“But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ- the righteousness that comes form God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so, somehow, to attain the resurrection from the dead.” Philippians 3:7-11
This trip to the Dominican Republic was the first trip I have ever been on that I did not miss my parents, my animals, and my bed. If you have known me for a while, you know that is huge. When I left on this trip, I did expected to feel outside my comfort zone in some situations, but I knew God had things greater than I could imagine in store for us. Though I didn’t sleep well and I took cold showers, those are not the things that come to my mind when I reflect on my time in the Dominican Republic. What I remember about those few short days, is the people that I met and the relationships we formed. You instantly love each other because you know that despite the language we speak that we are all in love with the sovereign God. The guitar playing, the sign language, the preaching, and the minor discomforts that many people associate with mission trips pale in comparison to the relationships that are made and leave a lasting impact on both sides.
My favorite part of each day was the time we all spent worshipping through song. It didn’t matter whether I was singing in English or Spanish in the midst of everyone else singing in Spanish, we were all glorifying God with songs from our hearts. The theme of the camp was “Passion for His Glory” and I think that our time of singing was the perfect example that so many Dominican Christians live with great passion.
While Passion for His Glory camp changed the lives of many Dominican teenagers, it changed my life too. God taught me that nothing in this world compares to living with a selfless passion for God and experiencing His Glory through our worship of Him. God used these few days to call my heart to the Dominican Republic and give me a desire to serve Him and pursue His Glory there. And like Paul says in Philippians, everything else seems like rubbish when we think about the surpassing greatness of knowing Jesus Christ our Lord and living our lives though faith in Christ.
