“And they said to Him, ‘We have only five loaves and two fish.” He said, ‘Bring them here to Me.’ Then He commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes. So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained. Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children.” (Matthew 14: 17-21)
My wife and I went on our first short term mission trip overseas in 1997. Miriam had been talking to our sons’ orthodontist and found out that he and his church were going on a medical/ dental mission trip to Honduras. She told him that she would love to go as a translator since she was fluent in both English and Spanish. She received an invitation to go and had to raise $1000 for the trip. She was able to do so quickly and I went with her for the first team meeting. I was so excited to hear about what they were planning to do that I asked if I go go as a translator also.
They said yes, but that I had only a week to get them the $1000 so they could purchase the teams tickets. There was only one person that I could think of in our church that was mission minded and had not already contributed to Miriam’s trip, so I called him hoping that he could help a little. He called me back the next day and told me that he and his wife had received a windfall the previous month and they had been praying about where God would want them to put it and had now decided that it was for me. He wrote me a check for $1000!
The trip was a life changing experience in many ways. There were 27 men and 12 women and we spent the week in a small village in rural Honduras that was about as poor as it could be. The 27 men slept in an unfinished town hall on the floor with sleeping bags and air mattresses. Never have I heard such loud snoring in my life. There were about 12 men who, I believe, were trying to out snore each other! Our showers were “sun showers”. (Bags that you hung out during the day and then had some hot water at night.)
Miriam slept in a house with the other 11 women, about 4 to a room. Miriam says that there were two elderly gentleman who showed up each night as their night watchmen. When they arrived one of them proclaimed: “Don’t worry about a thing. We are here to protect you and keep you safe.” They were both in their eighties and one brought a Bible. They would sit down, put on the new reading glasses they had received from the team and one would proceed to tell a story from the Bible that he remembered. The other would throw in an occasional “Amen”, and then they would switch roles. It was evident that neither could read but they talked back and forth about the Bible all night! (Later in the week we found out that there were many dangerous men in the village but none came near the ladies house that week!)
Every day 10 of the men would work construction repairing the local church and the remainder of the team would travel to a different village where long lines would form for the dentists and doctors. Miriam translated for one of the doctors and I translated for a dentist or for the person sharing the gospel to all who waited to be seen. Days were long but at night we gathered together after dinner to tell what God had done during the day and to pray and praise Him for allowing us to be a part of what He was doing.
The 3rd or 4th day we ministered to a village that was even poorer than the previous ones. It was an indigenous Indian tribe that had a chief in charge and the people lived in mud huts with dirt floors. Most were barefoot, skinny, and obviously malnourished. Half way through the clinic that day someone approached the pastor of the church and asked if there were any way we could provide some food for the village. He said there was no extra funds he had brought from the church but the team could take up a love offering and we could send someone to the nearest store and buy what we could.
So we took up an offering and two people went to the store and bought as much rice, beans, shortening, sugar, and butter as we had money for. They returned and the pastor told the chief what we had done and how would he like us to distribute it. He said that there were 40 families in the village and he would tell each family to send one person to receive the food and he would be present to ensure that there was only one person from each family to receive the gifts.
We broke the rice, beans, shortening, sugar and butter into little bags not knowing how many bags we had of each item. When the 30th family had come through we looked and saw that we were going to run out soon. Someone said: “Let’s pray.” So we all prayed that the food would make it to the end. When the last family came through we handed out the last bag of each item to the last family! God had ensured that everyone would receive a share!
That trip started Miriam and I on a 23 year adventure serving Him on the mission field in 14 different countries. We have witnessed many make professions of faith, many baptized, some healed, and many more have had their lives transformed to serve our Lord better. We have been on many trips together but also some by ourselves. Miriam has been on 34 trips and I’ve been on 20. We also spent 2 & 1/2 years in Manila, the Philippines, teaching at Faith Academy, a school for missionary children.
We have seen God move and accomplish many miracles in peoples hearts and lives and He has blessed us much more than we have ever been a blessing to others.
What do you have that you can give to God? He has given you the ability to do something. You may say that you only have a little to give but that is all you need! God is the one who multiplies your gift and makes it meet the need He has sent you to fill.
PRAY
1. Thank you Lord for allowing us to be a part of what a You are doing to transform peoples lives at home, around town, around our country, and around the world.
2. Give me a vision Lord for what You want me to do today to minister, physically, and spiritually to whoever You put in my path today.
3. Thank you that it is not me that has to do anything other than to be obedient to Your leading and to watch You do all the work.
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