There have been many events and people that have shaped me into the person that I am today. one of the most powerful events was two years ago when I went on a missions trip to Belize. This trip was very important in the shaping of the way that I looked at life. I am pretty sure that anybody who has ever gone on a missions trip knows that their perspective on life changes, especially the first trip. I left thinking that I was going on a paid vacation and was going to transform the lives of many. I was greatly mistaken, my life would never be the same after that trip.
We arrived in Belize and were supprised how nice it was, minus the hot and humid weather, it was a very beautiful area. The people were welcoming and spoke english. It seemed like a very comfortable place to be. Then we got on the bus. It took me far away from where I wanted to be, A small village outside Belize City. We stayed at a missionaries house on the floor of a run down restaraunt in the back yard.
This trip helped me recognise several things. First the obvious, there are really places that are much less fortunate than America. Children are born into homes where food is scarce, drugs are being sold, and parents abandon them. Looking around Belize and meeting people, shocked me, not because of the poor living situations, because of their positive attitudes. We visited several churches and met many members. The people that lived there were happy, they were easy to talk to and did not bother with the irrelivant details. They were focused on God, as opposed to me at the time who was focused on myself. I would think that focusing on myself would allow me to make myself a better person and be happy, thats not the case at all.
Ever since that missions trip that time has been engrained im my mind because of their attitudes. I want to have that kind of attitude, one that people will look back years later and say, ” oh ya, Charles put others before himself.” or, ” Charles did not value anything except God and relationships.” I did not expect my trip to Belize to transform me in this way, but God has a plan for my life and I am excited to see how He will continue to transform me into the person He wants me to be.
