I spent the weekend in South Texas with about 30 guys from our church. We were there with an organization call Mission Discovery that works with the poor around the world. We worked on three different houses doing everything from roofing to laying flooring. It was a great weekend. I’m tired . . . . and full.
Mt friend Stan Horrell (not his best side) of Mission Discovery, addressing our guys on the first day.
If you haven’t yet had the chance to spend a few days serving folks who can’t serve you back, I highly recommend it. It’s one of the most rewarding things I get do to in my job. Yes, it’s hard work, but the payoff personally is immeasurable. Maybe that’s why our trips–be they international or stateside–typically fill up and have waiting lists.
Today, I’m so sore I can barely move. My frame of 49+ years doesn’t hold up to 2 days on a rooftop like it used to. But, with every groan of my muscles I think about Miguel, his wife Alma and their three children who lived in the home we worked on. Today, I’m back in my cozy, air conditioned confines in Austin. I have all the food I want, a huge soft bed and more clothes than I’ll ever wear. They don’t. They’re waking up today to the same world of poverty that I briefly visited. I get to come home; they don’t.
One of the local kids we got to serve. She's why we go.
So, if you want to break up your status quo, and if you want to get a whole new perspective on what you have, and of you want to do some real good for some folks, then spend a day or two serving those in poverty. You won’t be the same.
One tired and roofing tar-covered preacher
By the way, our guys are already planning their next trip back to the valley. Yea God.
You gotta love that picture of the preacher!