Saturday, August 5
Then I heard the Lord say “Whom shall I send? Who will be my messenger?” I answered, “I will go! Send me!”
- Isaiah 6:1.
You might be thinking: Who, me?
What was I thinking when I made the decision to go to El Salvador this
year? Jim, Dean, and Jason have been on
this trip before, but not me. But why
are they going back? It’s hard work, a
lot of sweat, maybe some blisters and a sore back.
Our El Salvador Mission Trip
is a major step in service as we fulfill the Lord’s command to love our
neighbors and put God’s words of love into action. You will experience joy in traveling with a
group from our home base, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, to form a partnership
with our southern neighbors to build decent, durable homes for them. This trip gives us the opportunity to share our
love and see what we can do together. Loving
one another is important. People are
different but we are all children of God.
You may not be able to have a conversation with our friends in El
Salvador but a touch, a thumbs up, or a big smile all go a long way. The folks you
will be working with have huge hearts of love. Do things humbly and sincerely with an open
heart, and everyone will be paid back in many ways.
Let us pray.
We thank and praise you dear
Lord for bringing us all together in one place to do your work. Prosper the work of our hands this week, O
God. May your work and your will be done
in us and through us while we are here in El Salvador. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Sunday, August 6
Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and
prosper for us the work of our hands.
-
Psalm 90:17
“Can you give me a hand?” We ask when we need assistance. You might hear it when a test is given to a
student, or when someone has nothing to eat, or maybe, just maybe, when in El
Salvador to help build someone a home.
The psalmist knows that for
our energies and efforts to grow and prosper, we need to know the fullness of
God’s blessing and favor, we need to be doing God’s work, not following our own
desires. Before this psalmist asks for
God’s prosperous blessing, a prayer is offered:
“Let your work be manifest to your servants” (verse 16). We pray that we might know God’s
work, and we ask that it might be done in and through us. We strive to live out our prayer, “Thy will
be done.”
The ELCA logo contains this
phrase: “God’s Work, Our Hands.” It’s a
commitment to discern God’s will in the world and the work God calls us to
do. It’s a call to get our hands busy
doing God’s work in our daily lives.
Let us pray.
We thank you once again
Father for giving us the opportunity to celebrate and praise you with the people
of El Salvador. Be with
us as we set out Monday to make our hands busy in building new homes for
these friends here in El Salvador. In
Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Monday, August 7
On Mission Match Sunday in
2015, when we raised money for the trip with the help of empty tomb, Jason
Fisher was asked by Barbara if he could say a few words regarding his
experience in El Salvador. He chose the
a reading from Luke 10: 1-11, and expanded on the words:
“Going out two by two”
“The harvest is rich but the
workmen are few”
“Carry no bag, or sandals”
“Whatever home you enter
first say ‘Peace be to this house’”
“Eat and drink what they
provide for you”
Jason mentioned “dust” in a different
way than the Bible describes kicking the dust from one’s sandals, but the story
sure hit home. Our dusty work will be as
hard as we expected, but the home we help build for our El Salvador friends
will be a lasting memory. As scripture says,
“The Kingdom of God has approached you”.
This will be for us more than what we give.
Jesus sent the disciples, 70
of them in pairs, to tell of the good news.
We may not be able to say the words because of the language barrier, but
we can certainly act it out by the love we show to these new friends.
Can you imagine Jesus’
closest friends coming to your door with the good news of the gospel and
showing their love for you? What an
exciting moment! We are all children of
the Heavenly Father and we must show the love He has for us to others.
Let us pray.
God, when you send us to
places unknown, help us to know your presence in all we say and all we do. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
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