Missions Trips

Homes nestled in the mountains of Honduras.

God has blessed my Dad—and in turn our family—with a passion for world missions. My Dad made a goal to take each of us kids on a short term trip missions trip to another country before we graduate from high school. He has encouraged all of us to study great missionaries, financially support current missionaries serving around the world, and to actually be the missionaries whether that is for only a week, or as a permanent lifestyle one day. He has encouraged us to look beyond the comforts and pleasures offered to us as American-born children, and to consider the physical and spiritual needs of others.

I thought I would share some photos from the missions trips our family has participated in. Daddy was the first one in our family to go on a missions trip. He spent 10 days in Honduras participating in building/construction projects, and doing medical care with the missionaries down there. They also had the opportunity to go to church in Honduras.

One of the small towns the team visited.

Daddy is holding the head of the Honduran patient in this picture, while the dentist performs the extraction. They did lots of teeth-pulling while on this trip!

Dad was very excited after his trip to Honduras, and about a year later my Mom and I joined him and others from our church on a trip to Mexico.

This is the church building in the town we were at. You can see the sign for our hotel behind it. As a 10-year-old, this trip really opened my eyes to the reality of life outside the U.S.A. The poverty is extreme, and the spiritual need even greater.

During our week there, we served in a soup kitchen across the street from a local hospital. This photo was taken during our morning devotions over breakfast.

We also worked on cleaning green-space, and painting rooms at the local Middle School. Since there were lots of kids and teens on our team, we played with many of the local children! Some of them are pictured in the photo above.

One day during our stay there, we went to a local Mexican woman’s house to learn how to make tamales! We made over 200 tamales that day!

Several years ago, Dad and Ben went on a missions trip to the Bahamas. Some may not think of the Bahamas as a place in need of missions, but it is. Behind all of the tourist shops and the Atlantis resort, there is great poverty. I’m afraid that I can’t find the disk with the majority of the pictures on it, so the above one will have to suffice! They took one day to go snorkeling on their trip, and Ben is pictured above.

During their time in the Bahamas, Dad and Ben worked with others from our church going door-to-door and sharing the gospel with people. In the evenings they did park ministry. This consisted of making balloons for children, playing basketball with the young men, performing “The Redeemer” drama, and sharing the gospel with all the people assembled.

We are very excited to have the opportunity to go on another family missions trip later this year! Lord willing, several members of our family will be serving in some of the poorest areas of Haiti. Haiti was the poorest country in the western hemisphere even before January 2010, when the country was hit with a 7.0-magnitude earthquake. The physical and spiritual needs of the country are still enormous. We are very excited to be able to serve in this way! Please pray for us as we prepare for this trip.

*Have you ever been on a missions trip? If so, what was an experience that stands out in your memory, or really changed your perspective on something? We’d love to hear your story!*