Savannah Bound.......

As most of you know I was wrangled into attending the mission trip to Savannah as a female chaperone. 

TUMC Youth in Savannah

Not that wrangling is a bad thing, but I certainly did not have my mind set on this trip.  It is funny how God pushes you in the direction that you need to go.  I rolled out of bed at 3:30 am with my cup of tea and headed off to Savannah with eight other missionaries for a week-long trip.  I will not hesitate to say that the drive was problematic.  By the Grace of God we made the twelve hour trip there and back.  Pastor Tom Barnard drove the entire trip down to allow Paul Sadler-Bower and me time to get more acquainted with the youth attending the trip.  I was amazed by the personalities; intellect and curiosity of the youth attend.   

Despite no air conditioning, spirits were cheerful.  This was the first mission trip for three of the youth attending.  Each one of them seemed ready to hit the ground running for Christ.

Missionaries from Several Churches

This mission trip touched me.  I learned more about Christ’s proclamation of servitude.  I will be the first to tell you that I am not the most Bible savvy person.  Yes, I have picked up my bible a multitude of times over the last year.  I am actually working through reading the entire book on my Kindle, but as most of you know I have a propensity to overextend myself with volunteer activities.  For those of you who have not had the pleasure of attending a mission trip, the days are extremely long, physically and mentally intensive.  Days run from 6:00 am until 11:30 pm.  We have our basic needs covered:  Shelter, food, showers (YEAH!), worship and fun activities!  Yeah God for Air Conditioned sleeping quarters!

On this mission trip I was moved by two things specifically which I would like to share with you.  Church time was held late every evening.  This was a time for our group to come together and reflect on the worship message and the events of the day.  Each night I was grateful for each of us sharing our feeling, emotions and gratitude for Jesus thought our thoughts and questions about his message for that day.  The youth have a way of making you see things that every adult should experience. The second thing that really touched me was the foot washing ceremony on the last day.  The message on the first day from John 13: 1-17 where Jesus washes his disciple’s feet:

¹³ “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. ¹⁴ Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. ¹⁶ Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷ Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

Servant King, watercolor on canvas by E. Wierenga

The Youthwork’s staff prepared a foot washing.  The Youthwork’s Staff washed the Adult Church leaders and prayed with us.  We in turn washed the feet of each Youth and prayed with them.  It was a humbling and spiritual experience for me and I was truly blessed to do it!

Yours in Christ,