Tomorrow, I’ll be taking 9 people from my church to Fort Wayne, IN on a mission trip. We’ll be helping 12 churches in the Fort Wayne area by doing construction on church buildings, hosting block parties, and leading Vacation Bible Schools. These mission trips are always a lot of work, and yet a lot of fun.
I’ve gone on probably around a dozen mission trips over the years. I can still remember the first one that I went on. I was in college, and went to Texas with (what was then called) the Baptist Student Union. I remember that I was helping with a backyard Bible club, and I led an older child to know Jesus as Savior. It was the first time I had ever led someone to Jesus.
So I’m no stranger to mission trips. I enjoy them. And I love that I’m taking a larger and larger group from my church with me every year to go on them.
And yet, there’s a part of me this year that’s a bit apprehensive about it all, and I’m not sure completely way. I think that it might have something to do with the realization I came to last year, after coming home from Haiti, that my calling is primarily to my church. But I don’t think that that’s all of it.
I think part of it is just that I’ve gotten comfortable. I’m used to ministering in the ways that minister. I’m used to preaching, and praying, and visiting. So it’s a little scary thinking about how my routine will be disrupted this next week, and I’ll be doing things that I’m not used to doing.
But I’m also thankful. I’m thankful that my routine will be disrupted. Because God often teaches us the most and uses us the most when we realize that we’re completely at His mercy.
So I’m looking forward to the week to come, even if I am a little apprehensive about it, because I know that in my weakness, God is strong.