Greg’s Pre-Trip Blog

This week I was contemplating the upcoming A2S Mission Trip to Benin City, Nigeria that we’ll take in late June and early July. As I thought about this trip which is less than a month away, the pressures of the day kept creeping in. Our family is in the midst of a multi-stage house move as we shuttle 5 young people 15 to 21 years of age between four locations within 2 weeks. In the midst of this, an international trip occurring next week that I committed to months ago now adds to the housing and logistics confusion. To put it honestly, I wasn’t “feeling it” for the mission trip.And then the past couple days, I started reading business proposals sent in to A2S by potential entreprenuers who want to compete in the Entrepreneur Incubator competition we are sponsoring in Benin City the first week of July. Through the pages of these handwritten applications came passion, hope, pride and belief. Many mentioned the hand of God guiding their motivation and their purpose. Through the crossed out and re-written cost projections, the detailed and incredibly practical marketing plans,the articulated passion for cooking, farming or design—you felt a future forming for these young men and women that they are continuing to shape. After reading only a handful of these proposals of hope—I couldn’t help but feel it. Really feel it.

We are going to Nigeria to serve. But God knows we are the one’s served. So much of what is real and good about this world waits for us in Benin City. Whether it is going face-to-face with these wonderful young entrepreneurs, the smiling and giggling children in our Afterschool Academy, or the 2,400 inspiring orphans and widows in the internal refugee camp that we serve—God is there. He is thumping us on the chest and reminding us to pay attention and remember why we are here.