This email came from an India Mission Trip participant, Dan. He and Jessica have given their permission to share it:
Hello to all the Back2Back Family,
I participated in the India mission this summer. I wanted to write and extend my many thanks and good wishes to you and all of the amazing work you are doing in the world.
As with most mission trips, I know that myself and many of the participants left with almost a guilty feeling of how much we take away and how much the children give us vs. what we do while we are there. But I wanted to share my personal thanks for the experience and the way it has changed my life, my home life and most importantly the way it has helped my wife to connect to a true calling from God.
This trip was Jessica’s first mission trip. She went with a very tentative attitude about the experience she would have, as she is by nature a very reserved person. I wanted to share that since her return that God has truly touched her in very special ways and opened her heart to mission in a way that neither she or I would have ever expected. Since returning from the trip Jessica has become a member of the mission committee at our church, and with the associate pastor and others on the committee at our church organized a family mission trip for late July where we will be putting on a VBS as well as doing a number of work projects. I watch as God truly moves through her giving her drive and ambition to do his work in the world, as well as a voice to speak about it. Jessica is generally a very quiet person. However, since being back she has spoken in front of the congregation, her women’s circle, and at our recent mission meetings. Having been married to her for twelve years and knowing that she has never been someone who enjoys speaking in public, I can only say that it is truly the Holy Spirit working through her, and I thank you for the integral role that your ministry played in connecting her to that.
I wish you all of the blessings and joy possible in this world!
Your Brother in Christ,
Daniel Shores
Braddock Street UMC
India Mission team 2010Jessica, serving with Back2Back in India
