Is it worth it?

In nine days Wanda and I will be leading another team back to Guatemala where we will be working with some of “the least of these” in hospitals and orphanages. I am excited to return, but also frustrated because I know how short our time there will be. And that has left me with a nagging question…“Is it worth it?”

After all, we will only be there for eight days. And when we leave, we will leave those children in the same beds and same institutions in which we found them. We can bring about no long term change to their situation, and we cannot bring a single child home with us. So, what’s the point?

But I am reminded of a simple truth, it is worthwhile because each moment matters to each child. Each moment that a child is held is a moment that they do not lie alone in a stainless steel cage. Each moment that a child is loved is a moment that they experience value instead of neglect. Each moment that a child is spoken to instead of spoken around is a moment that they realize that they are worth speaking to. And each moment in which we love a child in Jesus’ name is a moment that is important to Him.

But that is not the only reason that it is worth it. There is also the impact of the experience on those of us who go. Because each moment you spend there changes you. You come back with an awareness of the real problems that exist in your world instead of the ones we create in our prosperity. You come back less selfish and more of a servant. You come back with an awareness of your own prosperity and a desire to use that prosperity to change the world for the better.

Just ask some of the team who went on our last trip. Zac, a pharmacist, came home seeking God for how God could use him and his skills to change the lives of the children of Guatemala in an ongoing basis. Dawn, a worker in a trucking company, returned home with a commitment to adopt an international orphan. Anita, a homemaker, returned home and rallied her family and is now spending the entire month of July in Antigua, Guatemala with her daughters loving the children in Hermano Pedro, Casa Jackson, and other ministries (and will be joined by her husband for the last week). And Krishauna, an upcoming college freshman, returned with a call to change the direction of her life, major in special education, and go to Guatemala full time after graduation. And that was just four people our of a team of nine who were forever changed and are now involved in making a long-term difference.

Is it worth it? Oh, yeah! And I can’t wait to go back and be used by God every precious moment we are there, no matter how long or how short!

Won’t you join us on one of our upcoming trips? To get more information go to http://hopeforhome.org/Trips.html.