Designs for Hope Uganda Mission Trip Devotional 6 of 12: Your Team

Designs for Hope Team:
This marks the half-way point through our devotionals before we leave for Uganda...

Philippians 1:3-6

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (ESV)

One of the things that has always amazed me about the Apostle Paul has been his unwavering concern and consideration for his partners in the gospel - despite whatever difficulties or hardships he may have been facing himself.  There is a saying that says no man is an island unto himself.  Similarly, Ecclesiastes 4:12 says "And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken" (ESV).  We all need each other - in life - and on this mission.

We are more than just a group of people going on a mission trip together - we are a team.  The problem is that for a team to be truly effective, they need to know each other and work with each other enough that there is trust and mutual respect between them.  Like many short term mission trips that are pulled together from a group of people who may not know each other well, our "team" is not likely to be up to the desired standards for effectiveness. While everyone knows somebody on the team fairly well, it is unlikely that we all know everyone well - and there is a good chance that there is somebody that you do not know at all. 

Make no mistake, though, we are still partners in the gospel.  That means we will be depending upon each other during the trip, expecting one to have the other's back.   How then, can we trust the ones we do not know?  The answer is that we trust first and foremost in the one that all have in common - our Savior Jesus Christ.  Paul reminds us in Philippians 2 of our common ground in Christ... our encouragement in Christ, our comfort in love, our participation in the Spirit, and our like mindedness.  In these we find common ground enough to love, trust, and pray for one another.  By the end of the trip, we will know each other very well.  Until that time, let us commit ourselves to praying for one another.

In your quiet time today and each day from here forward, let us pray for our fellow team members by name.  Pray that God will be with them as they prepare for the trip.  Thank God for the privilege of being able to serve with them.

Father, I pray for each member of our team, that you will prepare each and every one of them for Uganda.