Missions Trip Reflections

Electric Truth

We often go on mission trips to bless others with our service, but often we come home having been the most blessed because of the example the receivers were to us. Paul, in I Thessalonians reflects this principle when he wrote in 3:1ff:

"We sent him (Timothy) to strengthen you, to encourage you in your faith. . . but now Timothy has just returned, bringing us good news about your faith and love. So we have been greatly encouraged in the midst of our troubles and suffering, dear brothers and sisters, because you have remained strong in your faith. It gives us new life to know that you are standing firm in the Lord. How we thank God for you!"

Here was Paul the Apostle, a veteran of mission trips, blessed because of the faith that the new believers in Thessalonica had. There are so many principles to be learned from this biblical example:

Humility: to accept your limitations and realize that there is much that you need that is a gift from others and has nothing to do with material things
Teachability: to realize there is much you can learn from others through the challenges they have faced in their own lives
Priorities: what is really important in life
Generosity: giving graciously and abundantly because you want to
Reciprocity: two way relationships are what's really important in any ministry
Flexibility and resourcefulness: making the most out of the least.
And the list goes on. In short, it is about character building, and hopefully as we saw the hearts and lives of those we served, we can begin to internalize what we've learned and demonstrate toward each other those same character traits.

With this in mind we can ask ourselves these questions:
Which of these traits is our strongest as a youth group?
Which is the weakest?
How can we build these character traits?
How would these traits help our Go Wide efforts?