Afterwards

Coming home after a mission trip overseas can be an incredibly frustrating experience.

First off, in the case of our recent trip to Asia, you are dealing with some significant physical exhaustion, jet lag, sleep deprivation and diet change. My stomach is in disarray since I landed in Los Angeles. It always happens to me after returning to the U.S. I don't get sick while on the trip but I do after the trip. Go figure.

Then there is a problem of communication. Already, it seems that the interest in this blog has dropped exponentially. It is expected. I am not complaining, it is just a fact. In fact, we were blessed to read the comments all of you left on the blog. They were like medicine to a weary soul, to quote a famous proverb.

But the problem of communication is not just related to the blogsphere. Our hearts are full of impressions, stories to tell, God moments, close calls, human suffering, heroic sacrifice, demonstrations of humility, selfless giving. People stop us in the hallway and say two things: "Glad you are home," which is great, and "How was your trip?" Now the second one is the one that always gets to me. Because people expect a ten second version of a two week trip packed with emotions from here to high heavens.

So here is my ten second answer:

1. I was very humbled by all the staff who work sacrificially to rescue children at risk in SE Asia. I would be blessed to learn at their feet on earth or in heaven;
2. I was very proud to be representing a church that is doing something concrete to rescue children who were destined to a life of desperation or no life at all;
3. I will never refer to the children who are in our homes in Battambang and Thailand as "orphans" anymore. They are no longer orphans. They have been adopted into the family of God. They are royal princes and princesses now, destined to change the world for God;
4. I can never forget that for every child rescued there are thousands who are still trapped by the evil claws of exploitation, sordidness and sinfulness. If every family unit in our church gave $35 per month to rescue at risk children, our church alone could rescue at least 230 more children for God.

So there it is, my ten seconds worth...

Pastor Ivanildo C. Trindade
itrindade@woostergrace.org