Regarding Life Matters: Mission Trip Recap

First, thank you to those who supported our mission trip. It was great! We are so impressed with the mission organization we went with (groupmissions.com). They were organized, God focused, and connected us with truly life-changing projects.

Jessica and I on the way to Ohio.
This was a stop in beautiful Kentucky.

Our arrival at the mission trip site where we slept, ate,
had worship and fellowshipped.

A few highlights from our trip:
First, Jessica and I were both assigned to jobs that were not tops on our list. We would gladly have switched if we could have. It is a good thing God knew better.

Jessica with her team leader and team.
She really connected with this great group of people!

In Jessica's Own Words: The mission trip to Cincinnati, OH was a really cool week for me personally. It helped me grow a lot in my faith and friendships.

I loved serving, but honestly, my favorite part was simply hanging out with my team, working with them, doing devotionals with them, and all that good stuff. When we were told that we would be serving at a nursing home, I was like, no. That was exactly the thing I'd told Mom over and over that I didn't want to do, and now I was stuck doing it for the whole week! I was mad but calmed down pretty quickly. (Ok, maybe I didn't calm down and Mom had to give me a pep talk, but I pulled it around.)

So imagine this. You're about to do something you think you’re gonna hate for six hours a day for a week. That was so me on the first day of work. But, believe it or not, as soon as I got there, I settled right in helping some old ladies play dominoes. My team and I ate a nice lunch outside and did devotions. We got back to base and hung out a little bit before dinner, worship and bed.

Taking a resident back to
her room after activities.

Our days were full of fun and stuff like pushing wheelchairs, playing cards with residents, and sharing good cups of cocoa with my team, but the most memorable day was the last. It was bittersweet, though, leaving all the residents we'd come to look forward to seeing as we walked through those epic-ly structured sliding doors. The last day we got to do some cool things we hadn't done before. One of my teammates, Izzie, did an Irish dance, (she is amazing) with Mario at the sound booth, controlling the music. Our mission trip leader, Chris and I got to sing for the residents. Plus another team member, Logan, showed his epic hangman skills when none of us could figure out his sentence. By the end of the day, we were all worn out and sad about leaving, but it had been a good week overall.

And so at last we left, exchanging emails and whatnot, sad but happy at the same time. I was convinced I was going to hate it, but I couldn’t have asked for a better job, and I still thank the Lord for what he did in me and through me for the residents.

I'm so proud of Jessica. Just the other day we received a call from Lyla, one of the women she spent time with. Lyla wanted to call and tell me how wonderful Jessica was and what a blessing to her during the long, lonely days. She is still thinking about their conversations and enjoying the memory.

I ended up leading a group of teens and young adults to a Boys and Girls Club. In the mornings we cleaned, organized, and did hard labor around the place. In the afternoons we hung with the neighborhood kids doing everything from dodge ball to arts and crafts and face painting. I didn't go expecting to lead a team so it was a stretch but a good one. The Lord was gracious and filled me with strength despite lack of sleep. (50 girls packed into a few open rooms makes for late nights. :-) One highlight of my time at the club was connecting with a 12 year old deaf girl with great artistic talent.

My team - a great group of 'kids'...who worked hard and had fun!

Face painting in the afternoon with the kids. It was a hit!

Jessica has talked about being a missionary for almost a year. She was sad to leave OH when it was time to return home. One of the biggest things she seemed to learn was to go with the flow and trust that the Lord knows what He is doing even if it doesn't seem to make sense.

When you think about it, please pray for her and future mission trips. She is still prayerfully consider missions as part of her future.

Thanks again to everyone who prayed and supported us. It was an amazing and stretching week and a wonderful time for Jessica and I to connect without the other siblings around.