My First Missions Trip

This past week, I had the privilege to go with a group from our church to Mission, South Dakota to do a Vacation Bible School and other outreach ministry on the Rosebud Indian Reservation. To be honest, I was nervous about the experience because I had never done anything like this in my life. I knew going in that I would be pushed outside my comfort zone and that I would be asked to do things that I normally do not like to do. Still, I knew that the Lord had something planned for me that week and I simply obeyed.

The trip had its challenges in the beginning . . . bald tires, a gas pedal that would not work in my car, an air-conditioner that went out on a day when the temperature was over 100. All of it was a distraction from what the Lord was calling us to do. A strong brother in Christ spoke to me while I was getting my car worked on in Indiana, some 800 miles away from our destination that I should not worry, the Lord was in control. Of course, he was right.

Upon arrival, there was the distraction of trying to locate a Nissan dealer to get the piece I needed to make my car . Some 170 miles away in Pierre, South Dakota, we found one. Took two trips and nearly 6 hours of driving and time away from ministry work to get it repaired, but the Lord provided what we needed. As it turned out, I got to spend some quality time with another great friend in the Lord who was able to minister to me about some strong holds in my own life. So, as it turns out, God was in that too.

During the course of the week, we performed eight different outreach ministries at different locations on the Reservation. At one point, one of our blow up games got a massive hole in it. We tried the usual forms of repair . . . duct tape, followed by more amounts of duct tape. Eventually, we came to the conclusion that the game would not work. Yet another distraction that had the potential to limit what we could do to entice the children to come hear the message of the Lord.
Turns out, the Lord was in that too.

What happened was one of the many amazing things about this mission trip. The entire team would pull together to use the talents that the Lord has blessed us with. I learned the art of being 10 again and having balloon sword fights with as many as 8 or 9 kids at one time. Others used the art of taking pictures, or to face paint and make animal balloons, or one of many, many things that were done in just over an hour at each location. Turns out, most of the kids at these outreaches could have cared less about us having three blow up games or two. They just wanted our attention and our love . . . which is what God wanted us to give to them as well. Like I said, God was in that too.

There is much to share about this trip. Some 138 kids and adults were saved that week. Personally, my life was changed with each face and each interaction with everyone I met. We witnessed the beginnings of a miracle for the small church we performed the Vacation Bible School at. Those stories will be for another time and maybe another blog.

What I want to close with is this . . . don’t let the little distractions in your life cause you to miss out on what God has in store for you. There were a few times I would get frustrated or discouraged. When that happened, the Lord found ways to speak to my heart . . . through a brother in Christ who would encourage me or the smile of a child who just simply wanted me to watch them jump on a blow-up game. I rediscovered a peace of allowing God to be in control and trusting Him to take care of the little distractions.

-Pastor Chris Blackburn