We are currently on our flight from Newark, NJ to Santiago in the Dominican Republic. We are 11 strong this year, 5 of us are veterans of these trips, 6 are new to the St. Joes adult mission team. I often find myself contemplating the blessing of these trips. As I do this, I usually begin with the blessing we are bringing to those we serve. However, it seems I always quickly find myself contemplating the blessing received by those of us making the trip. This year we have 3 moms and their 3 sons making the trip together. They are all friends and decided to make this trip as a group. There have been other parent/child teams that have made this trip and having done mission trips with some of my children, I can attest to the lasting impact of having done it together. Tom, Tim and I are also looking forward to having 3 strong young backs to help on the construction work we’ll be undertaking this year.
The phrase I have always found appropriate to describe these mission experiences is, “we go to serve and return served.” I am served personally and spiritually through the relationships of these trips. My relationships with fellow team members, past and present, old and new, are always with me. We all share a bond of common experience that is far outside our normal life. I cherish that bond. We form a short yet deep relationship with those we serve. I have learned so much about the true meaning of joy from folks who have very little wealth of possessions but are rich in the wealth of relationships. We have developed a ten-year relationship with the Mission of Hope management, staff, interns and interpreters. Most importantly, these trips have improved my relationship with God. I have spent much time contemplating the importance of meeting God in silence, that is where we have the best chance of hearing him. While these trips do not resemble a contemplative silent retreat, we are able to silence the noise of our regular lives. We spend the time doing things completely different from our normal life with folks that are mostly outside our regular existence. This change is an opportunity to hear from God that which we might normally miss. Every trip I’ve done, I’ve realized that there has been some particular lesson God has determined I needed to learn. I have also realized that these lessons have been designed to build on those I previously learned. I will always remember a trip years ago when one of my fellow team members said to me “its important to do this and get outside our comfort zone.” Much to my own surprise, I replied “I make these trips because they are one of my comfort zones.” I can’t wait to see what lesson God has for me this week and I look forward to building on my relationships that are a great spiritual fruit of these efforts.
Dave Berg
p.s. – upon arrival at the MOH site, our old friend Reggie who we have served with twice before, was here and he’ll be spending the whole week with us. We even had an extra team shirt for him. God already providing.