I suppose I would call myself a “go-getter”. I’ve always thought I was going to change the world…make it a significantly better place. I never knew how, or when, but I knew that’s just how God wired me. Somewhere along the line I started to actually embrace this, and get glimpses of what it was like…but it looked a lot different than I used to picture it. My role in changing the world…and making it a significantly better place, isn’t on the gradiouso scales of people who re-wrote history, like George Washington, Abraham Lincoln or Dr. MLK Jr. Or atheletes who changed a sport, like Michael Jordan and Da ’85 Bears (yes, somehow, The Super Bowl Shuffle DID change the game of football).
Obviously, I’m not changing anything like those people. But I still have the potential to change SOMEONE’S world…and to make SOMEONE’S life significantly better. Somehow the HUGE “little” things that you and I are a part of changing w/ our actions, get overshadowed by “the stars” who get the attention for, most often, the dumbest & most insignificant things.
It was not a cocky attitude, but I knew God was going to use me in significant ways in the lives of orphan kids in Haiti. God got my attention a few years back, and I realize now, had been preparing me mentally, emotionally, and spiritually to take this trip...for years. So I was dialed into God heading into this trip, and I just believed He would use me in significant ways. (Side note: if you have the ka-hoonas to respond w/ obedience to God’s nudge to going on a mission trip…He WILL ABSOLUTELY use you in significant ways. It is your responsibility to strain and stretch yourself to be in a position mentally, emotionally, and spiritually to be paying attention to WHERE and HOW He is using you…b/c you don’t want to miss that. You really don't want to miss it. If you're interested, I can share a couple specific things I did, books I read, etc. that helped me connect to intimately with God in the months/weeks leading up to this trip...just email me).
My friend Bryan DeLucca, who went on this Haiti trip 6 months before me, was a huge influencing factor in me going. He was the first (non-pastor) friend who I’ve personally known as a “normal guy” that has gone on a mission trip like this. Husband, dad to 3 kids, traveling business-guy...he's the typical guy in my neck of the woods.
I’ll never forget Bryan stopping me outside of church a week or 2 before our trip. Call it what you want, but God used Bryan in a world-altering way that morning (yes, I'll share exactly how, keep reading...its wild). We were just catching up for a few minutes, and he said something like, “Look, I don’t want to tell you what to do there, or what your experience should be like, but I just really hope you connect w/ some of the older boys that don’t typically get as much attention from missionaries as the younger kids.”
I didn’t really have many hopes or expectations yet for my trip, but whenever I did think about it, I felt strongly that my part would be in connecting w/ the older boys vs holding babies and younger kids. So Bryan, not holding back and sharing that, just sort of confirmed pretty clearly for me, what my role would be down there. For those who financially supported me, I told you in that video before my trip, that I knew I’d be a human jungle gym rough-housing buddy for these kids. So, having been paying attention to God in the months and weeks leading up to the trip, I was dialed-into specifically making an impact in the lives of older boys, while in Haiti.
God would, of course, use me in significant ways down in Haiti. But how He did that, and His timing, were far from what I expected…
(I’ll continue this story next time…)
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