My latest mission trip, although only six days in Belize, turned out to be one of the best mission trips I’ve ever been on.
There was a tiny little bit of apprehension about this trip before we left because it was the first time I was the leader of a trip from start to finish. Yes, I have been on missions before where I was in charge of people for part of the trip, but this was the first time I had the title, “Leader.”
And there was a little concern on my part that being the leader meant that the responsibilities and concerns of being the guy in charge might detract from the joy of the trip. I’ve spent years finally becoming comfortable in just following Jesus. There is an amazing comfort in giving up the desire to be in charge and just letting Jesus lead me wherever He wants me to go and doing whatever He wants me to do.
I have tried being my own god and it was a massive fail. Massive. Epic fail.
And then there’s the whole “baptizing cats” phenomenon… At last count, I’ve been on about 17 mission trips. Most of them have been fabulous and I really believe the LORD designed me to go on mission trips, but on any trip, there is the possibility that shepherding a group of people will bear a striking resemblance to herding cats. There is also the possibility that one of the cats will (despite all sincerity on their part) achieve “problem child” status, which can then lead to dissent among the other cats who then believe, at some point, that the leader is attempting to involve them in something they most certainly have a deep aversion to, such as immersing them in water. I have heard the cats muttering mutinous thoughts on a trip or two.
It is not something I would want to experience again.
There were a total of nine of us on this trip –three women and six men. One of those men was my boss, which also led to the possibility of some discomfort and awkwardness. Another guy on the trip had been my best friend in high school, which meant that we had engaged in some decidedly “non-Christian” behavior, thankfully, in a previous century. And one of the ladies involved is a cousin of my wife, which again, led to the possibility of awkwardness.
As it turned out, none of those situations caused any concern at all. In fact, at a certain point in mid-trip, I shared that once a team reached a certain size (usually and Biblically around a dozen people) the probability of a “problem child” became more likely a certainty. I graciously shared with them that I did not consider any of them a “problem child,” and they gleefully responded by suggesting that, since none of them had achieved this status, perhaps said designation rested upon me.
A team with a sense of humor is a blessing indeed.
Our mission was to go into the San Pedro Government School near Corozal, Belize, help the students with their lessons, and love on the children. I had been with another team that did this same thing at the same place back in November.
Principal Bobadilla, the teachers, and the students gave us a wonderful welcome when we arrived Wednesday morning. They sang the national anthem, raised the flag, honored us, read us poetry and told us we were to consider ourselves at home for all the time we were there.
Time in the classroom was excellent. The government of Belize has no problem with students being exposed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In fact, the Belizean National Prayer is posted in every classroom and it is unmistakenly Christian. We were encouraged to speak of Jesus, the Bible, and our faith in the LORD. The children listened with genuine interest and attention.
I was asked to talk in Mr. Teck’s fifth and sixth grade room about my recent trip to Egypt on the first day. So I talked about the Nile, Moses and the children of Israel, and how Joseph and Mary had fled to Egypt with Jesus. On the next day, the class was learning about drug and alcohol addiction, so I was able to describe how addiction leads to an endless downward spiral of shame and guilt. Jesus is the answer to that shame and guilt because He did not come into this world to condemn the world, but that the world would be saved through Him. I loved the way the students listened on the edge of their seats to learn about Jesus.
Other members of the team had heart-warming stories as they interacted with these wonderful children and their combination of respect and joy in having us with them.
And then, it was time for recess.
The kids loved playing a game they called “Shark” which was a modified version of “Tag” with rules only they fully understood. The degree of running back and forth across the playground exhausted more than one member of the team completely. There was a group of boys over by the library who invited me to play marbles with them. I felt like I was one of the cool kids –when I most assuredly am not. We broke out the flying discs we’d brought and, as the three days in the school progressed, we added bubbles, balls, and kites to the mix.
And I am here to tell you there is something about a 67 year-old missionary flying a kite in Belize with 97 school kids that cannot adequately be described with words.
It was fabulous.
Each night, the team gathered after supper and talked about the day. On the very first day at the school, five of the team members had been brought to the point of tears by the love of those children. Somebody asked the team to rate the day from 1 to 10. Seven of us gave it a “ten.” The lowest score was a 9.5.
It was exactly what I had prayed for.
I had asked the LORD that the Holy Spirit would come into the hearts of our team and bring those beautiful, precious tears that only He can. I’d asked that lives would be changed. I’d asked that love would be multiplied. All of those prayers were answered.
The pictures and the stories and the joy and, yes, the love of Jesus Christ filled the air we breathed. I had to consciously be aware that I was getting cramps in my face from smiling so much. We fell into bed each night exhausted by joy and filled with the Holy Spirit.
And then something funny happened.
I realized that I was the leader. It dawned on me that I was part of God’s plan to be the shepherd who helped bring all that I was witnessing into reality. I wasn’t herding cats. I wasn’t baptizing cats. I was guiding God’s sheep to green pastures and still waters where a banquet of overflowing joy awaited them. God’s people – children and missionaries alike – were experiencing that word which was considered somehow, in some way, sinful when I was a kid going to church so many years ago.
We were having fun!
Instead of a Savior who began every sentence with, “Yea, verily I say unto thee..” we were experiencing the Jesus who defeated sin, death, the devil and every kind of evil. God isn’t some old guy in the sky stomping out fun wherever He sees it. He is the God who wants us to experience the freedom and the joy of a life lived to the full. Jesus loved us – and He loved us in a way that His joy was made complete in us and through us.
I firmly believe Jesus was flying those kites with us.
And I got to be the guy watching it all unfold with a kind of heavenly, eternal purpose that I will treasure forever.
One morning, as we sat around the breakfast table, I asked the team what Jesus meant when, in Matthew 6: 19-20 he said, “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.”
What could we possibly take to heaven with us? What material possession could we possibly transfer to heaven? There are no trailer hitches on hearses, right?
One of the team members immediately answered, “Relationships.”
Yes, I believe we will know each other when we get to heaven. I believe every relationship we start, foster, grow, and nurture here on this earth will transfer to heaven with us.
My prayer list grows every time I take a mission trip. Every time I follow Jesus somewhere He leads me, He puts people in my path that I can either ignore or do my part to invite them into this glorious, wonderful, amazing family with a King who loves humanity so much He would leave the 99 and go looking for that one lost sheep. It’s a love that flies kites, chases Frisbees, runs back and forth from a shark, invites some weird old guy to play marbles, makes that same weird old guy the team leader, and can’t help but love so much that even dying on a cross is something He would gladly do for you and me.
It’s a love that, when experienced truly and fully, is the most infectious and effective thing in all the universe.
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