In a week, I will be travelling with a team from my church to Rio de Janeiro for a mission trip. I've never taken a trip out of the country to share God's love before. However, I've had other experiences that are flooding my mind as I prepare for Rio. This is one of them.
Eighteen years ago, I went to New York City. Now, when most of us head to New York City, we are thinking of visiting the Statue of Liberty, taking in a Broadway show and shopping at Macy's. This wasn't one of those trips.
As a Bible School student, every student was assigned a "ministry" for the year. While others served in soup kitchens or prisons, my ministry was teaching backyard Bible Clubs to a group of children after school each week. I had a passion for kids and was already highly involved with them in my local church, so this was something that I really enjoyed each week. Our small team travelled to a neighborhood in upstate New York to sing, play games and teach Bible Stories to little kids. Seems safe, right?
Well, the big trip of the year included a weekend in the city sharing God's word and doing some work for those that were less fortunate. We spent a weekend packed like sardines in a small apartment/store front of local Child Evangelism missionaries. There were so many of us that we were only allowed one shower for the weekend and food was minimal. We didn't take in a show or go shopping. We did, however, share God's word with children and we worked.
I remember walking through a park in New York City scared out of my mind, thinking, "If my Mom knew I was here...", then having the opportunity to talk with a group of unsupervised kids...wondering where their parents or guardians were; only to lead them to Christ at the end of our time. I wanted to take them home. Who was going to care for them and help them grow? I had to trust God to do that.
The strongest memory of that trip was when we went to a sweet elderly woman's home to clean up the house and make small repairs. We did this, all while helping her take care of the many children under her care. And, I mean MANY. Why social services allowed a situation like that, I'll never understand...but I believe they allowed it because God wanted His children to know Him. She had a large group of abandoned children left in her care. Drug babies, homeless children; those that were just dropped off and those that had lived with her for years. She got them to school and made sure they were fed. The house was worse than a backyard shed, it smelled horrible, had all kinds of pests, etc. But she raised these children to trust God, to sing His praise and grow in His word.
I have a special photo that my group leader took on that trip. It is a picture of me holding a baby girl that attached herself to me. She wouldn't leave my sight that day. The look of abandonment was on her countenance and my face shows how my heart broke for her. We played and laughed together that day. I prayed that she would be protected and would know that God loved her and had a real plan for her life. I prayed that she would grow to understand that there is a Love that never leaves.
That one day affected my life forever. I still have that photo. Maybe I'll scan it. I still think of that girl and cry to God to help her and those around her. Eighteen years later, that little girl is now a young woman. I pray that she survived the streets of a drug and sex infested neighborhood and was delivered from the bondage of the lifestyles around her. I pray that she heard the words of her sweet caregiver who shared the love of Jesus in word and deed. I pray that I will get to see her in heaven one day.
"How can I repay the Lord for all His acts of kindness to me? I will celebrate my deliverance, and call on the name of the Lord." Psalm 116:12-13
