I am currently sorting through all of my papers from my recent Honduras trip: vaccination records, safety guidelines, devotional outlines, and even some notes written by the ninos. I reflect back to my first day on the mission, making my way through customs and zipping through the crowded roads of Tegucigalpa. My prayer for the week went a little something like this.."Lord let Your will be done as I set foot in this beautiful country, and let me make way for Jesus!" The ironic part is, the Holy Spirit heard and responded to this prayer in vivid ways, yet answered others I would have never imagined.
Before the trip, my immediate family and all relatives told me I would have a "perspective change" on living in America and being raised in an affluent area. The trip became less of a perspective change, as it was a heart change. I had been blessed to travel to various locations throughout my youth, and I knew how different cultures appeared, and how impoverished nations felt. And, I presumed Honduras would fit into that category. Moreover, I was under the impression we were traveling to a place where the people had nothing. It was our job to bring them something. Possibly something tangible like Gideon Bibles or clothes for the children, maybe aid or health advice. Instead, I found that the people of Honduras had the something that I was searching for! The Holy Spirit's presence within the hearts of the young children was almost visible. Their radiant smiles were that of joy and hope in a literally crumbling topography. I am fully aware of the "pathos" and heart wrenching events that can and will occur when following the Lord's will to do a mission; the poverty alone will move one to tears. Yet, there was something even greater in Quisgualagua, Honduras. Our group made way for Jesus, our King, to touch the hearts of the young Hondurans before we even opened our mouths. I pray that for all future missions that I participate in, and any that our group pursues in the future, that we stand with "unveiled faces" under the glory of our God. The radical part is, that the glory we can express to all that we meet is an eternal glory, because of God's abiding presence through the Holy Spirit. He will aid us in ministry and encourage our manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit. That is when the transformation occurs.
The children that had nothing, taught me something. Christlikeness is the goal of the Christian walk. If we stand under the Glory of all that the Lord is, and move under Christ's example for serving our brothers and sisters we will be transformed. I can now laugh at a remark by a fellow mission group member, Lisa, who stated that the majority of mission work can be seen as a selfish endeavor: striving to find out more about God's character through small laborous tasks. It is so true! Missionary work results in something magnificent for the believer. It catapults us into a mindset of willingness: a desire to transform. A hunger to become a little more like Christ, our Savior.
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:18
