24 Jul Broken, then Restored

Born and raised as a missionary and pastor’s kid, I always knew the answers to all the church questions. I knew what I needed to say to sound genuine and theologically correct.

And as I have grown more independent in the last years, I have carried that mindset with me in other areas of my life. In college, I am actively involved with numerous service and social justice activities. I often read articles and have discussions about what it means to do “healthy service.” By the time I arrived at Grace Church this summer, I had mentally attached a negative connotation to the idea of “church missions.” I had seen and personally experienced what it meant to have harmful mission trips.

I came into this summer uncertain what the ‘Culturally Engaged’ internship would look like. I had never personally been to Allendale, nor had I ever organized a mission trip logistically. So when I was told that Rachel and I were going to be working on the trips for most of the summer, I started feeling anxious. Honestly, I was skeptical at the idea that I could lead a mission trip. It was something I had placed intellectually lower on the “effective community development” totem pole (and yes, I realize now how pretentious this all sounds…). Yet even through my pride, I had a feeling that I needed to be working with CE this summer.

Day by day my doubts started to dwindle as I saw the full-time CE staff engaging their partners in Allendale. Our first initial planning trip to Allendale this summer really demonstrated to me this trip was more than a regular ‘short-term mission trip.’  Our conversations with our community partners, who I realized were more like family friends, opened my eyes to see how God was working through these trips. This wasn’t something Grace Church needed in order to check off the “missions” box on their “healthy church to-do list,” but it was something that was naturally growing and developing.

When we went on the first high school trip to Allendale this past June, God showed me the ways that He was working in the community and that His work is better than any model of community development. Not only was He working in Allendale through our work, but He was working in the hearts of the students and of the leaders on the trip. Whether it was teaching kids how to swim at camp, having conversations with people in the nursing home, or even singing “Colossal Roller Coaster” at VBS, God was working to strengthen and restore the relationship between two places that seem so different.

Through all of these experiences God showed me He wasn’t only restoring these communities, but He was also restoring my broken view of missions.

More than anything, healthy change can only happen when you place Jesus at the center, and that is something that I continue to learn this summer.

So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone – especially to those in the family of faith. – Galatians 6:9-10

– Michael Zuch, CE Kairos Intern