FPC-Midland Belize Mission: Looking Back ... Will Smith

From  January 4-11, 2014, a team  from 1st Presbyterian Church-Midland will be traveling to the Central American country of Belize, and working with The Word at Work ministry. This will be an opportunity to reach out and share the gospel with the people of Belize while working side-by-side with the local community and The Word at Work staff on a much-needed construction project.

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Looking Back ... Will Smith

From Will Smith, Mission Team Member ...  

Belize Homework

The most important thing that I took away from my Belize trip was the breaking down of mission stereotypes. For too long I avoided mission work, because I struggled with knowing the “smart” way to give. Yes, I went on youth trips through the church, and I volunteered for local projects. But, I wasn’t comfortable with just handing stuff over to someone in need. Though it is not biblical in origin, I really like the proverb, “Give a man a fish and he eats for a day, but teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime.”

The Word at Work has completely embraced the “teach a man to fish” strategy. With every ministry the WAW was involved in, you could feel the pride and ownership that the people participating felt for their position. The children’s home had helped raise funds for their new buildings, the sewing ministry taught the workers a trade while they were earning income, and the church in El Progresso was funded and built by the community. The fact that they had sold a crop of potatoes to raise money for the foundation blew me away.

Most of the construction work is done by the community. We were just serving as the support team. I did a lot of carrying and heavy lifting, but the actual craftsmanship was done by the church members and their neighbors. As I mentioned above, I have been on smaller youth mission trips where we served others, and the focus was our own character building. However, I cannot recall the name of a single person that I helped on those trips. While working alongside the people of El Progresso, I was able to forge relationships that I hope last forever.

I now plan to do more mission work in the future, and I am glad that my view of true mission has changed. I definitely plan to return to Belize in the future.

The 2014 Belize Mission Team from 1st Presbyterian Church, Midland, Texas

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