"What could I ever contribute to a mission trip? After all, I'm a "new" Christian. How could I reach farther than just swinging a hammer or waving a paintbrush? I soon learned that my "selfulness" isn't necessarily defined by my knowledge of The Bible. I have other tools that God has led me to use. An outgoing personality, for instance. But even more important is how my past can help heal and influence others."

"The children's smiles, their laughter, the many hugs and kisses - these are things you have to be there to see, hear and feel. Because of obligations at my job, which came up at the last minute, I almost decided against going. I would have missed all that God had in store for me if I had listened to my head and not my heart."

"The reason for going is more than for what I can give. The reason for going is very selfish-it is for what I get out of it. It is in seeing how God works to make the trip possible. It is in the smile of a child. It is in seeing a church completed and the church full and brimming over at the dedication service for the new building. It is in the bond of love in the group that works together. It is spending an hour or more with a group of girls trying to communicate in each other's language until an 11-year-old girl can say in English what she has been trying so hard to say, "I love you, Karen." And that is only the beginning.

"What a blessing it is to be able to go."