In the life of a pastor you receive many blessings from God. They come in many forms. From words of encouragement to unexpected gifts. Baptisms and weddings are blessings as well, but none can compare to a mission trip. This mission trip was a blessing beyond compare.

St. Peter Lutheran Church and School in Macomb, MI joined with MOST Ministries to run an eyeglass clinic in Honduras. It had been three years since our congregation participated in a mission trip and it was our first with MOST Ministries. In total, St. Peter commissioned six individuals to serve on the trip; four of whom it was their initial experience serving in the field. With a lot of hard work, the entire congregation participated in making the trip a reality.

The first couple days of the clinic flew by and everything was working well. It was on the third day that I took a break from helping people and just stood and watched. That was when the Lord gave a treasured blessing to me. As a pastor you preach, teach, and try to live your life in a way that impacts others with the love of God. Every pastor wants to serve Jesus and encourage others to serve Him too. It is not every day that a pastor gets to see this happen. On that day, I watched as five people from St. Peter, joined with two people they never knew, to make a team. That team was working with interpreters to serve people they did not know and probably would never see again. While this was going on, one could see the love of God flow from the team members … to the interpreters … to the people in need of glasses. The smiles were overwhelming. The laughter was like music flowing through the air. Standing there, I knew I was observing the hand of God through the hard work and witness of many people. I saw the results of everyone who donated, gave a scholarship, participated in fundraisers, prayed and supported loved ones. This was the work of the Church (universal) coming together to help those in need just like Jesus appointed us to do. I felt so blessed as a pastor to be able to witness God changing lives and using the gifts and words He gave us. It is a tremendous blessing to watch what is preached and taught on Sunday in action.