A Rusty Old Gate
Builders International missionary, Jeremy Godwin, recounts his trip to Haiti last week where he led 50 teenagers from Florida.
“Our days are numbered and with it are numbered opportunities to do something significant! I always thought the most significant thing we could ever do is to leave something for the next generation that will impact generations to come.
However, a moment with fifty students in the sweltering heat of Haiti surrounded by hundreds of Haitian children and a rusty old gate in need of repainting, and that paradigm began to shift.
It’s not just what we do for the next generation that matters, it is also what we do with them that makes the greatest significance.
An incredible week of ministry with these students/team members was coming to an end. They had painted a school, constructed concrete bathrooms, and successfully ran a phenomenal kids program. Despite all that, as the minutes were ticking away, the entrance gate still looked atrocious!
A team of young girls with no previous painting skills suddenly jumped at the opportunity to make the first and last thing the children see as they enter and leave the school look special, just like the students who attend the school!
The only problem was they couldn’t reach the top and there were no ladders. With a get-it-done attitude, we came up with a way to fix the problem. Then for the next twenty minutes, a young team member stood on top of my shoulders where she put half the paint on the metal gate (while the other half dropped on my head!)
As we worked together, my thoughts went back to a prayer that I had prayed more times than I could count.
‘Lord, let my shoulders be the ones that the next generation can stand on to reach more than I could ever do on my own!’
The most significant thing we could ever do around the world is build places where people find hope alongside the next generation!”