One Week to go, how are you feeling

With one week to go before our trip, I asked everyone in the group to answer a simple question: how are you feeling about the trip?

Dana:  I have been very emotional the past week. I am anxious about so many different things.....leaving my kids for 10 days, our health and safety, normal stressing of packing and getting the kids' activities all lined up before I leave. I think I am most nervous about the "unknown." God has called me to be a part of this mission team and to face the challenges and blessings that will come on this journey. I pray that God will use me to grow in my faith and live differently than ever before. I pray that I will experience joy while in Haiti and will take another step toward being the disciple God wants me to be.

Hayden: "Nonplussed."  That is all that I got from him, he is known for his rather extensive vocabulary, and he is a teenager, which means he is also known for his brevity.

Mike:  Very excited to be going - pumped!

Carrie:  With one week to go...  I am so excited for the upcoming opportunity to serve God in Haiti.  I can't wait to hold those little children and let them continue to know the love of God through us.  I'm anxious about leaving Thomas (even though I know he will be in excellent care) and nervous about the bugs (and their diseases) in Haiti.  I feel so blessed for the many prayers from friends and family during the preparation for this trip!  Haiti here we come!!! :)

Susan and Lisa:  With one week to go before leaving for Haiti, having just returned from a mission to the mountains, and preparing to move Lisa to the University of South Carolina for the beginning of her freshman year on the 16th, I can honestly say I haven't thought much about the trip except to finalize some paperwork. We are busy making sure we have everything gathered that Lisa will need for her big move. We are definitely excited about the trip and can't wait to meet everyone.

Marilyn:  With one week to go, it is obvious that God has been at work at First UMC Fuquay-Varina, preparing the way for us to be His hands and feet in Michaud, Haiti.  As the emails have been flying about pillowcases and bags for beans and rice, friends and relatives keep slipping $30 checks into my hands or leaving them on my desk at work.  I have three more checks to take to the church.  It is so exciting that together with our fellow travelers from the other churches on this mission, we will be able to deliver food for 3-4 weeks to more than 200 families!

 

My daughters, Katrin and Marion, got to my house on Sunday night, and every day since has been busy making sure we have everything in order for the trip.  The two of them will meet with Butch Huffman tomorrow for a mini-orientation, since they missed the orientation our mission team attended in Oak Island in June.  I thank God for the opportunity to share this life-changing mission trip with two of my girls.  Although we have shared some deep, bonding experiences before, we have never done anything quite like this together.  I pray that we can be a blessing to each other, our team members, and most especially, to the people we meet in Haiti.

 

Going to visit the Ryan Epps Home and the area where God has worked through Helen Little and others to help Haiti "one child at a time" has been a dream for me since the first time I heard Helen speak about the work being done in this special part of the world.  May God use all of us to make a difference in the short time we are there.

 

.. and this was from a similar conversation on Facebook:

Me:  Not freaking out, but I have several things on my to-do list.  I also have this odd calmness about this trip, maybe even feeling guided.  I was nervous about deciding to go, but once I did that, I feel all-in.

Matt:  If I was going by myself, I'd be freaked out.  I'm going with a great group and we're all going with a blessed mission I feel.

Pick up the phone, it's ringing.

What do you do when the phone rings? At my house, you check the caller-ID and determine if you want to answer or not. I hear a lot of stories about how people feel that they have been "called upon" to do something for the church, but I had not experienced such a feeling. When the symbolic phone rang, it was a call for volunteers to explore the possibility of putting a mission team together at our church. I have to be honest, I checked the caller-ID and decided to not answer, it was Haiti calling and all that I knew about Haiti was that it was hot, and I am not a big fan of the heat.

I do not know why, but I answered the phone and decided to go to the first meeting. Curiosity was certainly a factor, but it was probably more to find an opportunity for my son to experience what many people have described as a life changing trip.

Butch Huffman explained what it would be like to go on a mission trip to the Ryan Epps Home for Children  and told us that he had an opening the first week in August. (My first thought was, August? Really?) At the end of the meeting, we talked about who was interested in going, at this point I was all-in.

My point to this entry is to remind people that there are a multitude of opportunities to volunteer or to represent the church in some way, but you do have to answer the phone when it rings.