My husband Chris and I are going with a group from our church to Haiti in about three weeks. Honestly, it has crept up on me! I am really looking forward to this trip (and not just because my kids are staying behind!) I will miss them incredibly, yet I am looking forward to being able to do ministry with each of my hands free and without the constant pull of someone needing “mommy”.

Don’t get me wrong, this trip will not be a vacation. It is going to be full of long, hot days. We will be doing some construction as well as hosting a vacation Bible school for 250-400 children!

We have been talking to our kids about our trip and have used one of our Family World Vision Nights to focus on Haiti. Operation World has a great website, where you can look up information and prayer requests for each country. We watched this 2 minute prayer video as a family and spent some time praying for Haiti and our time there.

Then we hopped on over to World Vision’s Gift Catalog and picked out our giving for the month. There are many options where your gift is “multiplied”. So, for $25 we were able to provide $100 worth of food to help children and families still in need after the earthquake. I love that World Vision will send you a card for your gift. This is a fun visual for our kids. I wish I had started this earlier, but I have recently started to keep the cards and hang them up for the kids to see as a reminder of how we can be part of taking the good news of Jesus to the world, through our giving and our prayers.

I long for our kids to have a vision for the world. I want them to know that they are incredibly blessed. I want to give them opportunities to see the needs of the world and to serve the Lord through bringing aid to the needy. For now, their involvement is through a computer screen and their prayers, but I look forward to when they are old enough to go and serve alongside of us. I love the idea of taking a family vacation to go on a mission trip!

Would you join me in praying for Haiti, and our upcoming trip?

• For open, receptive hearts.
• For endurance through the hot days and good rest in the evenings.
• Safety in flying, then on the boat to the island we will be serving on.
• For the team in Haiti who are preparing everything for our arrival.
• For many children to meet Jesus through the VBS we will be doing.
• For the follow-up efforts after we leave, that many would be plugged in to the local church and into discipleship relationships.

How are you engaging your family in world missions? I would love to hear any ideas you have, as we continue to involve our children in “going” to the nations!