Month: December 2018

When we finally decide to go on a mission trip, we start thinking about how we can bless them (them meaning whoever we are serving). The first thing we learn about is the needs as we figure out how we can help out. That can be overwhelming at times. It’s true that we may have much more money and material stuff than they do but they actually need much more than we can give. Even if we gave everything we owned, it would only be a drop in the ocean. We have to accept and make peace with this difficult reality. So, let’s forget about being burdened by the needs for a moment.

Don’t get me wrong: It’s good and we should bless those who are less fortunate than we are. However, it would be a mistake to focus our efforts on what we can give rather than who we can be together in the eyes of our creator.  Imagine yourself in a remote region that only less than half of your friends and family have even heard of. Yet, you feel loved and cared for.  Maybe you cannot even communicate verbally but you still feel safe. I don’t know about you, but I see God in that picture.  If not God, what or who else can bring two total strangers, having practically nothing in common to make them feel like brothers and sisters?

I think we risk to get it wrong when we attempt to place ourselves on the donor’s end while placing them on the recipient’s end. After a while, the connection between two ends is only sustained by a one-way flow of materials and money from the donor to the recipient. Soon or later, we finally realize that the issue of poverty on which we focus our efforts is much bigger than we can solve (at least in the time frame we allow ourselves). Consequently, many of us eventually give up in disappointments and discouragement, feeling ineffectively burned out.

As donors, packing our suitcases is even more stressful because we do not know what to leave behind. We want to pack everything we possibly can because we do not want to burden or inconvenience anyone (when we get there).  What we are afraid of (being a burden for our mission partners) is even more reinforced by some long-term western missionaries serving abroad.  They will give you an itemized list of things and tell you exactly how much money you need to bring in order to provide yourself everything without anyone having to sacrifice for you. I am not really suggesting that it’s wrong to be prepared. I am only suggesting that we should allow ourselves some room to be blessed by God and our mission partners.

I think we would have a much more fulfilling experience if we simply allowed ourselves to be blessed as much as we wanted to bless them. Being dependent is certainly not easy especially for many of us who live in the world where we can provide pretty much anything for ourselves. We have learned to be independent and self-reliant in every aspect of life.  In fact, God must sometimes take us to places where we have no access to everything in order to make us feel dependent on him once again. For some of us, that place can be a mission field, where our comfort and security is only God. Who do you depend on when you are outside of your medical insurance and 911’s coverage?

Before I get to my next point, I want to propose a scenario to think about. Suppose you have a wealthy friend. Your friend offers to visit  (or you ask him to) and you both agree on a date. How would you feel if your friend brought his own food and drinks, his own bed and everything else he needed so he doesn’t have to ask anything from you? You know very well that he only did this because he did not want to be a burden.  Would you feel burdened if you had to sacrificially provide whatever you can afford for your friend or would you feel more accepted, dignified and joyful for being given the opportunity to share with a friend?

I guess what I am getting at is that our mission partners would enjoy blessing us as much as we would like to bless them. God has created us to feel joyful when we bless others. I think we should give them the opportunity even when we know that they cannot afford everything we are used to. If you haven’t yet, you will probably hear missionaries say: “they are so poor yet so thankful…” I believe those who apparently don’t have much (by the world standards) can still be thankful and honor God through their offering and generosity. I think that it is absolutely humbling to realize that the God we serve where we live in abundance of stuff is the same God we (or they) serve in places where there is a lack of stuff.

If you feel called, God is not sending you on a mission trip because you are best suited to bless “THEM”. He is sending you because “YOU” are uniquely suited to be blessed by him (sometimes through them). Until you accept his blessings for you sometimes from unlikely places and people, you will not fully experience his awesomeness!

Related Posts

Your only qualification for God’s mission is your obedience and trust

Do not JUST focus on building houses and doing things; focus on building relationships

Love them but do not emotionally and/or materially corrupt them. 

When we finally decide to go on a mission trip, we start thinking about how we can bless them (them meaning whoever we are serving). The first thing we learn about is the needs as we figure out how we can help out. That can be overwhelming at times. It’s true that we may have much more money and material stuff than they do but they actually need much more than we can give. Even if we gave everything we owned, it would only be a drop in the ocean. We have to accept and make peace with this difficult reality. So, let’s forget about being burdened by the needs for a moment.

Don’t get me wrong: It’s good and we should bless those who are less fortunate than we are. However, it would be a mistake to focus our efforts on what we can give rather than who we can be together in the eyes of our creator.  Imagine yourself in a remote region that only less than half of your friends and family have even heard of. Yet, you feel loved and cared for.  Maybe you cannot even communicate verbally but you still feel safe. I don’t know about you, but I see God in that picture.  If not God, what or who else can bring two total strangers, having practically nothing in common to make them feel like brothers and sisters?

I think we risk to get get it wrong when we attempt to place ourselves on the donor’s end while placing them on the recipient’s end. After a while, the connection between two ends is only sustained by a one-way flow of materials and money from the donor to the recipient. Soon or later, we finally realize that the issue of poverty on which we focus our efforts is much bigger than we can solve (at least in the time frame we allow ourselves). Consequently, many of us eventually give up in disappointments and discouragement, feeling ineffectively burned out.

As donors, packing our suitcases is even more stressful because we do not know what to leave behind. We want to pack everything we possibly can because we do not want to burden or inconvenience anyone (when we get there).  What we are afraid of (being a burden for our mission partners) is even more reinforced by some long-term western missionaries serving abroad.  They will give you an itemized list of things and tell you exactly how much money you need to bring in order to provide yourself everything without anyone having to sacrifice for you. I am not really suggesting that it’s wrong to be prepared. I am only suggesting that we should allow ourselves some room to be blessed by God and our mission partners.

I think we would have a much more fulfilling experience if we simply allowed ourselves to be blessed as much as we wanted to bless them. Being dependent is certainly not easy especially for many of us who live in the world where we can provide pretty much anything for ourselves. We have learned to be independent and self-reliant in every aspect of life.  In fact, God must sometimes take us to places where we have no access to everything in order to make us feel dependent on him once again. For some of us, that place can be a mission field, where our comfort and security is only God. Who do you depend on when you are outside of your medical insurance and 911’s coverage?

Before I get to my next point, I want to propose a scenario to think about. Suppose you have a wealthy friend. Your friend offers to visit  (or you ask him to) and you both agree on a date. How would you feel if your friend brought his own food and drinks, his own bed and everything else he needed so he doesn’t have to ask anything from you? You know very well that he only did this because he did not want to be a burden.  Would you feel burdened if you had to sacrificially provide whatever you can afford for your friend or would you feel more accepted, dignified and joyful for being given the opportunity to share with a friend?

I guess what I am getting at is that our mission partners would enjoy blessing us as much as we would like to bless them. God has created us to feel joyful when we bless others. I think we should give them the opportunity even when we know that they cannot afford everything we are used to. If you haven’t yet, you will probably hear missionaries say: “they are so poor yet so thankful…” I believe those who apparently don’t have much (by the world standards) can still be thankful and honor God through their offering and generosity. I think that it is absolutely humbling to realize that the God we serve where we live in abundance of stuff is the same God we (or they) serve in places where there is a lack of stuff.

If you feel called, God is not sending you on a mission trip because you are best suited to bless “THEM”. He is sending you because “YOU” are uniquely suited to be blessed by him (sometimes through them). Until you accept his blessings for you sometimes from unlikely places and people, you will not fully experience his awesomeness!

Related Posts

A Mission Trip is a two way street. It’s about them as much as it’s about you

Do not JUST focus on building houses and doing things; focus on building relationships

Love them but do not emotionally and/or materially corrupt them. 

Olivier was just two years old when the 1994 genocide killed over 1000000 people in Rwanda. He was young, but vividly remembers the sight of dead bodies lying in the streets as his mother carried him on her back. Fortunately, his mother and father both survived the genocide, but he was raised in the aftermath of the genocide and in a country struggling to forgive and rebuild the lives of its citizens. Due to extreme poverty and tragic, sudden loss of his father, Olivier became a street child.

Olivier was taken from street to Umuryango and lived there for eight years. As one of our eldest children, Olivier became a leader and a big brother figure to many of the younger children at Umuryango. In his free time, he loved to play soccer and was once the captain of his school soccer team.

Olivier has been one of the most courageous and ambitious children at Umuryango. Ever since he joined Umuryango, he dreamed to become a mechanic driver. When he graduated from elementary school, he enrolled in a technical school and performed well. In two years, he became a certified mechanic.

Like many other graduates from Umuryango, Oliver was helped to secure a job at the local garage in capital city, Kigali. He was given all required material and membership fees. Today, Olivier is happily employed and enjoys what he does. He does such a good job that he stands out at work place. Everybody knows him!

Umuryango may not be able to help every deserving child but looking back at Olivier and others like him makes all of us praise God for one changed life.Olivier could not have made it without support and love especially from his sponsoring family, the Newlins. We keep in touch with all of our children to ensure them that we are always there for them to fall back on. It is our hope that all of our children get equipped to go as far as possible but stay closer as a family.

Since 2002, I have been involved with mission trips either as a mission-goer or as a host of mission teams. If you have been or ever considered going on a mission trip, you probably know how intimidating it can be especially during the preparation period. The thoughts of mission trips put us in a continuous state of nervous uncertainties and sometimes make us feel stressed. The fear and stress is caused partly by the fact that we are often called to go to places that  we do not know much about. The questioning state of mind can potentially lead to skepticism. How good are these mission trips and what difference do they make? Is it worth the money, time and energy put into it? I am the right person or I am ready and equipped to make any difference? It is totally legitimate to ask questions if you are seriously considering a mission trip. Unfortunately (or fortunately) some answers may not come until you actually go (or even long after you come back)!

Mission trips give us such a unique personal experience that cannot be grasped from great stories we may hear from those who have gone to missions before us. Additionally, any good answers to the questions you may have will always leave a void that can only be filled by your own experience. Each experience is unique and personal. As someone who has been on few mission trips, I consider each and everyone of my trips to be a unique, vital part of my Christian walk and fellowship with God. In other words, God has used the mission trips to not only change my life but also to reveal himself to me in ways that I could never have anticipated.

Yes, mission trips are great but….there is always a “but”! In my experience, I have learned that all good things and noble causes come with two opportunities: One is to do it right (hopefully) and another is to get it completely wrong(unfortunately). Mission trips are not immune to this reality. Despite our good intentions, we can still get it wrong and cause more harm than we do “good” if we do not surrender our agenda and ourselves to the one who calls us to go –God.

Our agenda is only short-term, just like we call it: it’s a “short-term” mission trip. I am convinced that even though we plan for a “short-term” mission, God is thinking about “long-term” relationships. I have seen this in my own experience or in others with whom I got the pleasure to serve in missions. When you look back few years after your first “short-term” mission trip, you realize that there was nothing short about it; of course if you allow God to take the lead. Many people that I know have gone back many more times or God has expended their mission calling to other places. Others got involved in ways they could never have planned on their first mission trip. Basically, a mission trip can be a game-changer in your life. It does not leave you the same person you were before it. And it keeps getting better and better!

I don’t claim any authority or expertise to give a lecture about missions but I thought I would share few things, which I have so far learned through observations and active participation. Everything considered, in my experience, missions should not make us feel intimidated or burdened as if we are being punished by God. We should only feel honored and privileged that He is asking us to take part in what he is doing outside of our comfortable social circles. As I share few learned lessons, I will put on two hats: First as a mission trip-goer (part 1) and second as a host of a mission team (part 2)

These are 4 points that I want to explore in this section (part 1):

1. Your only qualification for God’s mission is your obedience and trust

2. God’s mission is a two way street and it’s not just about them; It’s also about you. 

3. Do not JUST focus on building houses and doing things; focus on building relationships

4. Love them but do not emotionally and/or materially corrupt them.

Unlike many others, Jean Claude had little trouble with school. He could not really finish formal education, which we desperately wanted him to finish. We first thought we had failed him and everyone who invested in him. Little did we know that God’s plan for him was bigger than ours. His plan never fails!
After realizing that our educational path for Jean Claude was not going to work, we helped him enroll in a two-year technical school to study mechanics. After graduation, we paid membership fees for him to become an apprentice in a local mechanic garage. Being as smart and as hard working as he’s always been, Jean Claude quickly earned trust from fellow mechanics, his trainers and his customers. That eventually earned him the title of “Professor” which highly speaks of his skills, abilities and dependability. Everyone at the garage knows him.
During my recent visit, Jean Claude came home to visit us and we made plans to pay a visit to his family. Jean Paul and I went to visit his family, whom we had visited before when Jean Claude lived with us. Although I knew and heard great things about Jean Claude’s active role in the family, I was very curious to hear his testimony from his own parents. Remember that these are the same parents that Jean Claude could not live with. He felt he was better off as a homeless on the street. So, I wanted to really see and hear from them what kind of a child he had become to them! I do not usually cry (tears of joy) but his dad said something I could not resist. He said: “Jean Claude made me the proud father that I thought I had failed to become”.

Without going into much details about his past, Jean Claude is the 4th oldest sibling who started smoking and using drugs at very young age. Unable to get along with his own family, he became a street child. That is how we found him and took him to Umuryango along with 3 other boys (our first 4 kids). He lived with us for almost 10 years before going back to his family.
He is currently the oldest still living with his family as his older brothers and the only sister moved out and got their own families. The parents are old and cannot work anymore. Guess who just stepped in to support the family? Jean Claude! Jean Claude did not just come back asking for forgiveness and to be taken care of. He came back to forgive his parents and to take care of them. Is not God, who else can make this miraculous reconciliation possible?

What is most encouraging and inspiring about his story is not the fact that Jean Claude is now providing for a family of 8 and is able to put the roof over their heads. What is MOST fascinating is that Jean Claude introduced the family to Jesus. He started reading the bible he got from Umuryango to his mother. Today, his mother is a born again Christian and the whole family is attending church regularly. The parents quit drinking and there is peace in the house. As I was saying goodbye to Jean Claude, he told me: “God has opened doors for my family and I am grateful”. Does he still work hard and get tired? Yes, but he is grateful!
Unfortunately, his toolbox, which we had given him when he graduated, was recently stolen. While he felt bad about it, he kept positive attitude and said that God would provide again, somehow. We promised him that we would get him another one as soon as we got money so he could keep being a good boy and a supporter of his family.
When we started Umuryango and when we met Jean Claude, we were only thinking that we were helping a needy child but God had the entire family.  We are grateful to God and to the generous sponsors who have invested in “professor”!

If you have met my wife, you probably know that she is not into luxurious lifestyle. Nevertheless, I like to surprise her every once in a while. I recently planned a get-away vacation for her to the Islands. This vacation was a total surprise and I managed to keep it to myself as long as I could. Living with the secret without divulging it was not easy. Each day that went by made me a little too excited to just keep my mouth shut.

As the dates of the trip approached, I started learning everything about this adventurous resort we were visiting. I could not believe how “obsessed” I became about it. I learned about the history, every landmark, trails, you name it! In other words, I had visual map of this place, which I had surprisingly not visited before. It’s amazing how much our mind can conceive and visualize when we put it on the task!

My “to-do-list” included things that I was absolutely sure that my wife would have loved and few things I wanted her to try/see for the first time like snorkeling, skydiving etc. Months leading to our vacation, I had prepared myself to be a good tour guide! Long story short, we had to cancel our vacation and I had to virtually share this place and my excitement about it with my wife. Surprisingly, she enjoyed my narrative and stories probably more than she could have enjoyed it by being there physically. Yes, I was that good in recounting my emotional trip. And No, I did not lie to her or exaggerate.

You see, I was not too crazy about this place just because it was beautiful (and yes it is a beautiful place) but because I was going there with my wife. This sounds a little cheesy but seeing her, as someone I love, enjoying this place was what I was mostly looking forward to. To me, the presence/happiness of my wife in this place had so much to add to the beauty of this place (as beautiful as it already is).

Because of my excitement, I was able to learn so much about this place that I feel like I have been there before. I literary have a tourist’s map drilled into my head. If I ever had to convince a friend to go with us, it would not have been hard at all. It amazed me how much I learned about this place in a little time simply because I was motivated enough to become passionate about it. In fact, I feel more confortable taking a friend to this place (where I have never been) than many other places that I have physically been to (by accident or coincidence).

This experience made me think a lot about my Christian life. As a Christian, I know that my eternal home is in heaven. Most importantly, I will spend this eternity with the one who loved and died for me, Jesus. Despite of this wonderful news that I actually believe in, I often wonder if I am excited enough about Heaven and who I will see there. I think this is a sad truth I share with many fellow Christians. We are just not that excited!

Don’t get me wrong. I am not here to judge but I think that we, Christian need to be more excited about heaven and the Christ that we serve. In Matthew 28:19, Jesus commands us to “go and make disciples”. I doubt we will deliver if we keep showing little or no excitement about him. Not that we should act as salespersons but I can hardly think of any salesperson (at least a successful one) who fails to impart his excitement about his merchandise into his “potential” customers. My point is that, God has given us supernatural power to do great things but history shows that we can only achieve things we pursue with passion and excitement.

We live in times when we can no longer afford to live like “undercover” Christians. You may say that things have been this way for a long time but Satan has become more aggressive in his tactics more than he has ever done before. Sorry to jump into various issues but I read many posts about Christians who are very concerned about the decision of the Supreme Court and how it is going to affect or influence their children. For Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world, the government will NOT protect our children from Satan. It’s our responsibilities to make disciples starting with our own children. But what should we expect if the world seems way more passionate about taking our children to hell than we are about taking them to heaven? Who will they follow?

This is high time that we, Christians need to rekindle the fire of the Holy Spirit that burns from within. Through our passion and works, let us make it clear to our friends and neighbors that we are HOT Christians heading to heaven and we are not leaving them behind. Let’s distance ourselves from the world that keeps falling victims of today’s fashion while losing their passion for Christ. It’s ok to look pathetic to this world as long as we maintain the prophetic word that is desperately needed!

May God bless and empower you to share his good news!