By the time you read this post, I will be on my way to the Dominican Republic, serving with Mrs. Chugg as one of the sponsors for the HCA Senior Missions Trip. We will be working alongside a church there on a variety of children's ministry activities as well as some practical work projects for the church and school there. This will be a life-changing experience for many of this trip.
As I was thinking about this trip, my mind went back to our first Senior Missions Trip in 2003. Up until that time, senior trips had been largely educational/recreational with no emphasis on ministry. The class sponsor of that class was unable to continue during their senior year, so I stepped into that role for the year. I remember meeting with the students and their parents early in the school year and challenging them to think about a radical change ... to view the senior trip as a ministry opportunity. The class embraced the challenge, and in May of 2003 we left for a week of ministry in the Czech Republic.
Three things stand out to me about that trip. The first is God's provision .... This group was late in the fundraising process and had just decided to up the fundraising goal in a significant way. We wrote traditional missions support letters and each day I came to Bible class and updated our total received on the board. It was a joy for the students to see God provide in a tangible way. I also remember a big garage sale we organized in the gym ... I described it this way. "After looking at all the junk in the gym, I expected $1,000, hoped for $2,000, dreamed for $3,000 ... and God provided $4,000!!" At the end of the year, God had provided so abundantly that we paid for the trip and left a $1,000 deposit toward any class that chose a similar ministry trip. That "heritage" lives on!
I also remember the flight home; I had a captive audience, so I distributed a trip reflection for the students to complete on the flight. This included questions such as "What did you learn about God this week?", "What did you learn about yourself this week", etc. I will never forget the answer I got from one student to the question "What surprised you about this trip?" - he responded "I never knew that serving God could be such fun!" I still get chills when I think of that response; if we can get every student to grasp the "joy in serving Jesus" we will have been successful.
Finally, as I look back on that class, I see three young men who are in vocational Christian service, serving as youth pastors. I am confident that this trip was a part of the process God used to call them into this service. In an earlier blog I mentioned a Cardus survey which identified Christian school graduates as the most engaged church members; I believe this kind of experience is part of the reason for that.
Please pray for us this week as we minister to the people of the Dominican Republic and as God ministers to us through them.
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