Opinion/Resources/Interview/Teen Perspective

By Teen Opinion Contributor Maggie VerDught

Photos: Deposit

Happy July! I can’t believe summer is almost halfway over!

Last week, I went to Detroit, Michigan, with our team for my final mission trip in our youth group’s program. If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you may remember when I wrote about the lessons I learned from our Portugal mission trip. Here, I want to delve into what I learned from this trip!

I read The Chronicles of Narnia books many years ago, but I have watched the wonderful movies much more recently. In the second film, Susan and Peter visit Narnia for their second and final time. It is bittersweet and very special. Aslan says to Lucy (not in this context but still relevant) at one point, “Things never happen the same way twice, dear one.” This is precisely how I felt throughout the entire week; everything was entirely different, yet God revealed himself to be unchanging and faithful still. I learned some similar lessons to those which I learned in Portugal, but the way in which God exposed my sin was different. I ended up feeling like Susan and Peter at the end, saying a poignant, forever goodbye to this experience.

What we did

Within our team there were five smaller groups, called “house groups” — two boys groups, and three girls groups. However, two of the girl groups (including mine) were together for most of the week. We drove everywhere together in the van, and roomed in the same Airbnb house, which created a lot of time to enjoy one another and build stronger relationships. It also created its own set of challenges, which I learned a lot from and will explain more fully in a bit.

Our team spent most of the time in Dearborn, which is a community within Detroit, populated by many Middle Eastern people. Monday was the orientation day; we did a scavenger hunt to learn from and interact with people in the area. For the next few days, the team was split into our smaller house groups. We did yard projects for refugees in the area, eating lunch with them and hearing their stories. I loved it.

On Thursday night, we held a barbecue dinner with people from the church community, as well as other Muslims and the refugees we had served. It felt like the beautiful culmination of everything we had done. 

Friday was a wrap-up of random cleaning projects and beginning to debrief everything we had learned over the course of the week. The next morning, we went to the beach in West Michigan for a fun half-day of resting and continuing to process what we learned. Then, we went home.

My fear and God’s response

One of my early reservations that I harbored in my heart against this trip was thinking that we would not make strong connections with the refugees or church community. After all, we were only there for a day, working in their yard and then leaving — we might see them again at the barbecue, but that was it. Nothing else.

God worked in my heart and slowly revealed to me that it is okay, and even right, to make very short-term connections with others. It can still leave a huge impact. 

I was also expecting to be very disappointed with the language barrier. Most of the people at the barbecue were Afghani, and I don’t speak Dari or Pashtu. (I learned a few words eventually, though.)

Language is life and love. I love language, and learning new languages, and I know the profound importance of speaking someone else’s heart language in order to truly connect with them. But I underestimated how, in this case, the actions we were doing spoke louder than the words we could not speak in their mother tongue. God is greater than a language barrier, and He works in ways we would never expect. That was a common theme of the week.

Speaking of language — I prayed a little prayer before this trip, expecting it not to happen. I asked God for a chance to speak Spanish to someone, because I am fluent, and I love it so much. I love connecting with people through words! God in His kindness allowed me to meet a very sweet teenage girl at the barbecue, who speaks four languages: English, Dari, Pashtu, and conversational Spanish. We were able to have a casual conversation in Spanish, and it was lovely. Later that night, I met a first-grade teacher who teaches an all-Spanish class! Again, I was able to speak Spanish and connect with her. Another answered prayer and a beautiful experience.

My sin and challenges on the trip

The biggest things I learned on this trip, unlike in Portugal, happened with our team.

I am a very emotional person. At home, I am able to rely more on my family to be understanding and meet certain emotional needs that I may have. For example, if I am sad, I may take a walk with my mom to fully express how I’m feeling. (She understands me more than anyone on this planet.)

Many of the girls in our two house groups have health issues. Some of them were dealing with intense physical pain during the trip, which was hard, because I wanted to support them but didn’t always know how. Several of the girls in both of our house groups are also in serious dating relationships. Due to these things, and the initial fact that we all come from different families, schools, and backgrounds, it was really challenging for me at times. I struggled with my own emotions, feeling unseen, unloved, and useless. I couldn’t express myself in the way I would at home. Our youth pastor says this a lot: “Your feelings are valid, but they do not define what is true.” That was important to remember during those times.

I was jealous, compared myself to others, and criticized others throughout the week. I allowed my sinful emotions to win, wallowing in sadness, anger, and disappointment. I watched myself develop a grudge against several people, only to have to ask God for forgiveness and help to tear down the wall I had built in sin. I was and am still imperfect.

BUT GOD — The last two hours of our drive back to my home state, my friend (we’ll call her Mia) and I talked. In fact, she was one of the people I had been jealous of and angry with for several small reasons. I asked her how she was doing, because she was experiencing an awful headache. Mia, who loves God’s Word and has memorized a lot of it, started talking about dependency on God. She explained how God’s allowance of this “thorn in the flesh,” her health issues, has pushed her to depend even more on Him. Mia talked about 2 Corinthians and how God’s grace is sufficient for us in weakness, so that we may boast all the more gladly in Him, because it is He who does any good work that comes from us. We both cried together.

This is one of the lessons I learned in Portugal. Yet I learned it in a new way during this trip in Detroit. God’s power is made perfect in weakness. I am weak, but He is strong. God will bring me through the valley that comes my way, for my good and for His glory.

Conclusion

I pray this article has encouraged you in some way, as a reminder of the truth. May we trust God fully, and surrender our lives to Him with open hands!

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But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

2 Corinthians 12:9 (ESV)

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Maggie VerDught is a high school student who enjoys learning about culture, news, and politics.

She is passionate about sharing the truth, especially with her generation. Maggie loves to run, read, and write poetry in her spare time.

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