Compassion International Blog Month

Compassion International Blog Month is coming to a close. Our last prompt of the month was to respond to one of two quotes. This is the one I chose:

"Poverty is not necessarily an issue to solve; it is an opportunity to serve. As we go through each day, our heart's cry should be, Lord, where would you have me give, serve, and invest myself to bring hope to the poor?"
~Orphan Justice author, Johnny Carr

I went on my first (and only) mission trip over 10 years ago, but the memories are still fresh. It changed my life forever. Not only because of the mission of the trip or the people I traveled with, but it was what I consider to be my first experience in stepping completely out of my comfort zone in obedience to God.

Let me explain. The trip was to the Dominican Republic in January 2003. I had no interest in going. I couldn't afford to go. I had a 9-year-old little girl at home I couldn't fathom leaving for a few weeks. I am terrified of flying, and the last time I checked going to the Dominican Republic involved a plane of some sort. But I could not get over the feeling that I was supposed to go, and so I signed up. Kicking. Dragging my feet. Pouting. I remember someone saying a few weeks before the trip that I must be so excited. I told her that I wasn't, God was making me go. Mean God. This is what I learned:

Number One - My daughter and her father survived just fine without me for a little bit. I am slightly annoyed but getting over it.

Number Two - Planes take off and land all the time and I survived.

Number Three - I asked for sponsorships for the trip almost as a way out. I didn't have the money and didn't think anyone else did either. My expenses were completely covered with just a little left over. Every. Dime.

Number Four - Just because someone is living in poverty does not mean they have no pride. I was involved in the eye care field at the time and brought glasses to be dispensed. The glasses that I had access to were donated through a local organization. Think 1970s and 1980s plastic. These petite Dominican girls were less than thrilled sometimes when I would show them what I had. I was shocked they didn't recognize all that I had been through to get there, and they were not bowing down to my fabulousness. I think I seriously thought that people would be so grateful for anything I had, anything I could give. It didn't occur to me beforehand that more than what I had left over in my life might be required to serve effectively.

Number Five (most importantly) - Saying "yes" to God was more rewarding than anything else in my life. I had expected to be bathed in the warm fuzzies of wonderful mission work and instead learned so much about the human spirit and being honored and blessed to serve someone else for just a moment.

Sometimes in our lives it is really difficult to sign up to physically go somewhere to do mission work. But, through Compassion International, I am so honored to know that in some way I can impact someone else's life, make things a little better, and encourage them along the way.