Recent Mission Trips
At the Kirk we are involved in reaching our community, nation, and world with the gospel. Read more about some of our most recent mission trips.
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Mission Arlington 2008
When I read in the Steeple that there was a short term trip to
Arlington, Texas I began to think. I should stop sitting quietly at
home, figuring and praying that someone else will respond to God’s missionary call. I gave Jim Furman the trip leader a call to find out what it was all about. Jim shared that the trip was a follow up scouting trip to discover the opportunities for small groups and our youth to travel to Mission Arlington on short term mission trips and suggested I take a look at their web site
(http://www.missionarlington.com). The web site
(I encourage you to take a look) shares there goals and gives you a glimpse of life at the mission and what happens their.
When you look at the web site you will see the many ways Mission Arlington is doing God’s work in their community. It kind of takes your breath away. My first thoughts were that the mission does a good job of talking about all the things they would like to do, but I was not convinced that they could cover all the areas they spoke of. Boy, was I wrong.
We drove to Mission Arlington late on Thursday March 6 and were met and given a key to our apartment for the trip. We started Friday with devotions, it was impressive in that it included the staff, clients and volunteers and was in both English and Spanish so all could understand the message which was one of comfort. It gave me the feeling that the mission was a safe place to be. Today people of all ages gather each week to hear the Bible taught in multiple languages in 270 locations in Arlington and the larger Dallas-Fort Worth region. They meet in neighborhood homes, apartment club houses, mobile home parks, and in any other location where people can gather together to hear God’s Word.
Then the real work began, we were given a quick tour of the facilities, including the medical and dental clinics (5 dental chairs and a lab) along with the day care center, food storage and distribution, clothes distribution, holiday stores, furniture warehouse, publishing center and prayer garden they are amazing. Numerous buildings and equipment (all of which have been giving to them) allowing them to do the Lord’s work. Part of the equipment includes a fleet of trucks for the picking up and delivering of donations from the community. David and I were sent out with Tim and we made 4 pick ups that morning that filled the truck. The thing that impressed me, when we returned to the warehouse was more than half of what we picked up that morning was put on different trucks and delivered to those in need that afternoon. The mission is unbelievably well organized in the way they match the needs of others to the donations they receive. That afternoon we picked up a donation from Six Flags… they donated 4 large 4’x4’x4’ cartons of candy to be used in the upcoming Easter egg hunt. They were expecting over 3500 children and had plans to stuff over 100,000 Easter eggs. The impressive part of meeting Tim is that his first visit to the mission was doing required community service. That was over 7 years ago, he has now accepted the Lord and in fact is one of the Sunday leaders at an apartment complex and is on staff at the mission. It was rewarding to hear him talk of his church and how he looks forward to meeting with his group to share the word. 
My curiosity had been piqued by the mission claim that they have learned to take the church to the people since they could not get the people to come to the church. I asked Miss Tillie about it and she told us that, it wasn’t that the churches weren’t friendly and inviting, but that there seemed to be social, and economic barriers in the minds and hearts of people which made it difficult for them to get connected. “We decided then that if people couldn’t come to the church, for whatever reason, we would take the church to them”. While Miss Tillie’s response was indicative of how she and the mission get things done it was her next statement that I will always remember. She was very emphatic that Mission Arlington was not an organization but “a way of life”.
It was impressive to see in a town of 300,000, a group of Christians following the same way of life as shared in the gospels. How God watches and insures there needs are met. Impressive that in the week before Easter they have over 1200 volunteers coming to prepare for Easter weekend (stuffing over 100,000 Easter eggs) for an Easter egg hunt with over 3500 kids. There is much to be learned by volunteering at Mission Arlington and the feeling of helping others makes you glad you did.
—George Hertensteiner
Verse of the Day
