Toronto - Recap

We're home, it's been a few days, I've had a shower, a bed and a meal that was not described in the menu by a number. It's good to be home.

But this was a great trip. There's an easy way to tell. By how much I'm hated Monday.

Monday is the first day of mission sites. And for many people, this was an incredibly uncomfortable day. It was hard than expected. Many were not doing what they thought they wanted to. The people we hoped to form relationships did not open up right away, or opened up too much. Monday is the day I hear, "I don't like this. I don't want to be here."

You can't judge a trip by Monday. Thursday paints a clearer picture. The students that hated Monday, many sing a different tune. They are going to miss who they are working with. They don't want to go home. They want to keep serving. Some even admit it's still really hard, but they want to stay anyway. Students who thought they were enduring something grueling have come to realize they are actually doing something they were created to do, they simply needed to be pushed out of their comfort zone and have this experience thrust upon them.

Many students who were uncomfortable with the elderly, the handicapped, the poor, the destitute, by Thursday they call them friends and they want to continue serving them and having them in their lives. To fully understand this, I encourage you to be at FIRE & WATER Sunday August 10th at Fishers United Methodist Church (8:30, 9:45 & 11:00). You can hear the stories first-hand from students and adults who had their perceptions of people changed in only 4 days, 24 hours of serving.

I love seeing the 180 degree change in people from Monday to Thursday. It's amazing what God can work in someone's heart in less than a week...

T