Building A Chapel...Bonding Families

During college and medical school I went on medical missions to Malawi, Africa and Brazil. As there were no medical or missionary types in my family, they were eye-opening experiences. After residency, I started my medical practice, got married and had a family. I thought my next mission would have to wait until retirement.



Then last October, Pastor Jeff announced a “family mission” to the Dominican Republic open to kids 8 and older. My youngest would be 8 in the spring! That was a sign. All three of my children wanted to go, and they rarely agree. That was a sign. Then my husband expressed interest. Sign us up God…here we come!



My children gave their own $50 for the deposit. At times they complained they wanted it back, then they would get into donating competitions, each trying to out donate the other. They gave up Christmas money and helped plan and work many fundraisers in the ensuing months. Weston turned 8 and asked for donations instead of gifts and hardly complained.

The kids heard that the showers were cold, and that the food was different. The trip that originally sounded so interesting began to be a source of anxiety and now they wanted out. I wondered if we were doing the right thing as we stressed about the fundraising, packing, and planning. We began to pray about our worries each night.



Then we left.



During the prior months of planning and working together we had forged new and stronger relationships with the other families. On the trip I experienced true community as we parented, taught, and took care of each others children. We relied on and looked out for each other. We worked together to spread God’s word and create a new chapel for a community we didn’t know.



The last day of the mission, God spoke to me through each of my children. After we finished building the chapel, Weston sat on my lap and thanked me for bringing him. That night Samantha completed the survey for Time Ministries. On the question, what was your favorite part? She answered “everything.” And during our celebration dinner that night Sean said he wanted to stay another week and build another chapel. When we left on the mission, our family still had a significant deficit in our fundraising account. When we returned, Pastor Jeff notified us that because other families had raised extra support, our deficit was almost gone. All of our prayers answered, period.

-Erin Hurley

 

 

                            First Baptist website: www.fbcsalem.org