Abel, our older son, when he was 17 years old, he came to me and asked: “Mom, may I go to a mission trip right after school ends?”
He was 11th grade. I said, “Sure. Where are you thinking of going? For how many days and how much is it going to be?”
Usually my kids come to me with a flyer when they want to go to a summer camp and this was the first time I heard about mission trip.
He handed me a form to sign and three or four papers stapled together to read about the mission. I asked, “What is all this?”
He said, “It is a mission trip where we go and tell others about Christ.”
When I read the paper, I didn’t want to look up because I didn’t want him to see my face. I was terrorized. “My son wants to go to central America?” I asked myself and I said, “No way!” But I didn’t say that to him. When I read the form, it read something like, “There is no electricity in the town we are planning to go. There is no phone line. Once we arrive to the city, we go to this particular town by a small boat made by the people of this town. Nobody can travel without taking prophylaxis malaria medicine. There is no hospital or urgent care. We pack our food and bottle water enough for our trip.” And at the end, it says, “Parent’s signature is required.”
I finished reading and I said, “My son, I cannot sign this form.”
He asked with a sad tone of voice: “Why not? You don’t have to pay for it, Mom. I know the trip is expensive. I will raise fund and actually that is what I am supposed to do.”
“No, my son, that is not the reason,” I replied with the same tone of voice.
“Then why? Why mom?” He sounded a bit annoyed at this point. When I didn’t reply to him, he continued, “Are you scared, Mom? Do you think something bad will happen to me?”
I kept quiet. Now, he became a bit angry because he read my face.
I said, “No, I cannot afford to lose you, my son. What if something happens to you?”
He was furious at this point. “I can’t believe you said that, Mom. Just answer my question. If I die today, where do I go? Tell me. If these people die today, where do they go? Don’t you care? Haven’t you said that heaven was real and no one could go there unless they believed in Jesus Christ? Huh? How can they hear about Jesus if somebody doesn’t tell them? Tell me, Mom.”
I remembered John 3:36: “Whoever believes in the Son (in Jesus Christ) has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.”
I kept quiet. Abel turned around and left.
I ran to my bedroom and closed the door and fell on my face. I cried before God, asking God to forgive me for not letting my son go. I said, “Abba, I can’t do this. Please send someone else. I can’t do this.”
Don’t you love God? I do! He understands our hearts. He knows our frailty.
Then I accepted God’s forgiveness and went downstairs. My son came to me again and said with a firm voice: “When I turn 18, I will go.”
I know, he was showing me that he was becoming a man. I didn’t care about that at that point as long as I could keep him with me for a year.
Well, this coming December, Abel will turn 20 and this past July, my son, Abel, raised $2000.00 and went to Nicaragua to share the Gospel with the people of Nicaragua with other men. During that time, I was in Kampala, Uganda ministering to the people of God at the Shalom Life Stream Church.
Was I worried about my son while I was in Kampala? No, I was not. God gave me peace of mind and I got a bit matured this year, better than a couple years ago; but not as much as my kids when it comes to heaven.
Yes, my husband and I taught our kids about heaven but I didn’t know that they accepted and believed the truth literally with all their hearts. Funny that I taught them about something that I hadn’t have that much faith in. May God forgive me! But now my kids are helping me to believe in heaven.
Do you teach your little ones about heaven? Do you teach them what kind of glory is in store for us in heaven, for us who believe in Jesus Christ? (Romans 8:18)
But my dearest, you first have to read/study and believe the truth about heaven before your kids expose your unbelief; like me.
“Therefore encourage one another with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4:18)
Which words? Read the whole chapter, 1 Thessalonians 4. Read it until you believe it. ///