It’s
not about you! You've heard me say that a million times, right? What does it mean??
Sometimes
… some people ….sign up for a mission trip thinking it will be a good thing for
them or thinking it will be a good time for their family. While that can be the case, it is not a good reason to sign up for a mission trip.
Mission
trips by their very nature are demanding.
They demand your time, your commitment, not only to do the actual trip,
but to prepare for it as well. They
demand that you put yourself, your wishes, and your comforts aside. The days are long and hard as you will
experience some of the following:
No
privacy – even when you go to the bathroom, someone will be there.
Food
that is not what you would choose if you were at home.
Crowded,
cramped conditions.
A
climate that you are unaccustomed to.
A
culture you are unaccustomed to.
Those
are just to mention a few of the challenges you will face on a mission
trip. It takes someone who has the
ability to put themselves last. That sounds
simple enough, but can you do it? There
are 52 weeks in a year and most of us spend every one of those doing everything
within our power to make ourselves comfortable and happy. Doing differently for a week or more can
challenge the best of folks. For those
able to pull it off, they discover a joy that is unattainable if you merely are
trying to make yourself happy and comfortable.
Yes,
yes, I know that we ALL need the help of the Holy Spirit to pull that off or to
even come close – that’s a whole other topic and one we will address when we
talk about being Spiritually Prepared.
This post is to give you a head’s up about what to expect.
Our Mission
To Build
Relationships with the Lakota people
To share the
love of Jesus is practical ways
To Listen and
Learn from the Lakota people
Expectations
What can you
expect? I’ve mentioned a few things here
already. Let’s go a bit further.
It is HOT in South Dakota in July. Temps can reach as high as 110. BUT, don’t plan on it being hot. In the evening it can cool off to the upper
50’s or 60’s. Plan your dress
accordingly. Shorts are fine, but don’t
forget to throw in a pair of jeans and a jacket or sweatshirt.
You will be
dirty. You will be working, sometimes
outside. You will be outside teaching
and playing with kids all afternoon.
There is some dust. J
You will get dirty and will likely stay that way.
You will be
tired. A typical day looks like this:
Breakfast at
6am.
Work Projects
after breakfast – 11-11:30am
Pick up kids
for VBS
Noon - Lunch –
feed up to 100+ kids lunch
After lunch -
VBS
After VBS - Playtime
on the playground
4:00pm - Take the kids home
Pick up Teens
5:30 - Dinner
with the teenagers
Teen Night
activities
9PM – Take teens
home
10pm –
evening devotions and team sharing time
Besides all
of that, there is kitchen duty, bathroom duty, cleaning out vans that needs to
be done daily. Yes, you will be
tired.
What I expect
from the crew
I’ve been
known to have high expectations of the crew – because I believe that 1, we are
doing one of the most important things we as followers of Christ can do –
affecting souls, and 2, I believe people going on mission trips are capable of
great things. Its really pretty simple
stuff – stuff that your employer probably expects from you – and since souls
are far more important than a job, its my belief that we should be no less
responsible on mission trips as we would be to other responsibilities. Here are some things I expect:
Be respectful
– That is really central to all of my
expectations and all of the others hinge of this one. Be respectful of the Lakota people, of the
missionaries there, of your crewmates – even the one’s who get on your
nerves. If you have a disagreement with
someone, handle it in a respectful manner – just as you would want someone to
approach you with a problem.
Be
responsible – be at monthly meetings so you are informed and equipped to carry
out your responsibilities. If meetings
were not important, I wouldn’t waste my
time on them. Don’t ask if we’re doing
anything important – we are, hence the meeting.
Being
responsible also includes being on time to meetings, and being respectful of
your teammates time. Others have taken
time out of their day and made the effort to be on time, to do less is
disrespectful of their time.
Being
responsible means making payments on time.
We have a person who spends hours and hours of their time keeping our
accounts in order and making trips to the bank to deposit payments. When someone is late, it really throws a
wrench into all of that and makes their job MUCH more difficult than it should
be. Respect their time and willingness
to serve our crew in this capacity and get your payments in on time.
Oh, and one
last thing that will really help you out a lot – a sense of humor!
I suggest the first thing you do is schedule a visit to your doctor to make sure you are healthy. You will not need any shots for this trip, however, if you are not current on your tetanus vaccine, it would be a good idea to get up to date on that - you never know what you will encounter, step on or get cut by on these trips. 
