aaaaand we’re back

Hello Sara and Malea.  I’ve missed you…

Our trip to the DR was fabulous on so many levels.  We got some good work done for the Rose of Sharon Orphanage, spent countless hours loving on the boys and girls there, and the guitars made the trip without a scratch!  The day before our trip, a donor dropped some cash in my hands, and I was able to pick up 2 more guitars to go along with the ones that Eric Hart and Jake Nold donated.  So cool.

Yeah, so I just waited about 30 minutes for a video to load here.  But since WP is deciding to be all wanky, and my videos haven’t posted to FB either (good grief, am I that technologically challenged?) you’ll have to take my word for it:  leading worship with mi amigos and their new guitars was sweet.  Bernardo had a smile on his face that lit up the room.

OK, they’re on FB…here and here, in stunning HD.

Lilly did really well on the trip.  She’s a great traveller, and loved getting to meet the boys and girls face-to-face.  She’s been praying for them and hearing stories for years.  Now she has stories of her own to tell.  I didn’t even mind that she bailed on sleeping in the room with me.  Who cares that she choose Sara and Malea over me.  I’m not bitter.  I’m not hurt.  I don’t care.  Not a bit…

Over the years, my perspective on short-term missions trips has changed.  I used to think that we were the Great Carriers of the Light, taking Jesus into places he had never visited.  Now I see that the trip is more about moving where God is already at work, and the trips do more to change my heart than anything else.  It’s good for us to go serve at the orphanage, but if all we’re doing is slapping paint, we could pay Dominicans to wield a brush.  But the big deal in all this for me is seeing my heart’s capacity to love and serve and obey God grow.  I love my friends in the Dominican Republic.  And God is at work there.