Jetlagged, weary-eyed, utterly exhausted, yet fulfilled. This past week I, along with several others returned from a two-week mission trip to Thailand. Two weeks filled with culture, new found friendships, sleepless nights, fatigue, joy, and much more. Although the exotic foods may have unsettled our stomachs or we had strained emotions due to lack of sleep, I cannot wait to return. I have found that when it comes to mission trips there are a few things to take into consideration. Things never go as planned – no matter how much you painstakingly plan the agenda. It will change and that is okay, more than okay usually. Intend to serve, be prepared to be humbled – no matter how you plan to serve others, God shows up and meets you in the faces of those you serve. Allow your heart to break – broken hearts are God’s pottery. He breaks you, only to mold you into His very own remade masterpiece. Open yourself up to be vulnerable – every trip had revealed part of my own story. When we allow ourselves to be prayerfully vulnerable, God will show us our story and true mission. Mission trips are not for everyone – even those that go ‘on a mission’ are not always ready. They focus more on themselves than those they are there to help. Some missionaries are better off taking a vacation. Allow God’s love to shine – You may be a bitter pill at home. Yet travel to a place where no one knows you. […]

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Just over four months ago I would not have known anything about Haiti beyond what you read or might see on TV. After I asked a simple question at a fundraiser back in August and, in turn, received a challenging question that would end up changing my heart. An offer to have me travel to Haiti and see what the nonprofit was doing first hand. Little did I know as I write this I have been to the country twice now and had my heart shattered and slowly rebuilt. When anyone steps outside of their comfort zone they tend to never be able to go back like they used to be. Similar to when you pack for a trip or try to put something back in its original packaging, things just never are the same. As I revel in the Haiti honeymoon hangover of this past weekend’s trip I figured I would share some lessons learned from my latest mission trip shared with the Haitian people. Lessons that will leave me forever changed, longing to go back and willing to take you along the next time I go if you are so inclined. Lessons Learned from my Latest Mission Trip Joy is Real As Americans, real joy  seems to come few and far between. Sure there are some people who are overly happy that it is borderline annoying. Yet real joy still seems to be missing. We complain about the simple things in life, yet in Haiti, they are happy and joyful over the simplest […]

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The sheer joy and happiness on the people of Canaan tore at my heart as we loaded back up in the van to leave. As we loaded up I had a window seat that happened to already be open. While waiting I felt a slight tap on my arm that was hanging out the window. I looked and saw the biggest smile hiding behind a soccer ball. It was the young boy that had won the ball for reciting Psalms 23 the day before. Over the noise of talking and children playing I heard him say in very clear English “Thank you for my ball, thank you for coming.” What was left of my heart melted and stayed in Canaan as the van pulled away. My heart weakened with the gracious smile of a child. Click To Tweet We headed out of the mountains of Canaan in a different direction as we had some new passengers on-board. The pastor’s family rode with us back to the pastor’s house quite a distance away. Between the extra people and our bags, and left over food it was a pretty tight fit and heavy load. Our driver did his best to maneuver the van through the rough terrain. At one point we had to get out of the van so it could make it up a steep hill. Normally this kind of thing would have been concerning, in Haiti on mission it is part of everyday life.   Once we made it down the mountain to the Pastor’s […]

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