serving others

Mission Trip Day 6 – ‘I’ Can Only Help One But ‘We’ Can Help Many

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As we have continued serving this week we have been exploring several themes and bible verses related to our work.  Today I find myself thinking about Luke 10 verse 2 in my original MT post that states…

“He told them, the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.  Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

When an individual works to help another that is good and both the giver and the receiver feel good about things.  When more than one person gets involved in helping others the increase in value is exponential.   The world can be a difficult place and many people have to get involved in serving others in order for long term or sustainable change to occur.  This is not to say that one to one ministry is not good it is good and often needed but in order to move from charity which is good and helpful for the short term to justice which is investing in long term change many “workers” are needed.

I know we have made a difference in the lives of many people both directly and indirectly and I hope and pray that we can bring this momentum back to our home city and find a way to invest in long term help for people in our community…after all that is exactly what our Heavenly Father has asked us to do.

Peace.
  

Leaving For a Mission Trip Today

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I am heading out with a few other adults and 20 or so senior high youth from our church today to go and serve others in need.  We are hitting the road driving to a city much larger than our own but it could be any city, including our own, that has people in need.  Our bible verses surrounding us for this trip come from Luke 10:1-12…

“After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go.  He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.  Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.  Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Do not take a purse or bag or sandals and do not greet anyone on the road.  When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house’.  If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you.  Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages.  Do not move around from house to house.  When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you.  Heal the sick that are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you.’  But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you.  Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is near.  I tell you it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.”

I have come to understand that the only way we can grow in our spiritual life is to try new things and challenge ourselves regarding faith.  There was a time in my life that a mission trip was the last thing on my mind and yet that probably means God was the last thing on my mind as well.  I am glad that times have changed…

I pray for our group on the trip that we can all grow in faith and grow closer to God and that all people we encounter will see the love of God through our actions.

I will post as often as I can as we go to share my thoughts and reflections…Peace to you.