moments from our mission trip

Gather memories. Memories are gathered as you experience the moments of life… I have heard that type quote from various sources and many different ways.

What I do know is that life is links by a series of moments that often mold us. It is our faith and our perspective that helps that molding process especially when we allow God to be part or even the driving force of our lives and our passion for life.

1 Corinthians 13:7 NLT

Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

Psalm 25:3 NLT

No one who trusts in you will ever be disgraced, but disgrace comes to those who try to deceive others.

Some of the moments from last week’s mission trip to Cuba has shaped my thinking, and I continue to think about the reason or how things came together. God can do anything, but why? God made great things happen even when we didn’t understand or even wanted something different.

First. We arrived at the airport in Havana, and all was going well. It wasn’t much time last that we realized that most of our bags, the ones with our mission-purposed shoes, were going to be held by customs. We arrived at about 4pm on Saturday afternoon, but we didn’t get to leave the airport to way after 9pm. Yep. 5 hours later we made our way to where we were staying. No shoes. Customs bagged and tagged all but 150 pairs.

We weren’t sure why that happened. I am still not fully understanding what God did. But He made a way. We still served a few hundred people, mostly children and a few elderly precious folks. Each gave us moments that we will carry for a long time. Second, we saw several people who tugged at our heart. It might have been because of their shoes falling apart or simply because of the need. Some caught our attention by the amount of joy they had in their lives.

There were tears. Several times team members shed tears when the moments were tough to understand. Something would happen. Smiles would appear as people were served. Third. Another piece that blessed us big time was when team members gave their own shoes right off their feet. There were no shoes in our mission bags to share, but on our feet there was an opportunity.

Moments. These three moments and others will go with us for a long time. We are grateful for how God put all of these together for His glory.

Psalm 112:7 NLT

They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the Lord to care for them.

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