Life Changing

"for I was hungry and you gave Me food; for I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; for I was a stranger and you took me in" - Matthew 35:25 (NKJV) [emphasis mine]

You can read the same Scripture passage a thousand times, and it may come across the same way each time, until you live out its application. This was certainly the case with my recent short-term mission trip. Dover partnered with Corinth Baptist Church and The Hope Project to launch our first collaborative mission trip to Nicaragua. As one Body of Christ, we washed feet and gave out shoes. We fed, taught, and played games with children. We built and delivered bunk beds to families who were sleeping on dirt floors and on benches. We hosted a pastors’ conference, and through our interpreter, taught sound doctrine to local ministers. We secured, and helped pastors obtain water filters to fend off the prevalence of waterborne illness. We funded medicine for them and their families. Women were taught to crochet for both their own needs, and to sell to help support their families. Most importantly, we prayed daily (and will continue to do so) for these precious people and leaders in the second poorest country in the Western hemisphere.

As we served, my heart and mind took me, as it often does, to Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 25, verses 31 – 40. This is the proclamation of Jesus, who reminds His faithful followers, that “whatever you did for the least of these, you did for Me.” As we were delivering food, serving meals, and pouring drinks, I was stricken by a new revelation that I had not thought of before. Perhaps, I was the stranger who needed to be taken in.

You see, when I was young, I cared little about missions. I was more concerned with self than serving, and the least of these was the most distant thing from my mind. I was estranged from God, self-absorbed, and wandering off the path God wanted me to follow. It wasn’t until I hit my lowest of lows, that I cried out, and God took me in. He picked me up, washed off the dirt (and there was a lot of dirt), and restored my soul. He sent a mentor, who had also once been estranged, but who, like me, needed to be taken into the family of God and discipled, so that he might disciple others.

When I was in Nicaragua, I was also a stranger, and yet, the people invited me into their homes. The blessing of serving was far more beneficial for me than it was for them. The two words that describe it best are “life changing.” I pray that you might consider a life-changing mission trip, both for the least of these, and for yourself.

God Bless,

Arnold "Win" Davis

Executive Director of Missions

Note: If you are part of a church that may not currently be able to field a whole mission team or have always wanted to serve in short-term national and/or international missions, consider joining fellow Dover Baptist Association church members to be the hands, heart, feet and voice of Jesus. Mission Scholarships are available. For more info, email us at Dover.Info@doverbaptist.org.