows? I’m the one who needs the gospel message. I’m the one who needs Jesus Christ. The person on the opposite side of the world needs the same God I do, just like the people I walk by every day.
As I prepare to leave I am reminded there is still work to be done here. I am just an empty vessel, just an ordinary, average sinner that one day was filled by God’s Spirit.