- What are 3 things you are worried about?
- What are 3 things you are excited about?
- What are 3 things you want to see happen?
- What are 3 things you don't want to see happen?
At first I didn't have any answers as I wasn't worried about anything (so I thought until I met with TSA), but as I had time to reflect and [ray I realized that I was worried about flight delays and missed opportunities. In retrospect it seems silly as flight delays will most likely create opportunities to share the gospel and the mission we were on.
What was I most excited about, WOW!! I was about to serve on a short term mission trip with my youngest son (Matthew) and my husband, who just 5 years ago was in a wheelchair, how awesome is that! We were serving God in a new opportunity to us yet the same mission, by loving the people we serve so that they may come to know Christ's love through us. Lastly, no snow, or ice or sub zero temperatures... Scott and I started praying about next years trip long before this year's began.
I saw these next three happen on day 1 and throughout our trip: we became closer as a team (not just the 9 of us from Grace Bible Church but all 52 of us) from day 1 as we were introduced and gelled through our love for Christ and the people we were serving. We made new friends for life and grew closer together to Christ through our experiences in the Dominican.
Lastly, 3 things I didn't want to see happen:
Right of the bat my first answer was "I didn't want to see Jerry get lost or left behind..." and I need to say it was only at the airports that we asked, "Where's Jerry?' But in San Juan it wasn't asked, not because we didn't care but because we knew Jerry was wherever there was work being done. In the early hours as I was writing in my journal Jerry was in the kitchen doing dishes, and in the afternoon when I was icing my knees Jerry was getting the things together for tomorrow (helping both the construction and medical teams prepare). The other thing I didn't want to see was misunderstanding or mix ups creating missed opportunities to show Christ's love and gospel. On Day 2 Dr Ravvi did a procedure on a dad of 2 young boys who stayed at Dr Ravvi's desk while the procedure was being done. The boys were well behaved but scared and thankfully Matthew came in to ask if there was anything we needed. I told him about the boys and he went to the pharmacy and got 2 coloring book packs that had pictures and crayons and sat with the boys drawing pictures only blank paper as they colored until their dad was done. The smiles and exchanges I can not express in words but those who know my Matthew know how huge this opportunity was not for just him but also for those two boys and myself to witness. Dr Ravvi smiled when he saw the pictures posted about his desk that Matthew drew and reassured him... that this is why we are here.
I also didn't want to see anyone get seriously ill or be uncomfortable with the people we meet, on our last day of clinics many of us came down with "travelers illness" but not too seriously ill and I never saw anyone uncomfortable with anyone.
We are still felling the blessings of having gone on the mission trip and are truly praying that God will open doors and opportunities for us to return next January. We bonded with those on our team, in San Juan, and communities. We ask for your continued support through prayer as we seek for His discernment and wisdom in this venture.
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