Betsy

This wasn’t my first missions trip.  It wasn’t the longest one, or the farthest from home I’ve been.  It wasn’t the first time I’ve seen children run dusty dirt roads without shoes on.  It wasn’t the first time I’ve seen homes that I can’t imagine even spending one night in.  In so many ways, the Dominican Republic looks no different than places I’ve been in Zimbabwe.  It even, in some cases, resembles places in the US.  But there are so many things that will always make the DR stand out in my mind. 

            God is at work in a mighty way in this country.  The outpouring of His spirit is evident, from the smiles of children’s faces to the prayers and praise of adults during church services.  Amidst the children’s ministry and manual labor and dramas, it has hit me that I needed this country—it’s people, it’s passion—more than it needed me.  I’m not the first person, nor the last, to have come to the DR and danced and played with children.  I’m not the first person to have painted a house or moved some dirt.  I’m humbled by this experience in so many ways, and I have a feeling of smallness, of being a part of something much larger than myself. 

            I can’t say that God has shown me things I’ve never experienced before this week.  But I can say that He has used this week to speak to me.  Not in a loud, booming voice, but in a quiet whisper, heard in the moments that I step back and watch this team minister, or when I’m praying in the morning.  With murmurs that ask gently “come back to me, make more time for me, live a life completely devoted to me.”  And I can’t help but to respond and obey. 

            -Betsy Gettis