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 1984 - Philippine Islands

If you have ever heard Elder Morton talk about his trip to the Philippines, it was this trip in 1984. While our group went to Cebu, his group went to Mindanao. It was there that he met the man with the "revival" spirit. His car was his "revival car," his wife was his "revival wife" with his "revival kids" because he went to a "revival church!" The Philippine Islands were having a great revival at that time and we were blessed to see over 750 receive the Holy Ghost in the nine days we were there!


The island of Cebu is south of Manila. Cebu City is the first Spanish settlement and the oldest in the country. After being gone from home for about a week, we were starting to get a little tired...


But things started picking up when we dined at a Chinese restaurant...



Some Youth Corps members were braver than others...


We drank the best milk shakes on the planet at our hotel. We also saw beautiful beaches...


And learned the "Peace" sign is universal...


The most memorable experience was the day we had our "Alay Lakad." This started with a time of tract distribution and people willingly took what we handed them! Our huge stacks were gone in what seemed like seconds...


The local pastor and his wife, Bro. Willy Majaducon


We then gathered our signs for a 4 mile walk in the tropical heat...


At the end, we had a street service....



Followed by service that evening...


The lovely lady on the organ is none other than Sis. Cathy Clark.


And then, before we were ready, it was time to leave...


We flew from the Philippines to Hawaii. This is about a 10 hour flight and you would have thought everyone would sleep, but the pictures in my album reveal otherwise! I will not post them here, because I want to remain friends with some people!!

We then received a traditional Hawaiian lei greeting in Honolulu...


And tried to find all our luggage for our two day stay there...


We set out from our hotel to find something "American" to eat. Eight blocks later we were at Taco Bell!!

While we enjoyed being in Hawaii, we saw Pearl Harbor and did some shopping, I was so ready to go home! I think I called home about 5 times in those two days. I kept thinking of things I wanted Mom and Dad to bring to the airport (we were flying into San Francisco and they were picking me up).



Mom brought chocolate chip cookies to the airport - nothing had ever tasted better!! It took days to get over the jet lag, but I've never forgotten the love and beautiful spirits of the Filipino people!

WDYC 1984 - Hong Kong and the Philippines

Would you care to travel some more? After my amazing experiences in Puerto Rico and Haiti, I decided purchasing a car could wait one more year so I could go on another missions trip! The trip in 1983 was 10 days and was extended to 14 days in 1984. Our first couple of days were spent site seeing in Hong Kong, then it was on to the Philippine Islands.

Before we ever set foot on foreign soil, we had choir practice on the airplane!


In 1984 Hong Kong was still part of the British Empire, the flag you see flying is the Hong Kong flag before it became part of the Republic of China in 1997.


Riding the Peak Tram in Hong Kong



Doing a little shopping and site seeing...




Hong Kong Harbor, home to boat people...


and a floating restaurant...


We enjoyed those couple of days, getting use to the significant time change. But now we were ready for Manila!

This is the Headquarters Church:






On our first Sunday in Manila our group was divided into smaller groups and we hit many churches in and around Manila. This is the group I was with...


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!!


I have no idea what I sang!


This church was about a year old and already had over 100 members! They definitely blessed us more than we blessed them.


We did lots of site seeing and SHOE shopping!! I loved the shoes in the PI because they had an abundance in my size - size 5! We also saw a lot of history from World War II. Including a very large cemetery for American soldiers.



Our last service in Manila



Saying goodbye to new friends



Best of all, our jeepney driver received the Holy Ghost!


We weren't done with the Philippines yet! After five days in Manila, our group was split in two with half going to the island of Cebu and the others going to the island of Mindanao. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow...

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.