Opening Hearts to International Missions
About the Author
Aaron is a mission trip coordinator for a small non-profit working in Tijuana, Mexico. The organization builds homes for the poor and operates an orphanage where he can often be found helping out with the children.
One morning earlier this summer I went to the orphanage I work at to greet a church group that had arrived for a weekend mission trip. After making the rounds chatting with the members that made up the small team of ten adults I started talking with the leader about the different projects they could work on that day and about different activities they could do with the children. As we were finishing up an elderly gentleman approached me and introduced himself as the leader’s father. “Aaron, I want to tell you something that I haven’t told anyone else here. All my life I have been against international missions. I never understood the point of them and have always argued in meetings that any money the church wanted to send overseas would be better invested in local outreach. ‘Look at the need in our community’ I would tell them, ‘The money should be used here.’
“On the way down I kept thinking ‘I can’t believe I let my son talk me into this.’” He paused here and his eyes glossed over as he continued “But when I arrived last night, as soon as I stepped out of the van a little two year old I now know as Josue came running and jumped into my arms. Why, that boy wouldn’t let me put him down until he finally fell asleep on my lap! God has used that experience Aaron. Now I get it, now I see there is a need for international missions and I’m going home to tell our church all about it.”
The group didn’t end up accomplishing much that weekend. No buildings were constructed, no walls painted. There wasn’t even much of a VBS program. Truthfully, the children and staff have likely forgotten all about them. But God had a plan for the trip and it was just like the the leader told me before they ever got here:
“I want to get these guys turned on to missions.”