January to April.
Three months.
Three countries.
One incredible trip.
Three months of laughs.
Three months of tears.
Three months of being blown away on a daily basis by the most amazing college students ever.
I wish I had words to sum it all up…but the truth is? All I can is thank you.
Not just to them…you see, they know they are loved and appreciated. But this thank you goes out to some other people. The people who let them partake in this journey.
Their parents.
I don't have kids yet so it may be unfathomable for me to even begin to imagine what it's like to watch your baby girl or boy get on a giant plane and fly away to an unknown land for three months. Especially when they are being led by a 27 year old guy with not a whole lot of experience.
While the journey didn't always go as planned in our eyes, it went exactly like Jesus intended every step of the way.
In your kids I saw kindness.
I saw peace. I saw joy. I saw gentleness. I saw faithfulness.
And I saw love…
…man, did I see love.
Every single place your kids stepped and went, there was an outpouring of love that immediately followed.
In each of them, I saw Jesus more and more every day. And because of that, not only did the lives of countless people change – but so did mine.
From their example shown over three months, I learned more about the Father's love than I did at any previous time in my life. And the best part? It wasn't just me…
There was over 100+ orphans who raised their hands to accept Jesus as their Savior in Malawi after your kids had loved on them for hours.
There was a man named Joe who had been caught up in the wrong things and wanted no part in coming to church in Zambia who rededicated his life to Jesus after being prayed over for an hour.
There was smile after smile being shown by the kids at every school we went to in Mozambique just because your kid took an interest and asked questions and made the children feel known for the first time.
I know they've been home for a little over a week now and I know you've probably been told story after story about what happened when we were all in Africa together.
But I'm here to tell you a different story by writing this.
I'm writing this to let you know how incredibly proud you should be of what Jesus did through your child.
I'm writing this to let you know the profound impact that your child made on my life and how their love and support is going to help shape the man that God continues to mold me into.
I'm writing this to simply say thank-you because you let your child take a step forward in their faith and trust that God had a beautiful plan for them over this last semester.
You let your child be free to experience this amazing life that Jesus has for us and because of your willingness to say 'yes' to their calling, you helped change the lives of more people than you'll ever realize…even my children one day.
Who I now pray will grow to be just like yours.
Bold.
Confident.
Patient.
Dignified.
And full of love.
His love.
So thank-you. From the bottom of my heart, thank-you.
If you're reading this and you have a child who desires and feels called to go on a mission trip — especially overseas — the only advice I can give is to let them be free. Let them spread their little wings and fly and see where Jesus can take them. I can promise you that their lives, and yours, will never be the same. As I mentioned above, I don't have children — but when I do, I pray my kids have the bravery to take a huge leap of faith like the kids I wrote about above. The group I lead showed me Jesus every single day and because of them my life will never be the same. Will it be scary at times to have them gone? Yes. Without a doubt. Will you go a couple days without talking to them and probably freak out just a little bit? Sure. But always, always, ALWAYS remember that God's calling on somebody's life is bigger than anything else we can dream up for somebody. And I don't know about you, but I want the best for those closest to me. Whether it's here in America or all the way across the way in Africa. Sometimes you just have to trust that God is control and as much as we want to be, His plan is always perfect. Always.
