My thoughts on short term missions.
Proverbs 3:3-6
Let love and faithfulness never leave you bind them around your neck and write them on the tablet of your heart. For then you will find favor in both the eyes of God and man.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways a knowledge Him.and He will make your oaths straight.
I was very blessed in Rwanda to be recognized in front of a whole congregation for the impact I have had in one of my teammates lives. She warned me before she talked that she was going to mention me but what I was not prepared for was the pastor to call me up for a hug and a large group of people that I had only known for a few weeks proceeded to hug and love on me. It was a lot more attention then I had wanted or thought would happen.
My life goal has been the first part of the verses listed above. The part about love and faithfulness. People who have known me only short periods of time are often surprised to hear about the temper and stubbornness that I have fought with my whole life. I was blessed to have parents with long fuses when it comes to their tempers but the few times we did push too far I remember and boy can they both be stubborn. I learned a long time ago to not pray for patience and grace. (God gives you plenty of practice in just everyday life.) There are a lot of verses in the New Testament that talk about how they will know us by our love and what that love should look like. This is what I pray for. I pray for God to help me love like Him and love the people He puts in my path.
When I was 21, I went on a 10 week mission trip, I learned a lot that summer but the one lesson I I hold onto everyday is, “When people see and interact with me do they see how good my God is or do they just think I am a good person?” As the close of my trip is coming that has been something I have been reflecting on. I went on 11 short term mission trips and if you count the few 4 day debrief locations it was more like 15 short term mission trips. All the staff and people on airplanes and busses and in hostels and ministry sites. Sometimes all I have with people is a few minutes or maybe just a few hours. I want to make the most of all that time. The challenge though is how can I point them back to Jesus. How can I show them that it is God that sees them and not just a monzungo being nice. Or a sweet girl in line asking about your day, but a God appointed interaction. Because sometimes to be honest it really truly is. I have moments where I don’t want to talk to people, or times that my teammates make me bite my tongue or want to shake my head or pull out hair. I have days where my temper and tongue almost get the best of me and some days where they do and I have to apologise for my ugly. We all do. Not one of us is perfect or loves like Jesus 100 percent of the time, if we did we wouldn’t need Him.
The time that I have is what I can give. I was sitting with one of the long term staff yesterday at a gas station waiting for a pikipiki to come get us and these kids came up and shook my hand and smiled with me a minute. After they left she looked at me and said, “You know that little girl whose hair you touched is going home to tell her family all about how the monzungo talked to her and liked her hair.” It made me smile because I was able to make her feel special for a minute simply by acknowledging her. It didn’t take anything from me, I had no money to give or food on me. I simply said hi.
I taught a Sunday school lesson yesterday. I talked about following God and how stories in the Old Testament point to Jesus. I shared about how God fulfills promises and sometimes He asks us to do things that may seem crazy to the world but God wants to be first. (God asking Abraham to sacrifice Isaac.) We looked at how Isaac represents Christ, he willingly let his father tie him up and put him on the alter. The faith and trust he had for his father and God is immeasurable. ,We prayed for faith like that. They may never remember my name but I hope they remember that prayer. I hope they never forget how good and faithful God is and that we can trust him for everything.
Wednesday we are leaving for a short term trip inside our actual trip. We are heading to Wamba Kenya to visit a tribe there. My teammate and I prayed a lot about it as it was a surprise to us when we got here. God has answered all of our prayers about it though and I am excited to do children’s ministry there. I wonder what we will encounter and I know it is a once in a lifetime kind of trip. It will only be for 5 days but I know it will change my life. Each part of this journey has changed my life. From the 1 week debriefs to the 4 weeks in country. Some of the short encounters have been just as meaningful as the week long friendships. People I have been blessed to meet.
Since leaving on this trip a lot of people have asked about the length or the time or the locations. They have been trying to figure out what God might be asking them to do. I am telling you from this side of the journey that if you feel his tug and He is making a way GO. GO for a weekend, a week, a month, a year, or even just the day. Take a leap to faith and make a difference sometimes we are the ones that need something from the place and people we are going to help.
These people may never remember who I am or that I am from New Hampshire but my hope is they remember God loved them enough to send a willing heart to say hi and play with their hair. To hold and pray for their babies. To encourage them that they are not forgotten and that God loves them. Because, yes being white in these places has made.me stand out, but if all they walk away with is how nice of a “white person” I was then my trip would have just been a nice vacation. But, if even that few hour encounter with someone that the world would say I logically should never have met leads them to a closer understanding of who my God is then every minute and dollar is well spent. I want my life to matter but not for the sake of Vickie Statler, I want it to matter for the sake of Jesus Christ. My hope is for people to Remember Jesus not me.
