2006 Mission Trip: Matt's Reflections
Matt's Reflections:
This was an amazing trip. The combination of living in a dorm together, eating all of our meals together, driving, and serving together really felt natural and good. I enjoyed every minute of the week, from serving, to ethnic restaurants, to yoga, to long debriefing conversations, laughing in the van, to devotions. I felt a tangible spirit of togetherness, honesty, vulnerability, openness, service, and worship.
Matt's Lessons Learned:
1. Service doesn't have to be exhausting. We found that it can be very fun and even energizing.
2. Serving can be a great activity to do with friends just like hiking, sports, eating out, etc.
3. The key to service is to find the right organization to volunteer with. After serving in three different soup kitchens inChicago
4. It is ok to try volunteering for a wide range of organizations to find the ones that are fun and fit your personality. If it is a place that you enjoy you are going to return again and again and again. That is a benefit to everyone involved.
5. Another key to service is to make it into an act of worship. Jim at St. Thomas Soup Kitchen opened our eyes to this. He urged us not to think of it as a duty or as charitable work, but rather to see Christ in the people being served and consider that worship.
6. It was very clear from this trip that every city has two sides. There is the side that all the signs point to for you to see. On the other side is the areas the signs direct you around. The areas where normal people live. The areas where people are hungry and hurting.
7. I also realized after returning that service to the people of Chicago revitalized my worship. Somehow after helping the people of Chicago, it was easier for me to see that God was good. The faces of the people we served passed through my mind as I was singing and gave me a prayerful attitude I haven't had in a longtime.
8. I also have noticed that since returning my energy is up. I feel refreshed and good. I'm not sure how working hard for a week did that but it certainly did. It is probably a combination of God, friends, and acting out what I believe. Thus far it is a continuing high for me.
What's Next?
Our dreams about how we could continue this into the future were enough to get us all excited. We agreed on a few first steps...
1. Think about where we could do ministry/service for our next trip.
2. Explore service options in our own regions to see if we can find places in our local communities to plug in.
3. Try to make service an activity that we do when we get together (similar to hiking, Frisbee, etc)
This was an amazing trip. The combination of living in a dorm together, eating all of our meals together, driving, and serving together really felt natural and good. I enjoyed every minute of the week, from serving, to ethnic restaurants, to yoga, to long debriefing conversations, laughing in the van, to devotions. I felt a tangible spirit of togetherness, honesty, vulnerability, openness, service, and worship.
Matt's Lessons Learned:
1. Service doesn't have to be exhausting. We found that it can be very fun and even energizing.
2. Serving can be a great activity to do with friends just like hiking, sports, eating out, etc.
3. The key to service is to find the right organization to volunteer with. After serving in three different soup kitchens in
4. It is ok to try volunteering for a wide range of organizations to find the ones that are fun and fit your personality. If it is a place that you enjoy you are going to return again and again and again. That is a benefit to everyone involved.
5. Another key to service is to make it into an act of worship. Jim at St. Thomas Soup Kitchen opened our eyes to this. He urged us not to think of it as a duty or as charitable work, but rather to see Christ in the people being served and consider that worship.
6. It was very clear from this trip that every city has two sides. There is the side that all the signs point to for you to see. On the other side is the areas the signs direct you around. The areas where normal people live. The areas where people are hungry and hurting.
7. I also realized after returning that service to the people of Chicago revitalized my worship. Somehow after helping the people of Chicago, it was easier for me to see that God was good. The faces of the people we served passed through my mind as I was singing and gave me a prayerful attitude I haven't had in a longtime.
8. I also have noticed that since returning my energy is up. I feel refreshed and good. I'm not sure how working hard for a week did that but it certainly did. It is probably a combination of God, friends, and acting out what I believe. Thus far it is a continuing high for me.
What's Next?
Our dreams about how we could continue this into the future were enough to get us all excited. We agreed on a few first steps...
1. Think about where we could do ministry/service for our next trip.
2. Explore service options in our own regions to see if we can find places in our local communities to plug in.
3. Try to make service an activity that we do when we get together (similar to hiking, Frisbee, etc)
posted by Matt at 2:17 PM
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