AIM Newsletter | Restoring Sight and Representing Christ

In this month’s newsletter:

Sight to the Blind | Nick Hindes

Nick Hindes is leading a Real Life team in Kenya.  Earlier this month, he and his team met seventy year old man from the Maasai tribe.

… My team came in contact with Mussa, a member of the Masai tribe located in the Rift Valley.  Upon first glance, one could assume he has trouble with his legs as he uses two very short walking sticks to stabilize his movement.  If you looked into his eyes, you could see the cloudiness hindering his natural sight.  Yet, what is not so evident, is the frustration and bitterness for his current plight.

You see in about 1997, Mussa was an alcoholic.  He and a multitude of others drank beer that at the time, did not meet regulations and was, for all intents and purposes, tainted.  Everyone who consumed this tainted beer died, that is, except, Mussa.  He was cursed with blindness, at least that is his general sentiment.

This instant disability sparked him to accept Christ, but not for his love and grace.  He accepted out of fear, anger, and bitterness.  In short, he was being punished for what he did so he felt he needed God in order to keep away the flames of hell. 

What was not so evident was that this bitterness was brewing inside of him as a stronghold; in fact, the bitterness was coupled with anger and hostility so he felt no freedom.  He wanted to be free but couldn’t let go of the “wormwood” that was poisoning his bones…

We’re sending college-aged young adults to Central America, East Africa, East/South/Southeast Asia, and South America to address the issues of orphans, poverty and trafficking while being the hands and feet of Christ.

Click for the opportunities for this spring and summer!

Adult & Family Trips

Short-term missions isn’t just for youth – you can fulfill the Great Commission at any age!  Consider going on a missions trip – for as short as three days – with members of your church, your Bible study group or your family.  You can also join a team of adults, too.

Click to see opportunities for adult groups, adult individuals and family groups.

 

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Field Stories

This month, we’re featuring stories from high-school students sent in teams overseas from this past summer.

Healing! | Clarissa Hoskison

This story happens before the team set foot in Jamaica:

Going into the trip, I was worried about eating the food of the locals and at training camp because I am highly lactose intolerant.  I knew I would have to eat a lot of foods that I would get sick from due to the dairy, and that frightened me quite a bit.  I tried my best to stay away from the food with milk products in it while at training camp, but sooner or later, I ended up having tomato soup…with lots of cream in it…

Luckily, I hadn’t had a lot, but I knew I would still get sick.  I was looking forward to the next night being sick in the port-a-potty.  I started to freak out, which is an understatement, so Connie [Rock]… came over and asked my team to come over and pray over me…

That night, I didn’t get sick.

The team to Uganda had limited access to the internet; as a result, their notes were compiled into one blog post.  Here’s what Morgan had to say:

Before coming on this trip I read a lot of books about poverty, watched movies about human trafficking, and heard news stories about corrupt officials.  I knew many statistics and facts about issues plaguing our world. However, since being in Uganda, the issues have become personal.

God had previously broken my heart for the hungry and for the victims of injustice, but there’s nothing like being in the middle of all the brokenness.  My heart is shattered at a new level when I sit with a child as they tell me about his parent dying from AIDS.  I have to hold back tears while listening to a girl tell me she was brutally raped.

I was broken when our team’s friend Jimmy was beaten trying to cross the border back into Uganda from Kenya.  The police were unjust and greedy and had no right to do what they did to him.  Injustice and poverty now have faces for me.

I feel God calling me to spend my life changing the world. However I no longer think changing the world as one big task, but as reaching out to individuals one at a time.

Things Aren’t Always What They Seem | Mason Mangum

What I have learned from this trip is that a lot of times things do not seem as they appear.  Like Scotland, for instance; when you think of Scotland most people think of the beauty of it, but after living here you see things that are not so beautiful, like paper and bottles on the side of the road.

You have to look deep sometimes to see these things though.  You have to look under the beauty.  Under the beauty, you see the things you would not expect from such a beautiful place…

One of the participants wrote this post of doing VBS in Bolivia:

Despite language barriers, each of us has had one kid to a gaggle of children trailing our every move and trying to get their hands in ours as often as possible.  Most of these children wore the same clothing every day and had on flip-flops in extremely cold weather.  I’m so glad we were able to spend time with them and maybe brighten a few of their days as well as share a message of God’s love.

Just spending time with these kids and seeing our surroundings has been such a learning experience for me.  Our lives in America are not normal.  Red brick two-story houses decked out with modern amenities are not normal.  We’re so blessed.  It’s absurd…