Knee deep in the sewage of life
During this trip, my faith was expanded through seeing God’s ability to use people to touch the lives of others, even when things are not necessarily going well in their own lives. Our project for this year’s mission trip was to do some work to improve the septic system at the orphanage. This meant many hours of digging in sewage, oftentimes up to our knees.

Not a pleasant job
Also, during this year’s trip many of the members of our team were facing various life difficulties back home. This could be seen as a barrier to doing God’s work to the fullest on a mission trip. However, God worked through the life issues of our team members to show His love to the people we came to serve. These challenges can be viewed as similar in some ways to the septic system. Working with the septic system was not a pleasant or an easy job. We got sore, we got dirty, we got tired, and we often wanted to quit, but through all this, we completed the job with joy, knowing that it would help the orphanage tremendously and knowing that it was a project that had needed to be completed for a long time.

Want to quit trying?
Likewise, with all of the issues life throws at us, it is not always easy or enjoyable to focus on helping others. We often feel that we cannot focus on the needs of others when we have many of our own needs. We get tired and overwhelmed, and perhaps want to quit trying. We feel that our lives are full of “filth” and “sewage.” However, God can use us even in these times. He takes the problems we are having and works with them to touch the lives of others.

God can use “filthy” lives
As a team we were able to bless the orphanage by working knee-deep in sewage. We were also able to reach out in love to the Mexican children and staff, even though many of us were overwhelmed with issues in our own lives. This is a good reminder and lesson to all of us, that when we feel like we are knee-deep in the sewage of life, God is still able to use our lives, as “filthy” as they may be, to show His love and grace to others. We just need to be willing to let Him.

-Danielle W, Puyallup, WA