Three months ago, a heart decision was made that can impact
and change his life this week, a decision to go to the Dominican Republic. How was that a heart decision? For those of
you that don’t know, hockey is my son’s life. Quentin laced up a pair of hockey skates on his third birthday, started
learning how to play the sport at the age of five and has never looked
back. Something about being on the ice
makes that boy’s heart beat. Given the
choice to do just about anything or be on the ice, 99.9% of the time the
ice wins without a question.
So how does hockey play into the role of his heart decision with going to the Dominican Republic? Last fall, our youth pastor Richard announced a mission trip for our high school juniors, seniors and college students to the Dominican Republic. This is the first ever overseas mission trip for our youth and college students at Castle Hills Christian Church in the nine years we have been there. In December, Quentin expressed his interest to go as he is a high school junior. In looking at the dates for the trip, there was a conflict, a pretty major one for him. The trip’s departure date was the same date as the championship finals for his hockey team.
Not knowing if his team would end up at the
championship games, I explained to Quentin the
level of commitment the trip had to be if that was his choice of the two. Wanting him to make the decision from his own
heart, I did not give my opinion of what I would do or what I thought he should
do. We told Quentin to really
think about it and pray about it, giving him a week to make his
decision. Within 3 days, Quentin's decision was to go on the mission trip. My heart wanted to shout and leap with joy
because for the first time in his life, I saw my son in a cross-road of
choosing between his love for the sport and the one who gave him the talent to
play the sport.
Lots of preparation went into making this trip happen. The first was the most important one which was sending out letter of prayer and financial support. Quentin decided to hand write all his support letters, yes all 48 letters! He mailed out the letters in batches and with the first eight supports that came in, Quentin’s trip was fully funded! In total awe of what God can do when He directs and leads what we are doing. The amount of love and support Quentin received from each of the support cards was amazing in itself. With each piece of mail he opened, I saw Quentin’s true heart of appreciation as he sat and starred at each card.
The next item to check off on the list was a true testament of “facing your fears”. Due to a bad experience when he was four, Quentin has a major fear of shots and needles. At the travel clinic, he found out he was going to get a few shots. Without any fuss or delays, Quentin sat down on the edge of the bed, rolled up his sleeve, closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. Yes he was determined to do whatever he needed for this trip.
Lots of preparation went into making this trip happen. The first was the most important one which was sending out letter of prayer and financial support. Quentin decided to hand write all his support letters, yes all 48 letters! He mailed out the letters in batches and with the first eight supports that came in, Quentin’s trip was fully funded! In total awe of what God can do when He directs and leads what we are doing. The amount of love and support Quentin received from each of the support cards was amazing in itself. With each piece of mail he opened, I saw Quentin’s true heart of appreciation as he sat and starred at each card.
The next item to check off on the list was a true testament of “facing your fears”. Due to a bad experience when he was four, Quentin has a major fear of shots and needles. At the travel clinic, he found out he was going to get a few shots. Without any fuss or delays, Quentin sat down on the edge of the bed, rolled up his sleeve, closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. Yes he was determined to do whatever he needed for this trip.
Time was getting closer and closer. Passport arrived and he started the yogurt eating process with 10 days left to go before the trip. I had a heart to heart talk with Quentin about the trip. Although the area they are going to is pretty safe, going internationally to a foreign land to share about God is always a risk. Quentin and I talked about some of the extreme dangers that could happen and he was still determined to go. My heart was once again flooded with joy as Quentin was not going to change his mind even if it meant losing his own life.
Early Sunday morning, we gave our hugs and off our team of 8 (3 high school students, 3 college students and 2 sponsors) left in the church van to the airport. I received word Sunday night that they arrived safely. Please keep our group in your prayers this week as they allow God to use them to spread His love to these children in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. To pray by name, they are Richard (our youth pastor), Lluvia (sponsor), Clark, Joseph, Angie (college students), Arleen, Jasmine and Quentin (high school students). My prayer is not only will the lives they come in contact with this week be changed but that our group’s lives will also be impacted in a life changing way.
Thank you again to all who supported Quentin on his mission trip whether through financial support and/or prayer support. I will write a follow up blog after the trip.
Please leave your comments of support, prayer, encouragement and any notes below. (under "comment as", if the words "select profile" is seen, please click and select one from the drop down in order to publish your comment) I will share this with Quentin and the group when he returns home Friday night.
Much hugs,
Summie :)
