By Jeni Gregory

I was privileged to go to India in November with the 2018 Serve the Children team.   I see faces in my mind as if it were yesterday.

Our team was honored to work in a Mumbai slum considered to be the largest in the world.  Open sewage, extraordinary poverty, lack of education, sex trafficking … all combining to beat down the human beings who lived there. The people we worked with were like you and me.  They had dreams for their families.  They had hopes for a better life.  They were very hard workers who strove to put food in their children’s bellies every day.  They laughed, they cried and they understood why Serve the Children was there.

The most important part of my being on a team is remembering that it is not what I DO that is critical.  It is about BEING with people.  In fact, the importance of “BEING” seemed more significant than I remember on other trips. I knew I needed to slip into God’s intention. It was a comfortable place that did not require me to do anything but rest in His Presence. That lesson came across clearly through one particular little girl.

I don’t know this little girl’s name.  Yet I knew she needed to be near me.  She kept looking at me the way I remember my own children staring when they needed ME. My instincts told me it was not about something I could do.  She needed to be close, with me paying attention.  I might have been unable to solve the greater problems she was facing in her young life, but I could do something about her need for my attention. 

I scooped her up and put her on my lap.  Immediately I could tell we both relaxed.  It was as if, at least for that moment, we were both where we belonged…in the love and safety of God’s grace. I knew that me just being present was enough, as long as God was in it.

God may ask you to go on a mission trip and there is no doubt it is to serve others.  Your first reaction may be to say, “I have no tools that could be used.” When I went to India, it simply meant showing up, being present and giving my best self in service. God filled in the rest.  That was His lesson for me. What does He want you to learn?

We have exciting mission trip opportunities for 2019!  We have a team going to Liberia June 15-28. The first team meeting for this trip is on Sat. March 2.  We also have two teams going to India August 3-16 and October 12-25 and a team going to Zambia June 30-July 13.  If you are interested in going on any of these trips check out our website for more information and email Doug@servethechildren.com.