Day 7 | Russell

The last evening. Normally this is a time of anticipation for the return home, and getting back to regular life. However, tonight, all I can think of is how amazing my God is and how truly wondrous He has been this week. Thinking of the many blessings that I have experienced gives me great joy. However, I cannot say that I am not somewhat dismayed by the fact that I must leave before the project is completed. This is an entirely new experience for me. Logan, Tyler, and I have discussed how this will be the first ever time we have not finished the job. So it is somewhat disconcerting to be heading home while still so much remains to be accomplished. But as I sit here and reflect on the last week, this dismay cannot bear before the joy that I feel when I consider just how good my God has been. There have been many mission trips that I have been on where I have been unsure as to whether our tasks were truly addressing a need. That has not been the case on this trip. The Lord has presented us with a mission field that is abounding in opportunities for service, evangelism, and building relationships. This playground will allow children a place which is solely dedicated to their enjoyment, while also placing them around men and women who love the Lord and will work as an ambassador from him in their lives. God has also given me a personal opportunity to affect the life of an individual child. A program here gives people the opportunity to sponsor a child through school. For $25 a month a person can provide for that child’s school supplies, uniform, and meal. When we were first informed of this, I volunteered out of a sense of obligation due to the fact that God has blessed me with the means, therefore it is my duty to help. While I do not believe that these motives were entirely wrong in and of themselves, they are no longer the driving motivation behind my actions. We met our kids today, and as I looked at the 4 year old boy clinging to his mother’s leg, all I could think was that this young boy deserved a chance to be more than a dirt-poor farmer in his life. How cruel could I be to have the ability to help and still refuse? I look forward to seeing how the Lord can use what He has given me to help this child and his family, and to hopefully grow a friendship between us. There is far more to this week than what I have written in these blogs. However, it will suffice for now to say that our God is awesome in power, perfect in beauty, and infinitely wondrous in love, and that He has richly bestowed His Spirit upon us this past week.