At this point I think this is my 14th mission trip. I’ve seen a lot of things, done a lot of things, and had the blessing of getting to see God work in all sorts of students’ lives. There is so much I love about these trips. From getting to see students serve the community, to having extended time together to talk and bond, and all the inside jokes that we develop. All these things make these trips meaningful, and are great but my favorite thing is watching how God orchestrates showing up at just the right time, in ways so complex and thought out that you couldn’t have anticipated what He was going to do. My first born has struggled for many years with feeling unexceptional. He has felt like his gifts were just not as exciting as other people’s. Sometimes we can feel like other people are exceptional because they’re flashy and gregarious. It’s hard to compete with big personalities, when you are someone who is quiet and stays in the background. When we compare ourselves to others it can feel like we are inadequate or just not that special.
Tuesday night I came across a student who was upset and having a conversation with another participant. They were expressing a lot of the same feelings Dylan has had growing up. Since it was close to lights out I had to approach them and let them know it was time to go to bed, that’s when I saw that the student was pretty upset. I started to talk to them and then who should come around the corner, but Dylan. I stopped and said ya know Dylan has dealt with a lot of the same things- “Dylan can you take this one?” And he did. He shared about his own struggles and what he’s learned about embracing who he is and working to stop comparing himself to others. I love so much about these trips, but what I love most is watching our students step into leadership and how God uses them to impact each other. We’ve all got something we’ve gone through that’s difficult. When we can use our experience to help someone it can redeem a difficult situation and we are something bad and make it good. We can’t control a lot of what happens to us, but we can control if we use it to help someone else. A big part do our time here has focused on bearing one another, which in Greek means to hold up, or endure. We all will have a moment where we need to be held up, and we all will have the opportunity to hold someone else up, that’s the beauty of the body of Christ.
As we head into our last days of this trip, I'm reminded once again that God rarely wastes our struggles. The things we wish we could erase often become the very things He uses to encourage someone else. This week wasn't just about the work projects we completed or the places we served—it was about watching students become the hands and feet of Jesus for one another.
Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us. We've seen those prayers answered in ways both big and small. Please continue praying for our students as we finish the week—that they would continue to encourage one another, grow in their faith, and return home with hearts that are more like Christ's. My prayer is that what God has started here won't stay on this trip, but will continue to bear fruit long after we get home.
