God Will Grow Whatever We Give Him

This January I found myself praying, "Jesus, make me a sheep. Baaah. Look Lord, I am a sheep. BaaaAAAHHHhhhh." It was a goofy prayer but I had become very concerned about Jesus' parable about the sheep and the goats found in Mt: 25, and I wanted Jesus to know for sure where I wanted to go. To my surprise I found myself volunteering several days a week at the Lamb Center in Fairfax two months later.

Commissioned by Christ introduced me to the Lamb Center, a day drop-in shelter for those experiencing homelessness, in November of 2018. I had just returned from Piura, Peru and I was facing the inevitable question, "How can you bring the mission experience home?" I didn't have many ideas so I decided to cancel my Netflix account and start volunteering with a service organization dedicated to the poor. I'd been to Bánica with CBC before and I knew it offered local missions on the weekends. CBC introduced me to the Lamb Center on a one-day Saturday mission trip and I signed up to be a volunteer from there.

I only volunteered occasionally for the first year whenever the Lamb Center needed a few fill-in volunteers on the schedule but that started to change this spring. Many regular volunteers needed to stay home to remain safe and healthy during the Coronavirus stay at home order. Meanwhile, local churches suspended worship, fellowship, and outreach services so Fairfax's vulnerable residents relied on the Lamb Center more and more. As I picked up more volunteer shifts at the Lamb Center I felt that God was saying, "This is where I want you right now. You will grow here."

The work appears simple. I wash clothes, fold towels, pour coffee and hand out sandwiches. Sometimes simplicity offers the best opportunity for love and trust and encounter because there's a lot of room for growth around each task. How much sugar do you like in your coffee? Which granola bar is your favourite? Do you prefer soap or body wash? What are you looking for in your next pair of socks? Each question reveals a little bit more about the person in front of you - their needs, their concerns - how they need to be loved.

It's been pretty rainy over the past few weeks in Virginia and when I listen to the rain part of me knows that a man I know by name is sleeping outside. I wonder if his socks are wet. He has material needs and I cannot provide for all of them. I also don't know enough, nor will ever know enough, to have the exactly perfect words to say to him. And I cannot stop the rain from falling. I have to trust God that the Lamb Center will cooperate with God's perfect plan of love, and that God will shelter my words so that I don't speak with insensitivity or become accidentally rude. The rain sometimes falls on the righteous but God can and will provide for all of his needs and mine.

Serving at home can also be a bit more challenging than serving overseas. Regular volunteer work means that I get to say hello to everyone I've met. When I cross the Lamb Center parking lot I sometimes get a smile or a wave from a guest waiting outside. I'm recognizable and I recognize those individuals we serve regularly. Encountering your neighbors means that you don't leave them behind in photographs and memories. You'll see them again and we are not anonymous.

I love overseas missions trips. I never thought I would have such a rich experience so close to home but it's hard to think of a better way to spend three months of quarantine. God has opened my eyes to the reality of the Gospel in practice and now I'm left with the same question I had at the beginning. How will I allow this experience to change me? Maybe that's a good question for all of us. What would we leave behind from this spring and what would we keep in our lives? Making one small change now can yield fruit next year and it doesn't matter how small our offerings are. God will grow whatever we give Him.

The Real Pearl of Great Price

This was my third trip to Bánica and I was hoping that it would be just as fulfilling. There is always that fear that I build this up to much in my imagination. This year’s trip again, exceeded my expectations.

This year we had a group of 6 which turned into a very intimate setting where we got to know each other at a much deeper level. Sharing our history, hopes and fears I feel a very close bond to each person.

Spending a week with people you really don’t know that well can be a challenge. However, everyone worked incredibly hard and was selfless at all times. At the end of the week I was inspired by the others which is a testament to what we were doing, why we were doing it and how it was to be done.

CBC and Michelle Haworth, in particular, have a recipe for prayer and works that everyone should experience.

While we did help put cement floors in a couple of homes to the great gratitude of the owners and work on a church, the most amazing element is the connection to the people.

Sitting with the deaf and mute boy for mass with his ear to ear smile that I was there with him; the two girls who took my hands to lead me through town for the St Anthony procession; the ladies who at the sign of peace embraced and kissed me with more passion than all but my wife; the peoples' incredible intimacy with each other and us missionaries, with a passion that could only come from the Holy Spirit.

The CBC mission trips are about prayer, love and connection. The good works are only a part of it. When you strip away the all data, video, audio and over scheduled lives, a new and deep connection can form with Christ and our fellow man. My interest in the people I shared my time with and our shared love of Christ is the real pearl of great price to me.

A Father and Daughter Volunteer Together in Banica

My daughter and I are currently on our first mission trip ever to Banica, Dominican Republic with Commissioned by Christ. We heard the call to do a mission trip one day in Mass when a priest from the Congo talked on about a orphanage in his country and how our parish could help. All things came together quickly and we found Commissioned by Christ and it has been something she and I have been working on for nearly a year. I have done a lot of service work with different groups but a lot of the times it is done with just helping out as the motivation. Christ is always my motivation when helping others but it is not always easy to convey this when working for other volunteer groups. That’s why with this mission it was finally a way we could do things for others in the name of Jesus Christ and his love for us. And we get to do it with other like minded people that have quickly become close friends and taught me so much in a short time.

I would also like to say that a lot of times benefit type of service work is a token, a simple and impersonal act. A lot of the time you wonder if you really did anything or worse, you wish you could have done more. This trip is exactly not that. From day one, every opportunity presented has been real and full of love inspired by our Savior Jesus Christ. Starting with our sharing a meal with two kids who wanted to eat in a chicken restaurant on our way to Banica. They ate and joined us. Just like Christ would have done. My mission job has been pouring concrete, again not a token soft gesture. We are real and working WITH real families all day in their houses, with their kids in their neighborhood. To help them, as well as ourselves, share this beautiful gift we have been given through the grace of God, our savior Jesus Christ.