Getting ready has actually been quite a journey. Obviously we need to be ready physically. We need to have all our shots, and meds on board. We have to have our passports, and our Nicaragua-appropriate clothes. We have to educate ourselves on what to expect. Rob and I both went to Houston to do the training classes that LWI offers; him for drilling, me for hygiene. Our classes were made up of people literally from all over the world. Some with the 
intention of going on a mission trip with LWI for the first time, some for a refresher course, and some just to learn how to drill to take that knowledge back to their country to benefit the people there. What really encouraged me was the number of people that were there that said "This is my 7th trip" or "We take a group every year." That was pretty humbling. In my mind, mission trips were once in a while things, not part of an annual schedule!
The next thing we needed to do in the getting physically ready realm was to fund raise. For our team of 12, we needed to raise $21,600. While that seemed a little daunting, I had participated in a mission trip before through our church, Northside Church of Christ (www.nscoc.org), and knew how incredibly generous our congregation was. So we set out to raise our funds. We did Wednesday Night Meals, where we all got together, cooked up a big meal, and served it to the congregation before Wednesday night church. Each and every time, I was amazed. I was amazed at the people who came to help, or donated items, who were not even members of our team; they just wanted to support us. I was amazed at how smoothly everything went - how a huge group of people in a kitchen, some of whom barely know each other, came together and worked together as a well oiled machine. And I was amazed by the number of people from our congregation that were there EVERY Wednesday night, helping to get us there. We did two huge garage sales - again, the congregation turned out in force to donate their 'other man's treasures' to our cause. People worked hard, really hard. We wrote letters to friends asking for their support. I cannot tell you how much I HATED doing that. I am not one who asks for help easily, you know, because I am SuperKaren! But I was so awestruck by the number of people who said 'Please let me know how I can donate to your fund.' I was also very humbled by the number of people who were 'fully funded', either through their own funds or from donations from others, that were right in there helping us raise money. We had become a Team, and that was an awesome thing to see. So, we are cruising along, perfectly on track to hit our number in time, when we encountered a little bump in the road. A $5000 bump in the road.
LWI often has people who wish to help by donating the money to 'sponsor' the well. They pair the sponsors up with teams. When we submitted our request to take a team, they already had a Well Sponsor lined up. Well, at the 11th hour, the sponsorship fell through. They came to us and asked if we would be willing to sponsor the well. We had a meeting to discuss it. We had one final fundraiser left. We were asking the congregation to take home an envelope, and for 2 weeks, drink nothing but water. As they skipped their Skinny Lattes, we asked them to track the money that they saved, and consider giving it as a donation toward our trip. We had done some math, and figured that after this event, we would be fairly close to what we needed for the 12 of us to go. But $5000 more? Almost 25% more? Wow, that is a lot to ask. But what was interesting was that not one person in our group hesitated. Dan Richardson (whose story you will read later) had said something early on in our journey that really stuck, and kind of became the unofficial theme for our trip. "God will provide". So as a group, we said, "Bring it On!" and undertook the Well Sponsorship as well, knowing that we may have to come up with some more clever ideas and more man hours to try to accomplish it. So, we launched the project. Our pulpit minister, David Allen (who really is, in my opinion, one of the best speakers I have ever heard. You should come to Northside one Sunday and hear him preach, really good stuff) stood up front and very eloquently conveyed the heart of the project to our membership. Two weeks later, we stood outside the auditorium after each service with big blue buckets, collecting people's donations. There are no words to describe the sacrificial generosity with which our church family participated. Sometimes I let my pride convince me that I give generously among the various things that I choose to support. Pfff! I am a miser! I saw the checks that came in - really big checks. And I saw the envelopes that the little ones brought in filled with the coins from their piggy banks. I saw true sacrifice. And I felt the hearts of the people who supported us. We stood outside the auditorium for a few weeks straight, and I saw the same people donate again and again. I know that I am going to over use the word 'humbled', but that is what I was. Totally and completely humbled. Not only was our trip now totally funded, the well was totally sponsored, with a little left over for the next time. I think that when people think about going on mission trips, the very first thing that pops into their heads is 'How am I going to come up with the money to go?' Well, our dear friend Dan put it best: "GOD WILL PROVIDE."
We also needed to prepare emotionally and spiritually. We all have our own circumstances - things in our lives that we need to have settled in our minds before we leave. Will my kids be OK while I am gone? Will my company survive without me for a week? Will my spouse survive alone with the kids? Among our group, we have lots of those issues. All we can do is prepare as best we can, and pray. Pray a whole lot. We have been doing that, as have many others on our behalf. I was prepared for all of that. What I wasn't prepared for, was the spiritual turn I was fixin' to take. (Yes, I used the word fixin'. I like that word)
When I attended my hygiene class, they recommended a book. In fact, they told me that they were working on putting a study together for future groups based on this book. They felt like every member of a team going on short-term missions anywhere would benefit greatly from reading it. It is called "When Helping Hurts" by Brian Fikkert, with a foreword by David Platt (who wrote the book "Radical" which I mentioned before.)
I have read some challenging books in my life, but this may be the most challenging. Want to talk paradigm shift? Read this book. The basic concept of the book is that Short Term Mission trips can do more harm that good. WHAT??? No WAY!! Dan kindly volunteered to take on the teaching of a class on Sunday mornings based on this book. Our mission team participated, as did some others from our congregation that are interested in the subject of mission work.
Dan was an AMAZING teacher. He led us week by week through the chapters. Chapters telling us that Americans, though well intentioned, have actually harmed the very people that they have gone to help. How we have undermined them. How we have hurt their pride. How we have tried to impose our culture on others thinking that it is best. Basically, this guy is anti Short Term Missions! What are we going to do? Are we bad people for doing this? Or is this guy just smoking crack? But then we read on. He really isn't Anti Short Term Missions. But he does challenge us to be more thoughtful and purposeful in the 'help' that we dole out. I have been stretched by the ideas in this book. Challenged, angered, shamed...but then encouraged! I feel like I have a new and better understanding and heart for what I can really do to make a difference in the world. I am not going to ruin the book. I think everyone should read it, and decide for themselves where they fit in to God's plan. (In fact, Dan will be teaching the class again starting in January. We would love to have any of you as our guests and take the journey with you. I for one will be doing the whole thing again. I have lots more to learn) But regardless of whether you attend the class, or read the book, I would encourage each of you to search your hearts for ways that you can help.
OK, so speaking of our friend Dan, I want you to hear the story of how he ended up on the Team. I will forewarn you - it is another of those 'I get chills' stories. So here it is, in Dan's own words:
2 years ago, my wife Tara and I went to a conference in
Austin called, "Together for Adoption." The conference was an event
where people could come and learn about the state of the world-wide orphan
problem, and about the role the church can and should play in the struggle to
solve it.
At the time we were learning about money management
techniques from Dave Ramsey. One of the steps that we had just taken in this
regard was to create a separate bank account designated strictly for giving.
The balance in this account was starting to grow and we were concerned at the
prospect of hoarding God's money. We were looking for some agreed limit to the
account, at which point we would give it all to some agreed upon worth-while effort
and then restart the fund.
While at the conference we learned about an organization
that was drilling water wells so children in impoverished villages in the
Majority World could have clean drinking water. To sponsor a well would cost
$5000, so we decided then and there that if our giving fund ever reached that
amount, we would sponsor a well and start the fund over again.
2 years later, in March of 2012, I received a text message
from a friend of mine who I hadn't spoken to in about a year. After spending
some time texting back and forth and catching up he asked me, "When did
you last travel outside Texas and Oklahoma?"
A question to which I replied, "I've tried but no
matter which roads we take we always end up back at the same place...it's like
all the highways are circles."
So he asked me if Tara and I would like to go with him and
his wife to Nicaragua for a couple's vacation in December. I asked him about
how safe it was, telling him that when I think about Nicaragua I envision
images of guerrilla warfare. (In fact, looking up guerrilla warfare on
wikipedia produces an image of Nicaraguan Contra militia from 1987.) He assured
me that it would be safer than visiting a large city here in the States like
Miami or New Orleans. I told him I'd think about it. This was on a Thursday
evening.
At the time this happened, and for some few months prior, I
had been ranting about how America is starting to be a fearful nation, and how
we make way too many decisions based on fear. On Friday evening, I went out
with some friends of mine from work and found myself ranting once again on this
subject.
That next morning as I was driving home from the WoodCraft
store, I realized that I might be doing exactly what I had been ranting about!
I spent some time considering whether my own hesitation was driven by my
responsibility to be safe for my children or if it was simply out of fear.
Here's what I decided then and there: If I believed that God
wanted me to go to Nicaragua then I would do it.
Over the course of my life there have been several times
when totally unrelated events have come together to a point--pointing me in an
unmistakable direction. I call these events "convergences" and I
believe that these convergences are created by God as a way to tell us His
will. And so, my decision more specifically was this: Deciding not to go to
Nicaragua for a vacation was just my way of trying to be responsible for my
children's sake. If there was ever a convergence from God telling me to go to
Nicaragua, then I will go. To do otherwise would be an act of fear. (I felt
pretty safe making this decision as I couldn't imagine that God would EVER want
me to go there...) This was on a Saturday.
Sunday morning came and on our way to church Tara shared her
feelings about the trip with me. She said, essentially, "I've been
thinking about the trip to Nicaragua and here's what I think. If I were to set
my apprehension aside to go to Nicaragua it would have to be for some kind of a
mission related project."
I replied to her, "That's pretty much exactly what I
decided yesterday."
So there it was. We weren't going to Nicaragua.
When we got to church, we sat down on the pew and Tara
started reading the church bulletin. She tapped me on the shoulder and showed
me something that I will never forget:
"A group from Northside will be leading a mission trip
on December 8-15, 2012. ..to dig a well...in a village near Rivas,
Nicaragua..."
I immediately called Rob Anderson and told him that I would
be a fool to not go on this trip and I asked how much it would cost. $1,800 was
the answer. I looked into our giving fund to see how much we had and was amazed
at the clarity of this convergence when I saw that there was $1,830 in there.
I took a snapshot of the invitation and texted it to my
friend with the message, "You jerk. Now I'm on the hook"
But of course, in reality I was elated for weeks after that.
And every time I share the story I get excited about it. I don't know why God
wanted me to go, but I feel so honored and joyful that He thought me worthy to
show me his will.
Good stuff huh? So why does God want Dan on this trip? Why does He want any of us on this trip? Is it simply to go to Nicaragua and provide clean safe drinking water for a village there. (Many of the villages don't even name their children until they are two, because so many die of water related illnesses) What if we aren't successful? What if the rock is too thick or the drill head gets stuck or broken and we leave without completing a well? Is it all for nothing? Is it simply to go there to love on our brothers and sisters there, showing them that we value them and love them? Is it so we can witness the poverty and plight of people? Is it so that we would read Fikkert's book and experience the paradigm shift? Is it so that we get to know someone in the group better? Only God knows. I started out this trip very goal oriented - We are going to drill a well. Period. End of discussion. But through my journey, I have been reminded that I am going as an ambassador of God. To do HIS good and perfect will. Not my will. My will is prideful. My will is self-serving. My will is goal oriented. My will is flawed. Personally, that makes me nervous. What if I miss it? Will God speak to me as clearly as he did Dan, because if not I might just cruise on through it and miss it. So I pray. And I ask for your prayers as well.
Please pray for the people in the village where we are going to drill the well. They have been in the process of being on the waiting list for over a year. Pray that we show them God's love in ways that will glorify Him. Pray that the well is successful and that by the time we leave, this village will no longer lose lives to the preventable illnesses that come from contaminated water sources, that their children are well enough to attend school, get an education, and help break the cycle of poverty. Pray for the safety and health of our team. Pray for those that we leave behind. Pray that we leave behind any stress, worries, distractions that might keep us from fulfilling our purpose. Pray that we hear God's voice, and give us the strength to carry out His good and perfect will. Pray the Satan is banished from our presence, that he stays out of our heads, and away from the drilling equipment. And pray that everything that is done, is done to the glory of God.
One of my favorite things to pray comes from a song that we sang often when Rob and I worked with the youth in our church. I have even thought of having it stencilled on the wall of my office, because it is the way that I want to live my life. And I fail miserably. But each day, I get up and start again, making it my goal. I will close with it:
May my steps be worship, may my thoughts be praise, may my words bring honor to Your name.
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