The End

The end, I've found, has many angles, and they're all double-sided. Most people talk about ends from a hindsight view, which makes sense because most of the ends we experience don't let us know just when they're coming.

But, from the day we started this mission, the end date was clear. So now, I get the rare opportunity to write to you from the other side of the end--staring down the barrel of it, so to speak.

We leave in 5 days. It's hard for me to imagine it, but it's also easy for me to appreciate it. Every smile from my friends that I read with means that much more to me, and I'm always filled with an urge to leave them with something that lasts.

That's what this mission was about I think: reaching the end in a way that it leaves a legacy in everyone involved.

Maybe that's a bit dramatic--it certainly felt a bit dramatic to write--but I also think it's true.

From my experience, we don't often talk with each other about our dreams, our struggles, or how to make the world and ourselves a better. Here, we do that everyday.

We've had quite a share of trials while we've been here. Tragic and troubling things have happened in the lives of the members of the church, our readers, and even our team. I can't say that the end of our mission has also brought the end of the pain and worry of these events, but I can say that no one had to experience them alone.

From the start, we've been trying to love, as God does. Without faith, that would seem impossible, but we do believe.

And they do say practice makes perfect.

We're not perfect, all of us here, but we are making progress, and that makes me smile. Without a doubt, we've all grown closer to each other by the grace of God and by patient dedication to His Word each day.

What surprises me most, everyday, is how beautiful every person I meet is, and--even more--how beautiful Jesus Christ is. I think now, at the end, it's easier to see than at first.

That's the beauty of the end though. You get to reap what you've sown.

And, if you're given the wisdom, you can turn an end into a legacy.



We leave for home on the 28th of June. Please pray for our safe travels and the hearts and lives of the people we will leave behind. Thank you so much for all of the prayers and kindness that you've given to me and the rest of the team.

Peace.