Making a Difference
By Kyle Adamson

I share this story that you may have heard before to explain what I feel when going to Haiti. When you go into a third world country with so many needs, it is easy to be engulfed in guilt and wonder what one person can do for so many people who need assistance.
This is the second time I have been to Haiti in the past few years, but this trip was different. I was honored to go as a guest with One Mission Society. Joetta Lehman was our guide. We took 12 people from Center UMC in Indianapolis, Indiana, for a week to teach VBS to Haitian children. In the afternoons, we visited the medical complex, radio station, school, seminary, and heard incredible stories of helping the people of Haiti.
I was mostly moved by our team's personal devotions as well as the personal testimonies given by the missionaries. It is incredible the sacrifices they make to spend so many years outside of the U.S., but even more impressed with the joy they expressed in serving when and where God called them.
Following a week long mission trip such as this one is more meaningful for what we do after we get back than what we accomplished while there. The time we spent with the children each day and painting the school was important. However, we now have the wisdom God has shown us to better our lives and give back in ways that can help people for years.
We can learn by just observing and listening to the stories of people in other countries. They are not miserable because they lack many things and conveniences we have, but so many have great joy that we often lack. In Scripture God talks about the need to find Joy in Him versus the world. We saw this time and time again to know it is real!
The initial story told us that we cannot save whole groups of people at a time. We can share the Gospel of Jesus one at a time that brings joy to God. Personally, I am working to organize more mission trips to get more people involved. I will also work to get medicine from my field in pharmaceuticals to the medical complex on the OMS campus where the need is great. It may not seem like much, but one item at a time, one person at a time, I want to make a difference for the Kingdom of God.