The Good Samaritan

We are back from our mission trip to Michigan. Can I just say that our teens are the best?!! I know there are a lot of people who question whether teen mission trips are really worthwhile. If any of these people would have been on this trip with us, they would never ask that question again. Our kids made a big impact on the church in St. Joseph. The church is in the process of looking for a minister and dealing with all the struggles that come with that process. Our teens encouraged, uplifted and built up this little church, and they did a great job with the Vacation Bible School.

Our trip to Michigan was quite eventful too. One thing I learned on the trip is that when the person driving says, "Oh no! We just lost all our power," it is NOT a good thing. Our serpentine belt (which controls EVERYTHING) broke, and we were stuck in the middle of nowhere. A man happened to stop by and checked to see if everything was okay. He thought he might have a belt that would work, so he left and then brought back a belt. It was too short, but he started the search to find us one. Another man stopped by to help too. Unfortunately, we soon realized that there were no belts anywhere in the near vicinity and that best case scenario was three or four days to get one. So, the first man that stopped called his preacher and they opened up the Christian church to us. The main problem was getting us there. So a few people came in cars; the First Methodist church brought their van; and a Sheriff's deputy threw the book at some of our kids and hauled them away in his police car.

These people were amazing. Not only did they house us, but they fed us supper and breakfast (and by breakfast, I mean homemade pancakes, eggs, bacon, toast, etc.). The church members opened their houses up to us so that we could take showers the next morning. They provided snacks, a TV to watch movies and continued to help us find the belt for our bus. We were able to wait there until James Anderson, Pat Bashaw and Brandon and Rachel Grady brought us some church vans so we could continue on to Michigan. If they would not have helped us, we would have been stuck on the side of the road in a very hot bus for a very long time. Instead, we got to enjoy meeting some very kind people and have a really good time in the process.

The real ironic part of the whole situation is that on the Wednesday before we left, Nathan Mellor spoke to the teen class about the parable of the good Samaritan. Many people approach the parable from the standpoint of the people who did or didn't do something to help the man by the side of the road, but Nathan talked about being the person on the side of the road who needs the help of others.

I don't know about you, but sometimes (okay...most of the time) I have a really hard time asking for help or letting people help me. I think being in the position where you are totally dependent on others is a good thing. I know I left with a new perspective of who I want to be. I want to be known as someone who serves, fully and completely. I want to be the kind of person who will drop everything and care for someone else....even if they don't have the same name on their church building as I do or look the same as me.