Quick Update

Hey friends!  I snagged a few minutes of good internet time so I thought I would share with you all some thoughts from Monday at the Medical Clinic where I got to work in the pharmacy.  (Btw, there are many reasons why I shouldn’t be trusted to hand out drugs, namely because I don’t know the difference between Tylenol and Ibuprofen!   But fortunately there were many more qualified individuals checking my work.  Seriously, I came here to help people, not kill them!) 

This mission trip has been a bit sentimental for me because my very first mission trip 19 years ago was to Honduras.  I fell in love with this country then and it only took a step on Honduran soil for me to rekindle that feeling.  This is an absolutely beautiful country.  I truly think it is the most beautiful country that I’ve been privileged to visit.

I’ve taken many missions trips all over the world since my first trip at the age of 16 and yet every time I do this I am immediately wrecked by my selfish, obnoxious, American self.  I just have so much trouble reconciling the extremes between my lifestyle and the reality of every day life for people here. I wish I could say that I’m broken and humbled but today I spent my day trying to avoid a little girl who had some kind of skin rash.  This little girl wanted to play and she wanted to be loved and hugged repeatedly.  But my ugly heart couldn’t love her for fear of acquiring whatever disease she was plagued with – a disease of inconvenience for me but a disease she doesn’t have the means to cure.

I love missions trips and I hate them for this reason.  I can’t avoid my prideful, petty heart that cares more about myself than showing love to others.  Trips like this force me to face that.  I can’t control the not-so-pretty stuff out.  I have to come face to face with it.

As much as we’re here trying to help, I feel like every time God uses these trips to expose more of the work He has to do in me.  I may be trying to improve the lifestyle of the Hondurans, but God uses these trips to improve the character of my me.

What has been your most memorable mission trip experience?

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  • Anonymous July 12, 2011  

    Wow, I love that last paragraph…That’s powerful, honest, and so true. My most fond mission trip experience was in Honduras as well…I was with a team that led worship at a conference and we did inner city outreach and things like that…it was amazing!

    Praying for you.

  • Brian July 13, 2011  

    My most memorable mission trip experience happened here in the U.S.  We handed out hygiene packs to homeless people in Forth Worth. When we got out of the van to hand them out, we were immediately surrounded by hundreds of the homeless. It was humbling to know that so many people could be sleeping on the streets in the middle of the Bible Belt.

  • Brian July 13, 2011  

    My most memorable mission trip experience happened here in the U.S.  We handed out hygiene packs to homeless people in Forth Worth. When we got out of the van to hand them out, we were immediately surrounded by hundreds of the homeless. It was humbling to know that so many people could be sleeping on the streets in the middle of the Bible Belt.

  • Ash July 13, 2011  

    I went on the same CP trip you’re on to Honduras 2 years ago, and it’s still such a powerful memory for me. I was 13 weeks pregnant when we left and am haunted by the tensions I wrestled with the entire trip. That these precious people, no different that I am in the eyes of God, had to walk for miles for medical and dental care once a year when I have such easy access (I mean, I went to the doctor no less than 15 times in the course of a completely healthy pregnancy!) But it’s also still symbolic to me of the type of parent I strive to be and the type of person I want to teach my little one to become…one who places priority on seeing the value in others and reaching out to serve them.

    Love you, friend, and am praying for you guys like crazy!

  • Leilani Padilla July 13, 2011  

    I just read your article and really impressed by the sincerity with which you talk about your experience here in Honduras, but do not worry, when you expose yourself to things that are so different to your normal life is that we are reluctant and not just respond with the love that we wanted, but God does the work every day in our lives and every day there is something new that God reveals to bepolished and treated.
    God Bless you and all Croos Point team and I declare that God rewards every work of your hands. Atte: @larilei77:twitter 

  • Linda Ojutkangas July 13, 2011  

    I remember your first mission trip, Jen.  I was so very proud of you!  You came back humbled, just as I know you will this time.  Children always seem to flock to your gentle nature….I remember you telling me stories about the children the first time you went.  So proud of you!  Mom