That is what I was asked several times while in Honduras during the week of March 10-17, 2007. The trip was my first mission trip since coming to serve at Living Hope and I think many people enjoyed “breaking the new guy in”. The trip was a joy and the people on our team made serving Christ together a real delight.
I served on the evangelism team and spent much of the day waiting for services to come together so that people would hear the Gospel before they moved on to the medical or dental clinics. Honduran time works a little differently that the typical busy, on-the-go, American clock. The people are in no rush and we spent a lot of time waiting for them to arrive so we could move forward with the service. During those times I decided to mingle with the people around the village of Los Trojes and share as much of the Gospel as I could with my less than impressive Spanish. In my wandering, I discovered several things.
First, I talked with many people who were very, very poor, yet they were very joyful. They attributed this joy to either their relationship with God or their family or both. Since returning home I have had many people ask me just how far “behind” the people were or if they were “backward” because of their poverty. To some degree, most of us are probably guilty of presupposition. How many times have you heard family members and neighbors say, “All we need is our God and our family to be happy,”? Now I wonder how many people actually mean that. For many of the people in Los Trojes, their God and their family were all they had, literally, and they were happy. I am left to wonder if I say that all I need is God and my family’s love, yet, secretly I know that all of this stuff and so-called accomplishment around me is what I am using to produce what I believe is happiness. What is the daily source of my joy?
The second thing I relearned was that we are all the same. Whether we live in a city, the country or on the side of a mountain range, our great needs are heart needs. We all long to be accepted and to be loved. This should come as no surprise because God created us this way so that we would find these things in Him. I found it to be much easier to preach in Los Trojes that you might expect because I followed Jesus’ lead and went straight after the human heart. When this happens, it really makes little difference if a person is rich or poor, young or old. We are all in need of the work that only God can do in giving us a new heart and constantly bringing refreshment to this heart.
While we were in Honduras there were people that received the Gospel and there were people that were helped by our medical and dental teams. Yet, what I received most was not a sense of satisfaction in going, but encouragement in remembering that what brings us greatest joy is loving God and loving others.
Brandon Porter
I served on the evangelism team and spent much of the day waiting for services to come together so that people would hear the Gospel before they moved on to the medical or dental clinics. Honduran time works a little differently that the typical busy, on-the-go, American clock. The people are in no rush and we spent a lot of time waiting for them to arrive so we could move forward with the service. During those times I decided to mingle with the people around the village of Los Trojes and share as much of the Gospel as I could with my less than impressive Spanish. In my wandering, I discovered several things.
First, I talked with many people who were very, very poor, yet they were very joyful. They attributed this joy to either their relationship with God or their family or both. Since returning home I have had many people ask me just how far “behind” the people were or if they were “backward” because of their poverty. To some degree, most of us are probably guilty of presupposition. How many times have you heard family members and neighbors say, “All we need is our God and our family to be happy,”? Now I wonder how many people actually mean that. For many of the people in Los Trojes, their God and their family were all they had, literally, and they were happy. I am left to wonder if I say that all I need is God and my family’s love, yet, secretly I know that all of this stuff and so-called accomplishment around me is what I am using to produce what I believe is happiness. What is the daily source of my joy?
The second thing I relearned was that we are all the same. Whether we live in a city, the country or on the side of a mountain range, our great needs are heart needs. We all long to be accepted and to be loved. This should come as no surprise because God created us this way so that we would find these things in Him. I found it to be much easier to preach in Los Trojes that you might expect because I followed Jesus’ lead and went straight after the human heart. When this happens, it really makes little difference if a person is rich or poor, young or old. We are all in need of the work that only God can do in giving us a new heart and constantly bringing refreshment to this heart.
While we were in Honduras there were people that received the Gospel and there were people that were helped by our medical and dental teams. Yet, what I received most was not a sense of satisfaction in going, but encouragement in remembering that what brings us greatest joy is loving God and loving others.
Brandon Porter
1 comment:
What is the daily source of my joy?
Some answers to that question we wouldn't be proud to share. I most definitely wouldn't want to have to share that response from over a year or so ago. But you grow in your walk…
Now, I find it easier to explain that source, which is in Jesus' love for all of us. I find it easier to explain to a stranger sometimes than a friend and definitely than a family member. Why is that anyway - I'm not sure?
What I do know is that God puts that desire in our hearts to tell others about him, regardless of the size or scope of the mission. I haven't been on any official missions’ trips yet, but this past weekend, I journeyed with a few others on a short "mission" to motivate and support a young recruit graduating from Parris Island, South Carolina, Marine Corps Recruit Depot, with a few other Marines. The seed was already planted, so we were also there to reinforce any positive thoughts and views he had on Christianity. Little did I know, the majority of the work to be done during this small trip was not at that graduation, but it was on the ride there and back as we talked about our Lord, learned from one another, and witnessed to the only individual in the van who didn't personally know Jesus Christ.
We discussed what we agreed to be this hole in our hearts that we all have. Things fill it. People fill it. Self-centered words, reflections and our possessions have filled it as we try to cram in whatever seems right, whatever feels good, and even over fill that void in our hearts at times to find a since of peace. We discussed this in many different ways sharing stories and testimony, and then on the way home I realized the elevator version of that simple picture, should you find yourself in an elevator with a bunch of Pagans.
We have all found joy from so many sources at one point or another. So, we most definitely all have a hole in our heart which we try to fill with so many things. Like a toddler playing with those wooden shapes that have matching holes, we do most anything to make the wrong shape fit. Turn it, flip it, smack it, hit, and even throw a little fit. We try every means available to do it our way - when really, all we have to do is take a moment, look at the hole and realize it is in the perfect shape of a cross.
It is the same with God. Once we open our hearts and minds and accept Jesus into our lives – you realize the perfect fit. We are all the same, we have that desire to be loved and accepted, just as Brandon mentioned. Once we find these needs met, that only Jesus Christ provides, we have no choice but to give in to a new desire... to move focus from ourselves and to follow in our Leader’s footsteps and reach out to others.
Was this a huge group mission trip? It was such a small trip that we took to reach out to one young Marine and then witness to another during the ride - but I thank God for it. I am thankful for the opportunity to be a part of his work, tend to his garden, and carry out his mission, knowing that all of the good comes from Him. I now know, however the size, that trip was beyond a shadow of a doubt - a mission. One that was in God's hands, a part of His plan and that brought joy to all of our cross-filled hearts, knowing that God’s seeds will grow.
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