Throughout the summer, we might travel more than usual, which will be the case for several groups in the church this month. Our children and chaperones will travel to Spartanburg, South Carolina for PassportKids Camp. Our youth and their leaders will drive to Greensboro, North Carolina for Passport Youth Camp. Each of them will reflect on the theme of “Do, Love, Walk,” reflecting on Micah 6:8, “And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
Along with our children and youth, members from our church will join with others on our annual mission trip to Brasil, which has been a long-standing partnership for thirty years. They will fly to Brasil in order to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God. It will be a chance to form friendships, serve others, and foster understanding, as they care for others and learn from them as well.
Taking a journey reminds us that God’s world is much bigger than our world. We are able to open ourselves up to the Spirit of God, which is found everywhere. It is reminiscent of the Mennonite prayer,
Jesus, you open us
To new life, new hope, new possibilities.
You conquer the way we close up, close down, and close in.
Jesus, lover of us all,
Open our hearts to feel Your compassion
For people we would rather walk by;
Open our ears to hear the cries of the suffering
Deep inside where we cannot fail to be moved;
Open our understanding to new ways of living
That do not diminish anyone;
Open our eyes to see a vision of this world
As You would have it.
As we journey to other places, or just throughout our daily lives, we can be mindful of the Spirit of God, which opens us to new ways of living. We can discover small ways to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God.
As these groups from the church make their journeys, we will remember them in our prayers. Our hope is that they will see more of God’s world, which always widens our world. We pray for the community they will build, the love they will share, and the grace they will experience.
– Tripp