Wow... it still makes me gasp even as I type it and sit and read it over and over again!!
It is amazing how much change and opportunity 2015 has brought me and my family. As I started making some new goals and making plans at the end of last summer, here, I wanted to find ways to be involved in the community I live in. However, an international mission trip was very much off the radar. If someone would have suggested I'd be gearing up for such an opportunity I probably would have found several excuses of why the whole idea, though great, would have been completely unrealistic. To be honest, I would have touted my vocation as wife and mother as a primary reason I would not be able to serve in such a way, despite my passion for the church and ministry. I can't leave the country, that's crazy, isn't it??
This mindset somehow changed a couple months ago when a Facebook friend, who's family serves as missionaries, posted about the need for people to serve in short-term missions over the summer. I began looking at the opportunities simply out of curiosity.
My family can't survive for a week or two without me, can they??? But what if they could?
What if something like a short-term mission does fit into my vocation?
Humm...
How does this benefit my neighbors, here and there? Why is mission needed in this area of the world anyway? How would my service support a Word and Sacrament ministry in Slovakia faithfully?
So I found myself thinking about it more, talking to my husband and kids about it, of course praying about it, and filling out applications. Even as I prepare and continually get excited about this opportunity to share the Gospel at a summer camp with 8th and 9th graders, I still find myself working through such questions.Can I really serve in this way? How does this serve my neighbor? Where is Christ in all of this?... Because this can't just be some kind of whimsy adventure that is more focused on tourism over actual service.
The best I can do is know that I, as a baptized and forgiven child of God, have been blessed to be called to be a wife, mother, and servant to others. The blessings and struggles of carrying out the task of a mission trip is something that not only provides me with growth it is also doing so for my family. In my preparations we together as a family are continually turned to trust in God as all the details with travel and everything start to come together. A mission trip has a way of turning the hearts of those who serve to further hope in Christ, knowing that the whole point is to share the good news of Christ's forgiveness and salvation with all people.
So who am I in all of this?
I am a sinner who has been purchased with the blood of Christ as I go humbly to serve and share the knowledge of that truth with others who have also been redeemed and forgiven by God's Son. This is the stuff of life together in Christ as God people, that we love and reach out to each other with His grace. My hope is that through my service I will be able to support the ongoing efforts of the Pastors, missionaries, teachers of the school in Slovakia, I pray that I will be able to faithfully get to know the teens at the camp, care for them, and share the love of Christ with them.
I need your prayers and support as I prepare for this opportunity. Please check out my funding campaign and consider making a donation.
Click here to go to my campaign page.
I will be writing all about this mission as the stories of this journey unfold. I hope that you will follow with excitement as God's Word goes out in mission to do what it says, delivering the promises and hope of eternal life and salvation!!!
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