I wonder if that is why sometimes God wants us to leave home and go serve. It isn't just for the people we are serving....it's for us too. We step away temporarily from the hustle and bustle and get to see the world from a different view point. A friend of ours posed the questions as we were fund-raising..."Isn't the money you are raising better spent here at home or wouldn't it be better to send the money to people who are already there so that you aren't having to incure travel cost?" I can see his point. On the other hand, God sends eye-witnesses to go serve and then come back and share, all while strengthening the faith of those who serve and are served. While I was in China, my new friend couldn't quite grasp the concept of "volunteering". She initially thought that I was being paid to come teach English. Over the weeks, she kept asking the question in a different way because serving for nothing didn't make any sense to her. It was the last few days that she finally got it "Oh, so you make enough money to be able to come over here are try to make people's live better". Close enough.
So last night our church held a banquet to celebrate the kick-off of our 125th year, the retirement of a large debt, and to showcase the outreach that we have been a part of this summer. I put together a short movie to highlight the trip to China. It was a real pleasure to be able to come back and report of the amazing work God is doing there. I enjoyed reliving the experience and am beginning to let my mind dream of the future and how we might be able to go back. If it is God's will, let it be so!
