Serving Beside My Children

This week, I am serving with UMARMY in Duncanville, and I am excited to be going on a mission trip again after a few years away.

Mission trips have been part of my story for a long time. I started going when I was in seventh grade. Later, I led mission trips for nine years as a youth minister. I also spent two years helping lead a local mission project for youth in Dallas. So, this week brings back a lot of memories.

But this one feels especially meaningful.

My youngest is attending his first mission trip, and I am excited to see how God uses this week to shape his faith. My oldest is attending her last youth mission trip before she heads to college this fall, which means I am also carrying a little nostalgia. It is funny how the same week can hold both beginnings and endings. Grace has a way of doing that.

As a pastor, I talk often about following Jesus. But this week, I am reminded again that following Jesus is more than the words we say or the beliefs we claim to hold. It is an embodied life. It is love with work gloves on. It is faith with sweat on its forehead. It is showing up in a neighbor’s life in ways that can change a community and change us too.

My prayer is that our youth discover a purpose and calling to serve their neighbors not just for one week, but throughout their whole lives. I pray the homeowners we serve experience renewed hope for the future. I pray they see, through the presence of our students and adults, that Jesus is real and that they are not forgotten.

Over the years, I have learned that God often shows up most clearly in the small conversations and relationships formed along the way. The projects matter, but so do the stories shared on porches, the prayers offered quietly, the laughter at the end of a long day, and the moments when someone realizes they are seen and loved.

So this week, I invite you to pray for our UMARMY team, for our youth, our adults, the homeowners, and the Duncanville community. Pray for the kin-dom of God to be experienced by all.

And maybe, as you pray for us, ask where God is calling you to put love into action, too.

With Gratitude,

Rev. Rodney Whitfield
Senior Pastor
Aldersgate UMC