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!

Annual Missions Week

This week is Missions Week at Victory Tabernacle. We love missionaries and have them visit often, but this week we will take new financial commitments along with awarding our "Missionaries of the Year" among our children and young people. The winners have been consistently involved in giving to missions throughout the past year and will have their way paid on one of our annual missions trips.

All of this has me thinking about two missionary trips I took as a young person. It was such a privilege and an eye opener to see how people live and worship in other parts of the world! So for this week I'm going to take you back... Back to 1983 Western District Youth Corps (WDYC) - Puerto Rico and Haiti. And 1984 WDYC - Hong Kong and the Philippines!

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!

The first part of my first trip was to Puerto Rico. There were 27 young people with our counselors, Pastor and Mrs. Clifford Clark and Pastor and Mrs. Dennis Warren. We boarded Eastern Airlines flight #80 from LAX to Atlanta at 10:20 p.m. on July 28th and our trip had begun! After flying all night to Atlanta, then a short stop in Miami, we arrived in San Juan at about 11:00 a.m.

This was the Headquarters church in Villa Prades.

Choir practice

Bro. Clark preaching


The guitar player on the right was also our bus driver, Bro. Joaquin.


Another of our churches. The man in the middle was the pastor.


Passing out invitations in Corozal



Service in Corozal



Another of our churches


Of course no trip is complete without a little site seeing. And with this many young people there was LOTS of laughter! I seem to recall being involved in a wedding while we were there... it could have even been mine! Alas, I left my groom (but not my heart) in San Juan...

This is our group at the Rain Forest.


Doing a little shopping in Old San Juan.


Tomorrow... Haiti