If you stopped by my blog this past Tuesday, you may know that my youngest son is on a mission trip in Thailand. In fact, he celebrated his 17th birthday on Tuesday! We spoke with him briefly on his birthday and other than that, we have relied on short, daily blog updates from one of the adult chaperones. As I mentioned on Tuesday, I can’t go into much detail related to the specifics of what all they’ve been doing this past week, but the pictures will give you a tiny glimpse of one of the service projects: A day trip to the slums. (Hayden is in the picture below left, back row; white shorts/black tank).

Here is the short description from their adult chaperone that accompanied the pictures:

We bought a couple basket loads of food, some candy, and some soccer balls. We headed to two slum areas where we sang some songs, shared some testimonies, shared the gospel message, prayed for the sick, and handed out food and clothes. Watching our youth boldly share their faith, reach out with compassion and pray for the sick was a wonderful thing to observe.

As a mother, I can’t begin to describe what I feel when I look at the pictures and see my son and his friends ministering to those who are less fortunate. Here are a few of my scrambled thoughts:

• A humbling reflection of how I spent some of my Spring Break vacations throughout my college years. Gulp.
• A specific flashback of a Spring Break trip to South Padre Island, TX in my junior year of college. A student with Campus Crusade attempted to share the gospel with me and my group of my friends on the beach. I responded by belittling him. He walked away, no doubt, wondering why he gave up his Spring Break in an attempt to reach students like me. Five months later, I gave my heart to Christ at a church-sponsored event for college students. I look forward to the day when I can meet him in person and thank him for the seeds he planted on that day.
• An overwhelming sense of gratitude that my son and other teenagers from our youth group would give up their Spring Break to serve others when in reality, they could be doing some of the things I did over Spring Break in my college years!
• An even greater sense of gratitude for those who have devoted their lives to full-time mission work.
• A reminder that this world is bigger than the little bubble we live in…and the needs are greater than we can comprehend.
• A sense of amazement that God allows us the awesome privilege of playing a part in His kingdom purposes…for His glory and name’s sake.
• A prayer that my son is forever changed. He already had a tender heart for the things of God before he left, so I’m praying his heart has been ignited to continue serving in the years to come.
• A burden to personally become more involved in missions. As a result of Hayden’s trip to Thailand, our family is making plans to go together on one of the trips our church is planning for next year.

“I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:40)