Jamaica trip
By Ruth Schenk | .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Eight days can make a difference.
It happened often throughout the summer on short-term mission trips to Jamaica.
Most were family trips that gave moms and dads the chance to serve with their children.
Southeast members Chad and Lisa Harper had no idea how they could afford a short-term trip, but they had been waiting several years to serve as a family.
Filling out the application was a step of faith for Chad and Lisa and their three children: Cameron, 11, Christian, 9, and Grace, 8.
“We just wanted to be used by God somewhere,” Chad said. “We had no idea how God would provide, but He did.”
Eight days made a difference for this family. The Harper kids cried when it was time to pack up and say goodbye.
The group was busy.
“We were careful to serve the Jamaican church,” said trip leader Jesse DeYoung, who is the Youth Pastor at the Oldham Campus. “We did not want to walk in like we
owned the place or that we knew the best way to do everything. We went to serve and learn.”
The team painted the interior of a church, prayer walked through a community and helped put on a Bible camp for 150 kids.
At the end of every day, the team met to share what they had learned that day.
But those conversations never were about painted walls, crafts or completing tasks.
They centered on new friends, and a new way of looking at life and ministry. The group spent time with Kenyan missionaries Joseph and Alice Mullah, who serve in
Jamaica.
“They helped us understand why we serve the way we do,” said Southeast member Mike Vance. “As they shared their journey of life, we learned about following the Holy
Spirit in everything.”
Southeast member Kathleen Meyer, a senior at Christian Academy, went to Jamaica on her first mission trip. She found few differences with new Jamaican friends.
“The kids were the best part,” Meyer said. “I definitely want to go back to see the kids again, to spend longer than a week there and go on more mission trips wherever God
sends me.”
Biggest changes usually happen within the team. There is a shifting of priorities, needs and spiritual awareness during these trips.
Sometimes teams become part of baptisms with mission churches. But this time, five members of the Southeast team were baptized in Jamaica.
One of the girls on the team had made a decision during camp at Country lake to be baptized.
The next day, another asked to be baptized. Then another and another until there were five baptized on the beach one day.
The Harpers already are praying about where to serve next.
When they first signed up, the Harpers were concerned about cost.
“We can put up all kinds of barriers about going on a mission trip," Chad said. "In Matthew 28, Jesus said to go to all nations. He didn’t say to wait until you raise the money.
He promised to provide. This was one of the best things our family has ever done.”
To learn more about short-term trips, go to www.southeastchristian.org and click on missions.