I have lived on this planet for 16 years. And for each of those years I have dreamed of traveling. When I was younger my passion to travel was driven by my own personal, selfish desire. I wanted to be a National Geographic Photographer so that when traveled, everyone could see just how awesomely worldly I would be. But somewhere down my long and curving path in life, I started to develop a passion for the Lord. That passion created a passion within me for my only passion to be one that would satisfy Him. This summer I traveled to Belize on a mission team. It was there that I finally shed my desire to travel for my own gain, my own selfish desire. My passion to travel is now replaced by His passion in me to spread His love.
Belize is already a heavily Christian area, so it wasn't like our church was bringing the good news there for the first time. We weren't building a school, we weren't feeding the homeless, we weren't trying to Americanize their system. Officially, we were there to help lead a Vacation Bible School at All Saints Episcopal Church. Officially, our goal was to educate. However, God said we were meant to be there just to share love. A lot of mission groups nowadays head into a mission with a very task-oriented mindset. They think that they're trip will not be successful unless they complete their checklist of tasks. Yes, third world countries need our help. But we as missionaries and Christians can't expect to change the world through our construction projects and American ways of doing things. We as individuals can't be naïve in thinking that we alone, individually, can change the world. We can't change the word. Only God can do that. We can't change the level of poverty and physical decay in third world countries. In the book " Kisses from Katie" she describes working in third-world countries feeling like she's emptying the ocean with an eye-dropper. We can't change the whole world, a whole country, or even a whole city of people. I can, however, make a difference for just one person. There's a story I once heard about a little boy who is walking along the beach. The whole shore is covered in starfish that are slowly being dried by the sun. He walks along the ocean and one by one, throws a starfish into the water, giving it another chance at life. A man walks by and says " Why are you doing that? Surely you know that you can't save them all!" The boy picks up a starfish and tosses it over his shoulder saying " True, but I can save this one, and this one, and this one. That must be worth something." I can be the boy. I can go and love their people. I can go and let God's love flow through me and onto the people there. I can go and create relationships in the hopes that someday, God will work through us to change the world, if it is His will. In John 13:34 Jesus says "So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other." He is telling us that our great mission is very simple; to love. So no, we did not drastically alter Belize. From a human perspective, the only visual evidence of improvement is the teal school building we helped paint one afternoon. However, I'd like to believe that in God's eyes, He sees the work we did. He sees how we opened up a few hearts. We loved some little children that may never have had love before. And He sees the work that the Belizean people did in my team and I. They healed us as we healed them.
We loved their people, their people loved us, & we all loved God. And I believe that can be called a successful mission.
Belize is already a heavily Christian area, so it wasn't like our church was bringing the good news there for the first time. We weren't building a school, we weren't feeding the homeless, we weren't trying to Americanize their system. Officially, we were there to help lead a Vacation Bible School at All Saints Episcopal Church. Officially, our goal was to educate. However, God said we were meant to be there just to share love. A lot of mission groups nowadays head into a mission with a very task-oriented mindset. They think that they're trip will not be successful unless they complete their checklist of tasks. Yes, third world countries need our help. But we as missionaries and Christians can't expect to change the world through our construction projects and American ways of doing things. We as individuals can't be naïve in thinking that we alone, individually, can change the world. We can't change the word. Only God can do that. We can't change the level of poverty and physical decay in third world countries. In the book " Kisses from Katie" she describes working in third-world countries feeling like she's emptying the ocean with an eye-dropper. We can't change the whole world, a whole country, or even a whole city of people. I can, however, make a difference for just one person. There's a story I once heard about a little boy who is walking along the beach. The whole shore is covered in starfish that are slowly being dried by the sun. He walks along the ocean and one by one, throws a starfish into the water, giving it another chance at life. A man walks by and says " Why are you doing that? Surely you know that you can't save them all!" The boy picks up a starfish and tosses it over his shoulder saying " True, but I can save this one, and this one, and this one. That must be worth something." I can be the boy. I can go and love their people. I can go and let God's love flow through me and onto the people there. I can go and create relationships in the hopes that someday, God will work through us to change the world, if it is His will. In John 13:34 Jesus says "So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other." He is telling us that our great mission is very simple; to love. So no, we did not drastically alter Belize. From a human perspective, the only visual evidence of improvement is the teal school building we helped paint one afternoon. However, I'd like to believe that in God's eyes, He sees the work we did. He sees how we opened up a few hearts. We loved some little children that may never have had love before. And He sees the work that the Belizean people did in my team and I. They healed us as we healed them.
We loved their people, their people loved us, & we all loved God. And I believe that can be called a successful mission.
