Dominican Republic #5: Lasting Impact

Even if you have never watched the episode of Mr. Bean in which he sends Christmas cards to himself and then acts excited when he opens them and displays them in his apartment, you would probably agree that it is an odd thing to do.  At the end of last week, though, I received a letter in the mail that I had indeed written to myself.  On January 30, at the airport on our return flight from Dominican Republic, our team leader handed out paper and envelopes so that we could record some of our impressions about the trip and how we had been changed or challenged to live or act differently as a result.  We were told that nobody else would read the sealed letter but that it would be sent back to us 3-4 months after the trip as a reminder.
 
Some of the impressions I included in this letter were as follows:

• The best investment for the poor is education so that they can become leaders.
• I need to stop answering questions that are not addressed to me.
• What a great deal we can do when we work together; stop being a lone ranger.
• I felt a sense of connection to the teams before and after as well an American team that was building churches and stayed at the same guest house as we did.
• I felt a burden to pray for missionaries more fervently.

Two commitment arose from this trip, which I both wrote in the letter and have begun to do:

• Give greater priority to missionaries/mission work in the charitable donations my husband and I make.
• Offer free editing to a seminary student for whom English is a second language.  A talent I had previously used only as a source of income can also be shared to help build up God's church worldwide.

"Establish the work of our hands for us--yes, establish the work of our hands."                                                                                        Psalm 90: 17b