the gift of perspective
several weeks ago i had the privilege of taking our dominican sports staff across the border to phaeton, haiti. GO ministries partners with pastor lucner and his wife, marie, and we are currently building a church and nutrition center in their community. every year, after hosting several american short term mission teams, our sports staff goes on their own short term mission trip to serve outside of their own community. for the first time, we acquired passports and visas and headed over the border to our neighboring country to join our construction crew in building the church/nutrition center. aside from being excited to help further our ministry project in phaeton, i felt like God was paving the way for us to take this trip for a specific reason. this trip was about perspective.
every year we host over 1,000 americans that come down to serve for a week in the dominican republic and haiti. most of them have never left the country before. most of them do not speak spanish. most of them have not spent time in the dominican cultlure. most of them have not eaten chicken, rice and beans for 7 straight days before. most of them have not tied rebar with a piece of metal and a wire. most of them have not ridden in traffic like the DR has to offer. so, needless to say, there is always conversation about different perspectives that have been gained while on their mission trip. this year i wanted our sports staff to have a similar experience by going on a trip to haiti.
by going on this trip, our guys were in a very similar situation as an American group would be in the DR because they don't speak creole. they don't usually sleep in tents. they weren't able to eat their favorite rice, beans and chicken for lunch every day. instead they ate fish, bread and popcorn. the sun is much more intense in haiti. there was no cold water to drink. there was no electricity. they bathed in the bay. there was no colmado (corner store) to buy snacks. so, at the end of the trip, i asked the guys to write about their experiences and here are a few quotes:
"this was a unique trip for me. i was able to reflect upon how i need to value what i have rather than complain because the little that i do have would be considered a lot to other people. God, forgive me"
"i learned that there are others that have greater need than i do"
"God will use anyone who is willing as an instrument to expand His Word. if we are willing to sacrifice our time and show love to others, we can be an instrument of blessings to others"
"during this trip, i learned to help others in ways i didn't expect"
Many of these comments sound very similar to something an american says after returning from a
mission trip to a third world country. the perspective i gained from this experience is that it doesn't matter if we come from the united states or if we are a dominican making less than $6,000 per year (like the majority of the sports staff that went on this trip), God really desires the same for all of us. He wants us to see with His eyes. feel with His hands. think with His mind. love with His heart. speak with His words. walk in His shoes. serve with His humility. believe with His faith. hope with His confidence. if we are able to live life with this kind of perspective, we will be able to endure all things, see the world as He sees it and serve Him well.
