Returning from a recent mission trip

Sorry for the long delay between postings. As you may know, I was gone for eight days on a mission trip to the big island south of us. (Since this page is accessible to everyone, I want to limit some information to limit who can stumble upon where we went and the work we did.) I have a great number of stories and things I have learned from this experience. I will post some thoughts about the trip over the next few days.

I thought the first thing I would do is share what I learned about the church members who went on the trip. To sum up my thoughts concisely: Wow!

We have a very talented, gifted group of people who make up our church. We had seven team members in total, and all of them contributed in ways that made great use of those gifts and talents. Because of their unique gifts, personalities, and contributions to the group and mission, we would not have been as successful if they had not participated.

Each one of the team members shared their testimony during a worship service. Each one of them greatly encouraged the church and honored God with their testimonies. I have a deeper appreciation for who they are and what God has done and is doing in their lives. These testimonies did two things during the trip. One, people in the country we visited could better identify with us as we worked alongside them each day and worshiped together each night. More importantly, the testimonies reminded the people in this country that everyone, no matter what country they live in, face trials and difficulties that only God can address.

I would urge you to prayerfully consider going on a mission trip. It does not matter where. The reality is, God is at work all over the world. Additionally, God can use you when you say "Yes" to Him. You may not think you can make a contribution, but I saw God use six people in a way that made a huge impact to the people in the church that we served.

I could not be more proud or more pleased with how well the team members did during the trip. They represented their Savior and First Baptist Church at Weston well during the trip.