ABCCONN

Good afternoon.

I was asked to give a testimony about what mission outreach has meant to my life, specifically foreign missions. First a little background…

I have been involved in short-term foreign missions at Community Baptist Church in Manchester for at least the last 8 years. And this involvement has become one of the most important aspects of my church life. I invest large amounts, some might say too much, of my personal time in this endeavor and while, at times, it can feel overwhelming, I wouldn’t trade it for any thing else.

So, why do I devote so much of my time and energies to promoting and organizing short-term foreign mission trips? I’m going to give you seven reasons.

First, Missions is FUN!

I can’t think of anything that I enjoy more. For one thing, I really enjoy traveling and short-term mission trips allow me to travel and see places in the world that are rarely experience by the typical tourist. On a short-term mission trip I get the opportunity to live in a typical community, share daily life with the people in Bangladesh or the Dominican Republic or Haiti, visit them in their homes and simply share in daily rhythms of life that are rarely experienced as a tourist visiting a country. I love that. I love meeting real people and finding out how they live. It’s also a safe way to see countries without being sequestered behind walls and fences of the typical tourist resort. Our American Baptist missionaries live in these communities and are able to help us have a safe and meaningful experience.

Second, Mission trips promote increased fellowship with my fellow church members.

Most of the folks going on a short-term mission trip are people that I have known for years. I see them each Sunday, sitting in a pew across the isle from me, talk to them briefly at coffee hour, and occasionally share a personal moment together. But on a mission trip I get to really know them…and, as scary as it may be, they get to know me. We spend at lot of time together preparing for the trip and then spend at least a full week living 24/7 with each other. That teaches a lot of grace. You get to know who snores so loudly that you can’t sleep at night, who is a mosquito magnet (a good person to sit close to in an evening church service to reduce the amount of mosquito bites you will get!). Through these trips I get know people in a way that is rarely possible in my busy life at home.

Third, Mission trips are exciting and fulfilling.

I don’t know about you, but I am sometimes overwhelmed with my daily routine, work, church responsibilities, family responsibilities and home responsibilities and feel that I am not contributing to anything meaningful. Well, on a short-term mission trip my days are overflowing with fulfilling activities, whether they be hauling cement blocks, planning VBS activities for the day, trying to translate a conversation or question for a fellow team member, helping our hosts cook meals for the team or just walking down the rough village road holding hands with a couple of kids clamoring for attention. I don’t know that I have ever gone to bed each night in the US feeling that my days have been as fulfilling (and exhausting) as when I’m on a short-term mission trip.

Fourth, Mission trips help me focus more on Jesus.

Mission trips serve to remove the distractions of my daily life and force me to live in the present, in the holy “now” where Jesus can enter my heart in a way that doesn’t happen as often or as easily when I am home. We schedule morning and evening devotions each day of our trips and this time becomes a holy time where I can experience Christ and have other team members point out where they have experienced Christ during the day. Often, during morning or evening devotions a verse of scripture or teaching of Jesus takes on a more poignant meaning that is influenced by the experience of the past day. My understanding of Jesus and Christianity has taken on a more full meaning due to my experience on short-term mission trips.

Fifth, Mission trips humble me.

Each time I return from a mission trip I am humbled by the simple ability of our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world to continue to worship God in the shadow of the poverty, hardship, and privations that I find myself recoiling from and asking God how can you let people live this way. However, as soon as I get my pictures back and see the smiling faces and joy evident in my Dominican or Bangladeshi or Haitian friends I am amazed with the grace God provides to us to persevere in the presence of what many of us would find to be overwhelming poverty and suffering. Mission trips remind me that happiness is not about how many things I have but how many relationships I have that can sustain me in times of trouble.

Sixth, Mission trips shrink my world while expanding my perspective.

The most enduring treasure I’ve gained from my mission experiences is the relationships that I’ve formed with people in the communities where we worked. My world now includes Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Bangladesh and other countries. When I hear news stories about food shortages, or tropical storms devastating these countries I can no longer look away and just go on with my life. It has now become personal. There are people living there and suffering through these events who have hugged me, cried with me, laughed with me, shoveled cement with me, squeezed into a tiny mini van and shared their lives with me. In short, I deeply care about these people and their lives. And sometimes it’s painful as I see policies supported by my country impacting people that are now real to me. They are no longer just poor Haitians, Dominicans or Bangladeshis, they are Deyvi and Derek , Damaris, Luz, Margaret and Chichi. They are God’s precious creations, as precious to God as you and me.

Seventh, Missions is what God calls me to do.

I grew up as a pastor’s kid and I’ve been infused with the teaching that “from those who have been given much, much is expected.” The abundance of blessings that I have received from God makes it impossible for me not to consider serving him by using my skills and talents to share his love with my brothers and sisters in Christ around the world, even if it’s for only a week or two a year. And perhaps the most important thing I’ve learned is that it doesn’t matter if I do anything productive on a mission trip; the ministry of presence is the most important thing. Simply being there, being present with my brothers and sisters around the world, demonstrates my love and commitment to Christ. I don’t think there is a single building project or VBS program described in the book of Acts, however, there are numerous examples of the love of Christ being shared by the apostles as they traveled around their world to visit with and support their fellow Christians as they try to live out their lives as Christ’s followers. I can’t think of anything more fulfilling for me to do than short-term missions.

In short, I devote so much of my time to short-term missions, because missions are fun, they promote fellowship, they are exciting and fulfilling, they help me focus more on Jesus, they expand my world, humble me, and most importantly, it’s what God calls me to do. I’d love to have you come with me to experience the wonderful world of short-term mission trips.

God bless you and thank you for the opportunity to share what has become a passion for me.

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