My Group Workcamp

Sorry for the delay in blogs. I spent the last eight days on a mission trip in Elizabeth City, NC. You can learn all about the mission organization here www.groupworkcamps.com

This was my 10th work camp and 13th mission trip over all. After so many, you kind of know what to expect, or at least you think you do. But as always, God showed me I don’t know anything.

My “God Sightings” came in the form of three interactions I had with various campers. The first was a group of kids with physical disabilities. In all my years of mission work, I can’t remember one camper that was disabled much less three at the same camp. One was a girl that had no use of her hands. I got to witness her building a porch. She was working as hard if not harder then the kids on her crew that were in perfect physical shape. The next was a young man who had some form of cerable palsy. I was able to watch him bring water around to everyone in his work crew. And then there was a girl who also had cerable palsy, and what was she doing when I saw her? Climbing a ladder and painting a house. Seeing these three kids overcome their obvious physical challenges really helped me put my life in to perspective. How many time have I used my past as an excuse not to serve God? I make excuse after excuse to sit on my spiritual butt and not do a thing all because I feel cheated by life in some way. And here are three kids who regardless of the hand they have been dealt in life, regardless of how tough their past may have been, refuse to let it take away from their servcie to God and others today.

My second “God sighting” was two girls I met that had several things in common: high school students, funny, great attitudes, attractive, and oh yeah, they both have cancer. You would have never of guessed by looking at them that anything was wrong. One was diagnosed with Leukemia at age 11 and the other just found out she has a softball size tumor on her ovary six months ago. Another reminder to me of how much I take life for granted. What was amazing was the fact that despite their current circumstances, these two girls refused to let that stop them from serving God and others. How many times to I look at my current situations and allow that to stop me from serving God?

My last “God sighting” came from one of the camp “Site Coaches” Jim. One night he asked me to pray with him and when I asked what was wrong, he told me that his 26-year-old daughter was in a hospice home and had less then 2 months to live. As we prayed and wept together, I couldn’t help but be overwhelmed by this man’s dedication to God that he would leave his dying daughter to come spend a week of his life serving others. It didn’t matter what Jim’s future may hold, he wasn’t going to let it stop him from serving God.

How many times do our past experiences, current circumstances, and fear of the future prevent us from living the lives God has for us?

The week was anything but what I expected and I will never forget the life lessons God taught me through those six individuals.

My next trip is to Magnolia, DE in a few weeks. The only thing I expect to for God to exceed my expectations.

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