Electrifying Mission Trips - Our Story!
My wife and I chose this title for several reasons.
The first is that my wife was on the mission field for about eleven years, so mission work is very dear to her, as it is to me. The second is that it's related, in a way, to what I have done for forty years of my life. I worked as a construction electrician. Then one day, after walking bone on bone for six years, I had to have both knees replaced. The knee replacement operation along with three missing discs in my back, pretty well ended my career as an electrician. The wife and I had planned on becoming short term missionaries, when I retired, anyway. We had hoped to do it a couple of years after we married. But that never happened because of health issues and retirement age restrictions. The fact is, only after I was declared "totally disabled", three years ago, were we able to make our first mission trip. The third reason is the joy and excitement we've found in being able to use the God given talents we have, to help some of His chosen servants on their mission fields. When my life's work was taken from me, it was quite a devastating blow. I was one of those rare people who actually enjoyed working. In fact, I loved to do my job! So the truth is, I was almost in a state of depression until God opened a new door for me to use my abilities. We'll be sharing the details of how he's done that on future pages, but as we've been sharing,the Lord has given us electrifying mission trips in more ways than one. The fourth reason we've found our trips electrifying has been seeing the excitement of those we're able to help. We've met many people in our travels. Everywhere we go they are so grateful for anything we can do to help them. The fifth reason we find them electrifying is the appreciation we have for our country, when coming back home after being gone for two to six weeks in another country that is much less developed than the USA. Just being able to take a decent shower is a real thrill, or going to the faucet for a drink of water, or going to the super market for groceries, or having a home with heat and insulation. It really makes us grateful for the blessings we've been given
Working in their churches really inspires us. The seventh and final, but perhaps the most thrilling and electrifying thing about short term mission trips is watching God provide what is needed to go on the trips. That may end up being a whole series of pages in itself. Although we intended to take these trips on a self supporting basis, the Lord had other plans. His ways are always best, as we are continually finding out. When He supplies, we are sure we are in His will. It has been amazing to see when, how, and in what ways He has done that. To us, there are many other things that are electrifying about mission trips. It sure beats sitting around doing nothing, as we've seen other "retired" people do! We look forward to sharing them with you on the pages of this site, so you can rejoice with us in God's blessings and provision. We also hope to provide useful information and tips for those who might like to plan some electrifying mission trips of their own. For example you might like to check out these free online Bible Studies. Of course we can't guarantee we agree with every thing you'll find on this site, but we can guarantee we agree with everything the Bible teaches. So we think it is great for you to study it regularly. One major reason we started this site is so that we could communicate with those who pray for us regularly without leaving our home church. We'll do that through our monthly e-prayer letter called "Tales of Thompsons' Trips. If you'd like regular updates about our work, it's the best way to get them. We'd love it if you'd make us a regular part of your web experience, but even if you're too busy to do that, we hope you'll take the time to pray for us regularly. We know that much of what we can accomplish will depend on your prayers.
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