I’m going to Africa in 2 ½ weeks. It’s not a safari, not a sightseeing trip, and only God knows what it will be like. I’m spending almost 3 weeks of my vacation time and a bundle of money to go. Why? Why would I leave my comfortable US life to a country known for its poverty and poisonous snakes, and even recently making the news for an Ebola outbreak? Many reasons: 1. I admit it. I do like adventure. I’m not an adrenaline junkie by any means, although my family and friends might differ on that. I do like to do dangerous things, but I like to do them as safely as possible. I’ve recently taken up hang gliding and motorcycle riding, but I’m extremely safety conscious. I have no intentions of acting my age. 2. When I travel to foreign countries I like to see and experience the real culture. It may be a weakness on my part, but I despise tourist destinations where everything is pretty and nice and plastic. If you want that, go to Disneyworld and save yourself the travel costs. I don’t mean that in a snobbish way—I just don’t like seeing American plastic culture exported. When I go to Mexico or South America, I love the exhaust fumes, trash, graffiti, cars rushing everywhere, etc. That’s when I know I’m there. 3. I love to do physical work and get dirty. I get into my work—when I work on cars, it seems there’s more grease on me than on the car when I’m done. My wife and I have been on two water well drilling trips to Nicaragua, and both times I’ve been in the top running for messiest and dirtiest clothes. My pants literally could stand up by themselves when they dried. Awesome!! 4. I love to help people. Traveling to cool places with the primary purpose of serving others who are destitute feels amazingly satisfying. And any touristing that happens is amazingly fun, in part because it is not the focus of the trip. 5. I was rescued from oblivion both in this life and the next by my gracious Savior, Jesus Christ. I want to serve Him. I want to risk it all for his Name and his glory. I have no death wish, but I want to be willing to follow Him to my death if that’s what He calls me to do. He is worth it. He is worth everything I have to give. I’m really not that great a person, in fact I almost want to say I’m not a saint, except that God’s word says that I am. And it’s true: I am a saint, not because of anything good in me, but because my Savior saw a desperately needy man and rescued that man. And I am still desperately needy even 31 years after He rescued me. On my own, I am nothing, and only His mercy allows me to be anything at all. 6. I want to follow God all the way. I’ve been on many mission trips, but they’ve always been very sanitized. We were kept in protected compounds, told where to go, what to do. This trip will not be anything like that. And that’s part of why I want to go. I’m planning to blog my experiences as I get ready, while I’m there, and after I return. We’ll see how it works. For now I’ll sign off. My next blogs will talk about some equipment, preparations, and what Hydromissions does.
Posted on: Sat, 29 Mar 2014 06:09:48 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015