Serving Together: Our annual mission trip

A lot of our readers have been asking about the trip to Central America that we just took with the SWO staff. Every year, we take our kids to Honduras to work in an orphanage that is home to 600 children. The kids range from newborn to 18 years, and our kids have learned a lot through these annual trips. In fact, I would say that Little and I have learned a lot through these trips.

I have the opportunity to speak a good bit on the subjects of marriage and family, parenting, biblical manhood, leadership, etc. I also have a lot of opportunities to speak at missions conferences. I often challenge parents to consider taking a family missions trip in the place of an annual vacation. We live in such a material-driven world. We live in such a material-driven CHURCH. If we can break away from the commercialism of America and serve others and teach our children to do the same, then God will honor it. He will grow our families. He will give our kids a vision and passion for the nations and for people who genuinely NEED Jesus. As a parent, giving our children these opportunities is very important. I could go on about this topic, because I am so passionate about it. But I want to make the challenge simple. I want the Lord to challenge you to consider exchanging a typical vacation for a life-changing trip with eternal implications.

I can tell you that when you serve together as a family, things change. Dynamics change. Futures change. When your week together is more about feeding hungry children than it is about feasting at a seafood buffet, things change. When you trade in beachfront lodging for a sleeping mat in a third world orphanage, things change. The first time you look into the eyes of your son or daughter as they look into the eyes of one who is fatherless, things change.

It isn’t that difficult, and we can help point you in the right directions. Opportunities abound. But you only get one chance to raise your children.