Reflections on our Mission Trip to Alaska

After driving over 11,000 miles my daughter, Hubby and I are finally home. (More on our return trip is on my personal blog at www.youvebeenreviewed.net) The rest of the team returned via air. They've been home for a couple of weeks now.

As I type this I am sitting in my living room. A glass of unsweetened iced tea sits by the computer. My daughter's dog is peering in the window begging to be allowed inside. From my daughter's room the quiet tones of flute practice dance in the air. The sun is setting. Soon it will be dark. The effect is a little surreal.

On the mission trip ice was often not included with drinks. While we could get unsweetened tea most of the time, the sweet variety (known as the house wine of the South) was as nonexistent as the stars in the sky.

That's right. Stars. This time of year there is no real darkness in Alaska. The sky goes from the pinks and oranges of a spectacular sunset to the medium blue of twilight. The sky quickly lights up again with the pink hues of sunrise. It simply didn't get dark enough for stars - or the moon that I can recall.

It is the experience itself that will always stay with me. There were a few defining moments. These included the look on my daughter's face when the ground shook beneath her feet for the fist time. It was her first earthquake.

Then, there was the moment when she was complimented for her caulking skills. She had never held a caulking gun before. That was another first. The trip held several more firsts for her as well.

But mostly, the missions trip gave her (and us) a chance to learn about ourselves. It is one thing to proclaim that you love Christ enough to follow him. It is another thing to actually do it. Mission trips move you from comfortability to reliability so that you can more fully depend on God.

You become a mission team member so that you can help others. In the process of helping you find yourself coming to terms with who you are in Christ and why you should help others. You gain new understandings and new visions of what God can do and is doing.

And that, my friends, is why you should experience a mission trip. You can hear about a trip but until you participate, you are only receiving half of the blessing. And oh, how sweet that other half is!

In Him,

Gayle Crabtree