Everybody Ought to Take a Missions Trip

Do you remember singing this song as a child:

Everybody ought to go to Sunday School,
Sunday School, Sunday School.
The men and the women,
the boys and the girls,
everybody ought to go to Sunday School.

As I have relived our trip to the Philippines, I must say, "Everybody ought to take a missions trip!"  This was my third missions trip.  A trip to a mission field will change you.  You'll come home a different person.  Your eyes will be opened to so many things.  Here are a few:

A missions trip is not an international vacation
Yes, you'll travel to a foreign land.  You'll spend many hours cramped in an airplane seat.  You'll get your passport stamped.  You'll experience jet lag.  But the similarities end there.  On a missions trip you'll spend a lot of time in churches or inviting people to church.  You'll get to sing and worship with brothers and sisters you've never met.

You will benefit no matter what your age
I went to Puerto Rico and Haiti when I was 19.  I went to Hong Kong and the Philippines when I was 20.  My eyes were opened at a young age to a huge world that is in need of the gospel.  I finally made it back to the Philippines when I was 55.  My eyes were reopened to an even larger world, still in need of Jesus. 

There are people all over world who love Jesus
One of my favorite memories was from my trip to Haiti in 1983.  Our giant tour bus pulled in to a small village and promptly knocked the power out.  We gathered in a small building for service that had two lanterns - one in the front, one in the back.  This did not hinder the people from worshiping.  In fact, the service leader had a bell that he would ring when it was time to finish a song.  The people would have kept right on worshiping.

Americans are extremely blessed and don't even know it
You don't have to look far to find poverty on the mission field.  Things we take for granted on a daily basis, like food, clean water, and a place to sleep, are luxuries to many around the world.  As I wrote in my post about Lucena, the congregation sang the most beautiful version of "Because He Lives."  They know what matters - having Jesus in their lives.  Everything thing else is extra.

You are welcome and wanted
Every church on the mission field that I have visited has been filled with people who are so happy to have visitors.  It means so much that Americans will come and spend time with them.  They are gracious hosts.  I've come home feeling so unworthy of the welcome I received.

Your missionaries will be blessed
Missionaries give up a lot to live in a foreign land.  They don't see their families on a regular basis.  I'm sure they experience loneliness.  Having Americans come is a blessing to them (as long as you don't get lost or spend all your time complaining!)

You'll see your missions offerings at work
It can be easy to write a check and not really think about where your missions offerings are going.  But when you see the faces of local pastors and saints, when you see the buildings that have been built, it makes your offerings much more special.

You'll get pushed out of your comfort zone
On my first trip to the Philippines we were sent out in small groups to various churches.  Here is what I wrote about that experience:  "On our way to church, I started questioning everyone. Do you sing? Do you preach or play an instrument? Somehow I had ended up with a very shy group! I took it upon myself to organize everyone to testify and I sang. If you know me now, you aren't surprised. But if you had known me back then you would have been shocked! I was definitely out of my comfort zone and being stretched!!" 

It's worth every penny
While working on this post, I reread posts that I wrote almost 10 years ago about missions trips I had taken.   I wrote this: "If you EVER have the opportunity to go on a trip like one of these - DO IT!! You will never forget. I was 19 the first time and some said, "Why don't you spend the money on a car?" My response was, "There will be plenty of time for a car when I'm older, but I may never have this chance again." I don't regret a single penny!"

Go ahead and sing along:

Everybody ought to go take a Missions Trip,
A Missions Trip, a Missions Trip.
The men and the women,
the boys and the girls,
everybody ought to take a Missions Trip!

WDYC 1983 - Haiti

Missions Week continues...

I've written about Haiti on several occasions. It is definitely the country that impacted me the most. After five days in Puerto Rico, I thought I was a seasoned traveler. I had no idea the culture shock that awaited me. I think I spent the first two days in Haiti in a daze of sorrow and compassion. We saw things I had only imagined...

These boys are the first picture in my photo album...


You may recognize the Presidential palace, it's been in the news this year since it sustained extensive damage...


This is an open market. My first experience with bartering...



We drank fresh coconut milk...


And made new friends...


There was the Louisiana Tabernacle...




And several other churches scattered in and around Port-a-Prince...





There were old fishing boats...



There was hilarity at the table, with "preachers" and "translators"...


I wish I had a picture of me at each meal. I would eat just a little, then take my napkin and cover the rest of the food. It became one of the many jokes of the trip. "Kathy's done eating, she's buried her food!" At a whopping 105 pounds I didn't need to lose weight, but I definitely did.

There was a group of changed young people at the end of the trip...


But the most memorable were the people...








I've never forgotten them. I've grieved and prayed for them this year more than any other.

Run for Haiti

This morning I participated in a virtual 4-mile run to benefit Haiti. I've never done anything like this before, but I knew it was a great cause and 4 miles isn't much of a run to me.

I headed out this morning, planning to do a 1/2 mile warm-up, then start my stop watch. What I wasn't planning on was my friend the wind showing up! I knew the hardest part of the run would be in the first 2 miles, so I decided I would warm-up for those 2 miles, then start my race. I told myself I would be happy if I ran the 4 miles in 34 minutes, that would be average of 8 1/2 minutes per mile. Here's how it went:

Mile 1 - 8:16
Mile 2 - 8:16
Mile 3 - 8:24
Mile 4 - 8:42 (last 3/4 of this mile was right into the wind!)

Total time - 33:38!! An 8:24 pace! I was really pushing it since my normal pace is about 9 1/2 minutes per mile! My heart rate average was 158 beats per minutes with a max of 167.


This picture was NOT taken this morning - I'm just really wishing the run had been by the ocean!

January 17, 1994

With a jolt we were awakened that morning. Sleeping on the third level of our townhouse it seemed someone had taken our little place and was violently shaking it. An earthquake with a 6.7 magnitude struck the Southland at 4:31 that Monday morning. Along with the shaking there was the noise - dishes falling out of cupboards, pictures falling off walls, drawers flying out of dressers, the crack of our kitchen window as it broke from the force.


It was still dark when we hurriedly dressed and made our way outside looking for safety. The normal LA sky glow was gone. Power was out and the freeway was empty. The same freeway that would be closed for more than a month due to extensive damage.


We spent the day in numbness. Shock kept the tears at bay as we viewed cracks in nearly every wall. Power and water were both off. We purchased plywood to cover our kitchen window and began the process of sweeping up glass and figuring out what was salvageable.


As night fell, we were unsure of the stability of our home and chose to move our van to the street and sleep there. Still no electricity. It would be many weeks before I slept peacefully as aftershocks were a constant reminder. One large crack in our bedroom seemed to haunt me.


I remember those details again as I think of Haiti. An inspector told us our homes were built for earthquakes - to bend and not break. Very few lives were lost considering the magnitude. The dishes we lost were more than most Haitians will own in a lifetime. My terror was real, but at the end of the day my home was still standing.

Also, the difference between a 6.7 earthquake and 7.0 is much larger than you might think. The Richter magnitude scale is a mathematical equation that I won't pretend to understand or explain, but here are some differences:

2.0 = 1 metric ton
3.0 = 32 metric tons
4.0 = 1 kiloton
5.0 = 32 kilotons
6.0 = 1 megaton
6.7 = 16.2 megatons (this is what we experienced in 94)
7.0 = 32 megatons (this is what Haiti experienced)

I can barely look at the heartbreaking images. It will be months and possibly years before they recover. But recovery for Haitians will still be poverty.

I'll say it again, Please Pray for Haiti. Give if you can. Pray because you can.

Pray for Haiti

A 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit the island of Haiti today. It's been more than 25 years since I visited the island but I've never forgotten the faces. Here are a few, I'm sure the children are grown now but they still need our prayers.



When we experienced the Northridge earthquake in 1994, the damage was extensive. I remember standing outside as an aftershock hit and watching our car bounce in the street. The living conditions in Haiti are primitive at best, and with the collapse of a hospital, I can only imagine how horrible the next few days are going to be.

In His Arms

Lord,
how glad we are
that we don't hold You,
but that You hold us.

- from "God is No Stranger"

We sang the old song "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms" during Morning Worship on Sunday. Les leaned over and said, "That song has new meaning today, doesn't it?" He read my mind! We had just sung verse 3:

What have I to dread, what have I to fear,
Leaning on the everlasting Arms
I have blessed peace with my Lord so near,
Leaning on the everlasting Arms!

I didn't capture the face of the baby in the picture above. But look at those hands holding her - she was probably asleep, safe in daddy's arms.

It's so good to be held in His arms. Arms that are everlasting!

His Marketplace

Lord,
We have come to Your marketplace.
We know there are plenty of provisions in Your market.
We have brought our baskets with us;
and now we want to go back from Your market
with our baskets full of provisions.



This morning the preacher will
Distribute Your Word
Without ration cards.

- both from "God is No Stranger"

Hope you've got your baskets ready - have good church today!!

God Is No Stranger

After writing about the DeMerchants, I told my Peeps, Eliana and Chloee, that they could borrow the missionary books I have in my library. I pulled them out the other day and found that in addition to Full Throttle, I have 12 other books written by or about missionaries! Nona Freeman, Mollie Thompson, Bill Drost, and many others share stories of triumph and defeat, trials and victories, sickness and healing, and God's power being poured out all over the world!

You may be wondering, Kathy, do you feel a call to the mission field? I can honestly say, I do not. As of today, I feel that I am in the perfect will of God, working in our local church in Burbank, California, and supporting missionaries with my prayers and finances. I believe Los Angeles is a large mission field of its own! But that doesn't mean I don't love to read about what God has done! The stories inspire me to have great faith, to desire greater revival.

After sorting through the books, I stumbled upon a little book entitled "God is No Stranger."

The year was 1983. I had been out of high school for one year and was working full time in the church office. We received a flyer (which I still have) that said:

Western District Youth Corp
Puerto Rico and Haiti Explosion
July 28th - August 8th
W.D.Y.C. . . . . the Time of Your Life!

Some of my friends had gone on WDYC the previous year and I decided this was something I wanted to do. And the flyer was correct - it was the time of my life! What an adventure for a 19 year old who had never been out of California, much less been on an airplane! There is so much I could say about that trip - memories that will last a lifetime, times of singing, praying, and laughing with other Pentecostal young people, but most importantly it opened my eyes to a world in great need.

I may write about that trip more at another time, but my most precious memory is of going to a church Haiti. On our way there, our bus hit a power line in the town/village, knocking out all power. When we arrived at the church, there were only candles for lighting, and our group was escorted to the platform. The most amazing thing happened during that service - the service leader had a bell on the pulpit. The people would begin singing and praising God and would continue until the bell was rung. It was the only way to get these precious people to stop praising God! I'm not talking about a 20 second hand wave after singing a song 3 or 4 times. These people worshipped! In Spirit and in truth!

So, back to "God is No Stranger." If I remember correctly, this little book was given to each of us by the missionaries as a thank you for coming. It is a small book of prayers by Haitians who had been converted from Voodooism. The prayers are short and simple, but profound! So look for them on this blog in the future. The pictures I will use with them are my own, from my trip to Haiti. Here's a beautiful sample:

Lord,
We don't get mangoes from an avocado tree
And we don't get corn from the banana plant.
We produce what we are.
Help us to be what You need produced.

No, I'm not called to be a missionary to a foreign land, but I want to be what He needs produced!