Category Archives: Make a Difference

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Why Go?

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July is just around the corner, which means now is the time to sign up to join me in Ethiopia! You can find all the details about the trip here. Without further ado, here are some reasons you should and should not sign up for a mission trip.

3 Reasons You Should Not Go on a Mission Trip:

1. To Be a Hero

We are not saviors. We are broken people chasing after God’s heart. On every trip I’ve been on, I have gone home with so much more than I could ever offer. We are no better than the people we visit, and we are not there to rescue anyone. We are there to love.

2. To Get a Cute Profile Picture

Totally speaking to myself here  it is easy to get hung up on taking pictures of everything, but you miss so much behind the lens. We don’t go to be a tourist. Don’t get me wrong, pictures can be great! But they should never be our priority, and they should always be taken with respect.

3. To take a vacation

Mission work is not glamours. You may be sleeping with some creeping bugs in your room. You will get dirty and smelly. You may be taking cold showers. You may be asked to do something that is hard or gross. We don’t go to relax on the beach, but to serve!

 

3 Reasons You Should Go on a Mission Trip:

1. To Find Your Passion

We’re not all called to pack up and move across the world, but let’s agree that we are all called to do something. In a week or two, you may not change someone’s life, but it’s the stuff that happens when you come home that changes lives. People come home from a trip and adopt, start their own ministry, stepp out to lead mission trips, sponsor a child. A mission trip can be the spark that helps you find your passion.

 

2. To Step Out of Your Comfort Zone

Going on a mission trip can seem scary. You’ll meet people who may or may not speak the same language, stay in accommodations that may not be the most luxurious, travel to a place that you’ve only known from news stories, maybe trust God to provide what seems like a scary amount of money. But guess what happens when you step out of your comfort zone…you grow!

3. To Build Lasting Relationships

You will absolutely fall in love with people you meet in country, but I am convinced that nothing brings you close to someone faster than serving on a mission team together. Serving together, crying together, laughing together…there is something so beautiful about it.

 

So what are you waiting for? Go and be love with me in Ethiopia this summer!

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Sole Hope Shoe Party

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A post not about Nora? Whaaat? Don’t worry she’s managed to sneak her cute self in a few times.

Zach and I hosted our very first Sole Hope Shoe Party, and we had so much fun! So, what is Sole Hope? Sole Hope’s mission is to offer hope healthier lives, and freedom from foot-related diseases through education jobs and medical relief specifically in Uganda. Jiggers are an all too common problem that many people in Africa face. Jiggers are tiny fleas that burrow into a host’s feet. They lay eggs. Those eggs hatch and the process repeats. It can become so severe that the person with infected feet can no longer walk. The only way to remove the jiggers is with a needle or something of the like. Often those needles are re-used, further spreading diseases like HIV and AIDS.

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Part of Sole Hope’s goal is to put closed toe shoes on the children of Uganda. This is where a shoe cutting party comes in. During a party you make the foundation of a shoe. Those get sent to Uganda where tailors are paid a fair wage to make the shoes. Sole Hope then holds jigger removal clinics where they provide education and remove jiggers from sweet feet. Those kids are then given a new pair of shoes. Something so simple, but something life changing!! I greatly encourage you to check out their website to learn more. Or consider hosting a party of your own. You can purchase a shoe cutting party packet; it explains step-by-step what you need. So easy. Here’s a taste of our party. Huge thank you to everyone who donated supplies and time!

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Nora oversaw production of the shoes. She ran a very tight ship.

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Ah, sweet sleep after a full, fun day.

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We Are All Called

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I realize there are probably other versions of this exact post on this blog already, but it is something that is so heavy on my heart that I have to share it yet again. I am called to fight for the orphan and widow. But why?

Is it because I have seen things on my trips that absolutely break my heart? No. I see things right here in Indiana that break my heart. I see the church as a whole do things that break my heart. Is it because of those “poor little orphans” and the horrible conditions they live in? No. While there are many physical needs that need to be met, and the church absolutely needs to do something about that, I think it is sad that in America we think we “need” so much. Is it because I am better or holier than you? Absolutely not. Going on a trip to Uganda pregnant was scary for me. But it was not heroic or extraordinary. The fact that I was afraid, is an indication of my own sinful nature because He has not given us a spirit fear but of power and love and a sound mind.

I am called to fight for the orphan and widow because that is what we are supposed to do as Christians. Please do not look at me and give me honor. Please do not look at my pictures and feel sorry for the faces you see. I have learned so much from the people I’ve met on my trips. I have seen in those faces what Christ meant when He said, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” I don’t go and feel sorry for the people I meet; I feel sorry for me. I have so much to learn from them.

I have quoted it before on this blog, and I will again because it is so important to understand, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” That’s it. Or read in Matthew about the sheep and the goats and what separate the two; “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.” I mess up a lot. Things that I think I know are probably wrong. I am so far from what I want to be in Christ. But I know that if we are going to call ourselves a Christian, then we are called to simply love. That’s it. That’s why I’m called to fight for the orphan and widow. We all are. I was just also called to Uganda.

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