I’ve had some amazing experiences on mission trips. Once when I was on a trip in Mexico our team was dropped off at a very large park where there were people everywhere. It was the first day of our trip and our assignment was simple; try to meet people and interact with them. This was certainly not an easy task when I didn’t speak much Spanish at all, but then I saw a group of guys speaking a language I did understand — volleyball!
The park had over a dozen concrete volleyball courts with really nice nets and on one of those courts there were 12 guys playing. They were good… real good. Most of them were actually taller than I was, and they were playing quite an intense game. I walked over and watched them for a bit, and when a break in the game happened, I boldly asked them if I could play with them.
Volleyball players have a language of their own no matter what country they hail from, and I could understand these guys super-well… when I asked, they gave each other… the look. “The look” is what good volleyball players give each other when someone who plays volleyball at church picnics asks them to play. “The look” is “Hey-I-don’t-want-to-be-rude-but-we play-for-real-so-please-go-away”.
But maybe one of these guys had a soft heart… maybe they were curious because I was an American… but one of the guys nodded to me and motioned for me to take his place up front at the net. I admit it… I was nervous… the very first play the setter set the ball to me and I spiked it out of bounds… about 30 feet out of bounds! How embarrassing! I reached up and tapped my head and said, “Estupido!” Man, did they laugh! And that broke the ice.
I ended up playing with them for about an hour… and I must say… I held my own with them. It wasn’t until afterwards when they were all high-fiving me that I found out they were the Mexican Men’s National Volleyball Team! Yep, I had interrupted their practice. What a cool experience though!
Once, in a village far removed from any modern civilization in the jungle of Peru, I had the opportunity to preach the gospel to the whole village at the invitation of the small church there. After I finished my message a young mother with a small baby approached me and began talking to me, but I couldn’t understand what she was saying. After I hunted down a translator, he told me, “She wants you to pray for her baby. She is very sick.” The baby looked to be about 8 or 9 months old and the mother about 20… she might have even been a teenager.
I nodded “yes,” and she put the baby in my arms… she was burning up with fever. The young mother told the translator through her tears that she had no way to see a doctor or receive any medicine. Prayer was her only hope.
So, I prayed. I prayed more fervently for that little baby than I have ever prayed in my life. I wept as I begged God to demonstrate his power and heal this little one whose mother had such great faith. That experience changed my life — forever.
I once ministered to families in a third world country children’s hospital where kids with cancer lay upon mattresses on concrete floors, and I gained a whole new perspective on how blessed I am to be from the United States.
So, I wonder, what experiences will I (we) have in Cambodia on our mission trip? What will God teach me? What opportunities will God present for ministry? How will my life be changed — Forever? CAC CAMBODIA… more information coming soon!
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