On Mission
One of most AMAZING things I have ever done in my life, I did for God.
Here’s how the story begins.
A couple did a mission spotlight at our church. They showcased a program called KidsHeart Africa. KidsHeart is a partnership between Buckner International, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, the All Africa Baptist Alliance, the Africa Exchange, and Change for Children. The program strives to meet the needs of children affected by poverty and HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. The presenters told of their visit to Kenya where they saw the impact the church was making on the children. The purpose of their visit was to spread the news to other churches and gain support for the initiative. A large part of the program was the connection to churches in the United States. The more churches that were in support, the more community centers could be built and the more children could be helped.
Our church was moved by their story. One couple, in particular, stepped forward and said they wanted our church to agree to support the program (which, of course, meant giving monetarily). This was easily agreed upon by our church. Then, this couple went a step further and said they wanted people from our church to go on the next mission trip to see firsthand the KidsHeart program and to help build one of the new community centers. Patrick and I knew immediately that we wanted to go. We had done mission work in the US, but had talked about doing mission work in another country. He and I have always felt called to Africa. This seemed like a perfect fit for us – God inspired for sure.
We talked to the couple about our willingness and eagerness to go. They helped us make it happen. They connected with a few other members of our church and gathered all of the monetary support necessary for us to go. We were ready to go, patiently waiting for the official date of the CBF of Missouri’s trip – it was supposed to happen sometime during that summer.
The date for the trip was finalized, but much to our dismay, the trip was scheduled for October. {my heart dropped} October?? What happened to summer?! I was a teacher in my 2nd year at the time. I didn’t really want to leave my students for over a week, but for this, I so would have. The problem was Patrick. He was in graduate school and taking off for a week was impossible. That did not discourage the visionaries of our church, however. They figured out a way for us to tag along with another group – from Dallas, Texas.
This meant the purpose of our trip would change slightly. Instead of helping start a new program and build a community center, we were going to visit a well-established program. One that was sponsored entirely by one church. We would get to see what the community center that our church was helping to sponsor could become. Very cool. The group from Dallas went every year to visit their kids in Kenya. They conducted Vacation Bible School with them, helped with various projects, and even conducted medical missions. They were very much invested in these kids. We were so excited that we were going to be a part of this!
My story will continue soon…I hope you join me for part 2 where we meet the children!
Thanks for reading!
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