***Today’s entry is a guest post from Cindy Preston***
The morning devotional for our travel home day yesterday was on joy. This is fitting as our mission trip to Mexico and Abba Father’s Home was coming to an end. There are so many reasons and events to rejoice over from the last week. One is the answer to prayer(s) … even those that may have started out as a bit of a joke. Seeing God in the unexpected is pretty cool.
We talked through final details and logistics at our last team meeting a couple weeks ago. One of the things that we were going to be blessed with was a washer and dryer at our guest house. I asked a question that seemed logical to me – do we need to bring laundry detergent and fabric softener? This of course made most of the team laugh, especially the mention of fabric softener (which evidently isn’t part of the top ten necessity items for a mission trip). Since this was my first missions trip, this will be helpful information in the future. lol
I was going to give each member a couple Tide pods and dryer sheets to be silly when we go to the airport. But it ended up being an opportunity to create little gift bags with practical items that could be a reminder of prayers that I had for each of us. It is with a joyful heart that I share these, and the way that God answered them this week.
Tide pods (Clean) – may God clean each of us inside and out (Matthew 23:25-26). Jesus rebuked the scribes and Pharisees for looking good on the outside but being hypocrites on the inside. The hope of this little prayer was that we would be made clean from the inside out and that this week would be transformative. We could have just gone through the motions of painting, playing with kids, passing out treat bags with tracks. But it was clear from our evening debriefs, and individual conversations, that no one on our team is going home unaffected. Every one of us has expressed a desire to not just go back to life exactly as it was, to leave this week behind us as just a trip we went on. Rather, the sentiment has been to allow the Holy Spirit to guide us in ways that everyday life here looks a little more like what our days looked like in Puerto Escondido.
Fabric softener (Soft) – may God keep our hearts and words soft, regardless of weather and circumstances (Proverbs 15:1). Our devotions this week were on things like unconditional love, humility, helpfulness, grace, kindness and patience. But just because we spent quiet time with the Lord in the morning didn’t mean that these attributes would play out throughout the day. We were hot, tired, hungry, thirsty, overwhelmed, at times sick. Yet the Holy Spirit kept our hearts soft. There was no tension, no drama. Every member on the team was supportive and encouraging to the others throughout the entire week.
Candy (Sweet) – may we taste the sweetness of the LORD and take refuge in him (Psalm 34:8). I mentioned the sweetness of the LORD on day 2 when the ladies had the unexpected gift of rest and refreshment before jumping into the mission. Our team, including Kayla, Jocsan and Zeke, was essentially three generations. Not only did our team have soft hearts and “got along,” but there was authentic connection and relationship building that will also be a lasting legacy of this trip. That’s pretty sweet.
Pringles (Salty) – may we not lose our saltiness so that all that we come in contact with will see our good works and give glory to God (Matthew 5:13-14). We planted seeds this week. But every team member brought their whole being to the work projects, interacting with the kids and sharing the wordless book at the events. God will be the one to water the seeds, and he already starting watering the seeds planted from last year. There were a couple families who came that had also attended the children’s events last year. Building relationships, authentically connecting in the community takes time. Kayla and Jocsan are there on the ground 24/7/365 doing this. But, seven of our team members were part of the group last year. They returned this year with even more passion to share the gospel and connect with the kids.
Mints (Fresh) – may we embrace the new thing God is doing in us and those we are serving (Isaiah 43:18-19). I mentioned being fresh, embracing a new thing God is doing, on day 4/Sunday. But it’s a prayer that God continued to answer throughout the week. Several people mentioned multiple times during debriefs that there seemed to be an underlying theme of discerning the will of God. But the desire isn’t just to come back to do something different, to be different, than before we went to Mexico. The key is God is the one orchestrating the new thing in, and for, each of us. Although none of our individual stories are the same, we each have the privilege of being part of God’s big story in the ways that he specifically calls and gifts us to be.
When I signed each of their gift cards with “Looking forward to spending a transformative week with you,” I had no idea how amazing and beautiful it would be. (And, yes, there was gratitude and joy expressed in being able to do laundry this week!)
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