Since I love to travel and I love Jesus, going on a mission trip has always been something at the top of my bucket list. This summer I got to mark this off my list by going on not only one mission trip, but two. I got to go to Puerto Rico for 11 days and then later in the summer I went to the Dominican Republic for 7 days. Although 18 days doesn't sound like a lot compared to the 19 years I've been on this earth, these two trips impacted me more than I ever could have imagined.
While I was in the Dominican Republic, I was talking to a teenage boy who had previously visited the United States. Even though I was supposed to be there to help him, he said one of the most simple, yet profound things in our short conversation that I'm sure had a bigger impact on me than any impact I might have had on him. He told me, "I feel sorry for you people that live in the United States, there are so many distractions." At first I was offended because I love America and the life I get to live here, what right did this boy have to say things like that about a country he had only visited? But the more I thought about it, he was right. When in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic life was truly easier. Not because we were on vacation or living a more luxurious lifestyle, but because without the distractions of social media, the constant struggle to stay on top of fashion trends, or any other interruptions that our crazy, hectic lives might provide, I was able to put all of my energy on the one thing I was actually put on this earth for: to love Jesus and love others.
When I got back to The States and started talking to people about my mission trips, I discovered some controversy going on about the idea of traveling across the world help people in need. Some people didn't agree with the idea of a mission trip because they thought it wasn't necessary to travel to find people in need, that all you needed to do was look on street corners for homeless people or drive to a local orphanage. While I absolutely agree that there are people all around us that need and deserve help, I also think that traveling across the world to help someone is in no way a bad thing. Other people expressed concern because they were worried that going to a foreign country for a week and becoming involved in the lives of so many people and then just leaving them with a high possibility of never seeing them again was counterproductive. Yes, while on a mission trip one of the main focuses is to build relationships with the people there. But when you leave, if the mission trip was a successful one, you will always leave a little piece of your heart there with those people. You don't just leave them there as helpless and destitute as you found them, but you leave them with a new hope: a yearning for Jesus and a newfound appreciation for his unconditional love.
No matter where you are in your walk with Christ, or even if you aren't a Christian at all and you just want to become a better person, I promise a mission trip will change you. The opportunity to love on people and hopefully lead them Jesus will provide you with no greater feeling. Jarrod Polson, a University of Kentucky basketball alum, wrote in his book called "Living Beyond The Dream" about a mission trip he got to take part in. One of my favorite all-time quotes comes from his book, "I believe in God because I have witnessed people with nothing who posses souls that have everything." If going on a mission trip isn't anywhere on your bucket list you need to add it, and preferably somewhere towards the top.
