Mission as Transformation

This Sunday we will be having a meeting following worship (12:30 p.m.) for all those participating in the trip to Nicaragua this summer.  Here is a quote I love that speaks to how mission trips can be a transformative experience. 

"None of us, no matter how we may want to, can change much about the place where we visit in a two-week trip. We may build a church, paint school rooms, dig irrigation ditches. We may listen to the stories of refugees, of survivors, of victims of torture. We may stand in silence by mass graves, light candles in places of worship, pray in the places of deepest pain for God's peace and justice to heal the wounds. On the whole, however, the changes we make there, if any, are small. It is not that we do not make a difference. We do. Our willingness to go matters. Our presence with people individually and in groups matter. Our giving of money, self, of time, of advocacy matters. But it is we who are changed the most through this experience. The going is about our coming home different, changed. It is about how we may be moved to change our own lives as a result of the expereince we have had. It is about sharing our encounters in such a way as to move others to reflection, action and change in their lives as well. The trip is about our own transformation. And... this is crucial to the transformation of the world. "

from the book "When God's People Travel Together, Vol.ll by Barbara Batin
(PCUSA Peacemaking Program)