Like so many before her who left home to share God’s word on an international mission trip, Karen Twenhafel was stretched in new ways as she ministered in the Ukraine. “I can’t believe that’s me,” she says every time she looks at photos of herself from the mission trip.
Twenhafel is the winner of the Ministry Travel Share Your Story contest. We invited our Facebook fans to share their favorite mission trip story for a chance to win two airline tickets. A number of our fans responded, all with great stories of compassion and God’s movement around the world.
Jack Sauls shared how he was moved by watching Ugandan children carry yellow containers of dirty drinking water on their bicycles. Deborah Bagley recalled how the orphan children she worked with in Bolivia cherished the little Christmas box of toys they provided.
Kay McNabb shared about a medical mission trip to Peru where the hardest part was turning away people from their make-shift clinic because they just did not have enough time to see everyone who had a need. Tracy Fisher shared how her time with a medical team in Uganda challenged her to go home and help collect medical equipment and other supplies. Tracy’s efforts resulted in a 20 foot container packed wall to wall with state of the art equipment for a Christian medical center in Uganda.
Several contest participants shared how their trips changed their lives. Even the process of determining where to go, raising the necessary funds and then the logistics involve to accomplish their mission stretched their faith. Our staff enjoyed reading all of the stories and knowing that they are a small representation of the thousands of stories our clients experience every year.
Karen Twenhafel did things on her mission trip that she would never have imagined doing before the outreach. Not necessarily big, dramatic things, but things that were outside of her natural comfort zone. All of us who have participated in similar endeavors can relate to her. It is the myriad of “little” things that often stretch us and leave an indelible impression on our lives. Most of all, it is serving others that enlarges our vision and helps us realize how blessed we truly are. Karen’s story is a great summary of the affects that short-term mission trips have on those who go.
Here is Karen Twenhafel’s story:
“I can’t believe that’s me.”
That’s my primary thought when I look at pictures of myself on a mission trip to Ukraine in June 2010. It’s not that I have trouble believing that I traveled to a foreign land and spread God’s Word. I’m a Christian – it’s my obligation to do that. The pictures that render personal disbelief are those that depict me in roles that, before the trip, I would have never attempted.
There’s the picture of me holding a Ukrainian baby. We were in the small village of Kygarlyk. There was a 12 year old girl who came to all of our presentations. However, she was often limited in participation as she cared for her 10 month old brother. When she would try to put him down so that she could do a craft or play a game, he would cry and she would have to stop.
On our last day there, we pulled out a brightly colored parachute to play with. The girl’s face lit up as she eagerly cried “Parachuta! Parachuta!” But then her face fell when she saw her brother firmly ensconced in her arms. I, without thought, indicated that I could hold the baby. As she thrust the boy into my arms, I wanted to immediately hand him back. I’ve always been a bit afraid of babies – they’re small, squirmy and seem to make irrational decisions. But when I saw the girl, so often put in the role of an adult, gleefully run off to play, I steeled myself. I held, sang to and played with the baby for the next 45 minutes while his sister got to be a kid.
Then there’s the photo of Dawn and Megan, two fellow mission workers, a couple of Ukrainian girls and me crammed into the back seat of a passenger van. When we were in Savron, geographical distance between the churches dictated that up to 16 people could be in a van meant for 10. On this day, I found myself squished between Dawn and Megan, with Megan’s elbow lodged in my ribs and me sitting halfway on Dawn’s lap.
As someone who greatly values her personal space, this situation should have been unbearable for me. But in the picture, I’m smiling – not a tight, just-get-through-it smile but a full-on grin. I remember being physically uncomfortable but I more recall feeling happy. I was happy because as we bounced down dusty back roads, the van, brimming with God’s children, was also over-filled with laughter, singing and joy.
Every morning in Ukraine, I would pray that God would open my eyes to opportunities He wanted me to see. I had expected, and often found, occasions to share the wonderful news of redemption in Jesus Christ. I did not, however, anticipate that God would show me ways to break out of my well-worn habits.
While there are still times when I can’t believe it’s me in those photos, I now stare at them in appreciation of how God works in our lives. I can’t wait to see what He does next when we return to Ukraine this June. To Him alone be the power forever and ever. Amen.