I’ve discussed this topic before, but it’s fresh on my mind given that I just returned from a mission trip again. I went to Diamond Willow Ministries in Central South Dakota. It is located on the Crow Creek Reservation which at the last census was in the poorest county in the entire nation!
I cannot express to you how awesome it is to go and serve people on a trip like this. I thoroughly enjoy it. I especially love the work projects. They are usually quite physically demanding and we usually put in a lot of hours because we have a certain amount of time to get the job done. This year we put in two complete heating and air conditioning sytems into the addition that is being built for their facility. The time just flies though, and the effort feels great.
It is so amazingly satisfying to do a project like that where you have absolutely nothing earthly to gain by doing it. The only thing you get is the personal satisfaction of having done it. I highly encourage everyone to do a project like this. Or maybe just volunteer at a local soup kitchen, or help with a Habitat for Humanity project. If you’re anything like me, you’ll become addicted to it. Incidentally, I wrote in my other blog about an interesting study that shows that those who give and volunteer actually are more successful in life. You should check it out. But don’t ever do it for that reason. Do it because it’s the right thing to do and because it just plain feels good.