Flexibility

Northwestern and Bryan students pray for the men of the Lighthouse Mission Friday.

One word you hear a lot on mission trips is "flexibility."  It's sort of the "Jesus" answer to any situation on a mission trip.  Where are we stopping for lunch?  Let's be flexible.  Will I get a hot shower today?  Be flexible...you might.  We're out of peanut butter again?  Flexibility.  That will solve your problem.

I think we tend to think about flexibility as it pertains to one another.  One person has to give in order for the other person to get.  But this week we have learned a lot about yielding to God's wishes, most notably in the fact that the Night On the Town event had to be cancelled due to bad weather.  Night On the Town is a yearly event that was to be held Friday night.  It brings youth groups from across Louisiana to raise awareness of homelessness and about the Lighthouse Mission, a shelter for homeless men in Opelousas.  Speakers and musicians share the Gospel in a concert setting at a high school football stadium and all the kids sleep overnight in cardboard boxes to raise money for the Lighthouse.  Last year the entire field was full to capacity and "overflow sleeping" had to be used.  The Lighthouse used the funds that were raised to build its own chapel for the men.

Throughout the week it was apparent that the weather may not allow for the event to take place, and by Thursday morning the decision was made to cancel the 2012 Night on the Town.  I was disappointed, not so much because I enjoy sleeping (or as the case was not sleeping) in a cardboard box for a few cold hours, but because of the experience that we would not have as a team and that the Lighthouse would not benefit from.  But again, the word flexible comes into play, and who better could we be flexible with than our Father?  Ultimately, I think flexibility is really just another word for sacrifice.  One thing that we have had to sacrifice has been expectations for how we think God will work.

Instead, some of us spent part of Friday morning visiting with the men of the Lighthouse.  The experience was one of the most meaningful of the trip for me, because it was one of the clearest examples of the body of Christ.  Broken people seeking wholeness in Christ; sinners humbled, but saints empowered to live righteously for God.  One man shared his testimony with me, showing how his relationship with Christ has physically altered the way he looked.  In a 2010 picture, this 46-year-old man looked like a man in his mid-60s.  To learn more about the Lighthouse, check out this www.olmission.org.

The rest of our day was spent working between the Blue House and the New Life Center, a shelter for women and children a few blocks away from the Hope for Opelousas Office.  Below are some pictures of  our friends in action, finally applying coats of pant after much sanding, scrapping and priming.

Our official work with Hope for Opelousas is completed, but we won't leave until early tomorrow morning to return home.  Today we get to enjoy a free day in Lafayette, a 30-minute drive south.  Please pray that we drink deeply of these relationships that we have been blessed by and through and that we would process this experience in the days ahead.

-Matt