Note: This article
is reprinted from the Greater Things newsletter.
Imagine planning a summer getaway to a
destination that isn’t even on the map. No Internet service and gas stations
are few and far between. Food is provided but you don’t get to choose your
entrée and drinks with ice might be a luxury. Add to that day after day of
manual labor, you might be roofing, pulling weeds, mudding drywall or picking
up garbage. Sound like a vacation? Nope. It’s a church mission trip and there
were lessons to be learned.
As we journeyed to West Virginia to a place
called Elkhorn, we weren’t sure what to expect. Many of us had never been on a
mission trip and the prospect of working so far from home in unfamiliar
conditions was a bit intimidating. We knew that construction was on the agenda
and quite honestly many of us had no experience in that regard. As always God
had a plan. He provided us with coworkers from our own church family that could
teach us and he led us to working in areas that we could most benefit the
homeowners.
In this area of West Virginia the median
home price is $26,000 and many have cars that are worth more than their houses.
Flooding in years past has devastated the area and groups such as SWAP are
trying to provide hope and help to local residents who are not in a position to
help themselves.
Our days were very structured. We made our
lunches from 6:30-6:50 am and everything was planned from meal times, to
departures, to the amount of time you could spend in the shower, until lights
out at 10:30 pm. This type of regimen could rub some the wrong way but everyone
made the best of it and there was time for a few rounds of Dutch Blitz and new
relationships were formed.
One thing that challenged us the most is the
relaxed attitudes about the rate of progress on projects. Building a
relationship with the homeowner is as important as building a new roof for
their house. This went against our nature as goal oriented individuals and was
one of the biggest lessons. We also learned that we can do a lot more than we
think we can. We can roof and mud drywall. We can run power tools, we can build
walls and we can touch other’s hearts with small gestures of kindness.
Working with the youth and the other adults
from our church was one of the biggest blessings of our trip. Being in a
different environment and actually getting to spend time with them all day on a
worksite allows you to really get to know someone. The fact that God placed
people from our church with construction skills on our crews that could teach
us was monumental.
There were people of all ages on our mission
trip, you definitely don't have to be young to do something like this. All ages
and skill levels are needed on projects like these. Because we all have
different gifts we can bring to the project (a listening ear, a sense of humor,
a strong back, etc.) it’s important not to sell yourself short and be open to
opportunities to serve others and grow yourself in the process. You don’t have
to travel all the way to West Virginia to make a difference.
We are blessed with what we have and are
grateful that we were able to go to help others. It showed us that we can
accomplish a lot when we all work together.
