“For you were called to freedom, brothers…through love, serve one another.” Galatians 5:13-14
It’s a late afternoon in March, and the sun is setting over a quiet village in the Dominican Republic. I lift my hand to brush the sweat from my forehead, and my shoulders ache with the soreness that comes from carrying cinder blocks up two dozen steps countless times over a week. The fading sunlight casts shadows on an unfinished room of the cinder-block schoolhouse my team has spent seven days constructing. Seven days. Hours of mixing cement, stacking cinder blocks, sweating alongside the people of this town in the hopes of completing this building before our time here is up.
Now, as we gather our tools and prepare to say goodnight to the villagers for the final time, my team is forced to accept that we’ve failed to complete the project. One second-floor classroom lacks part of a wall and the roof is incomplete. A heavy sense of inadequacy hangs over us as we realize that another team must complete the work we are leaving unfinished.
My footsteps land heavily as I trudge wearily down the steps toward the van that waits to carry my team toward the airport and home. As I reach up to untie the bandanna that holds back my hair, I catch a glimpse of the scene outside the schoolhouse. A group of children gather wide-eyed in a classroom, focused on their teacher with eagerness to learn. And in that moment, I realize the beauty of what we have accomplished here in this town.
A week ago, the town was filled with children hungry for an education. Tomorrow, these children, and more from surrounding areas, will file proudly into their new schoolhouse to sit in desks and learn to write in ink. We helped to provide an opportunity to light a fire fueled by knowledge in the hearts of these children. Somewhere in the future these boys and girls will share their knowledge with younger generations. They will remember our gift to them and perhaps be driven to serve others in the same way. A satisfying peace warms me as I realize that I will never comprehend where the project we have begun here will end. No matter the unfinished wall and roof of that classroom – the difference we have made in seven days may be eternal.
This was the memory that filled my mind as I sat down tonight to compose my first blog post as I prepare to depart on the World Race, an 11 month mission trip to serve and share the gospel in 11 countries. That trip to expand a school in the Dominican Republic was during my junior year of high school. What I didn’t realize then, as I contemplated the lasting effect that my work would have, was the fire that was being kindled in my own heart – a fire fueled by a desire to serve like that over and over again. 1 Peter 4:11 encourages us to “serve with the strength God provides” so that God may be glorified.
Since that trip to the Dominican Republic, the depth of my relationship with God has grown exponentially. He has continuously provided me with the strength and desire to grow closer to Him through serving others, much the way Christ did in his time here. My spirit is hungry to impact the lives of others, not only by meeting their physical needs, but also by reaching into their spiritual lives and sharing with them the gift of salvation. As I travel the world in the 11 months of the World Race, I pray that God is glorified through the work of my team and that the impact made in our lives and those around us is eternal.
