“Can you help me?”, “Is this right?”, “Will you hold this?” and “How do we do this?” were all common phrases heard last week on our mission trip. Our team of five spent a week in the Tulsa, Oklahoma area building sheds, fixing fences, putting tar on roofs, and cleaning up yards filled with debris from the March 2015 tornadoes. 

The trip was moving and powerful as we helped people who needed so much help. We worked with people who could not help themselves, didn’t have the funds to do the work, nor the physical ability to do so. Our team worked very long, hard days and had lots of tasks to keep us busy. 

One of the most meaningful parts of the trip was watching the teamwork together. It is not possible to build a shed from the ground up, install a chain link fence, or move logs alone. It took the whole team to measure, mark, hold and cut the wood. It took a team to raise the walls, paint the building and install a roof. 

None of these jobs are things you can do on your own. You need at least two people, if not more, for each one. And truthfully, there are no cushy jobs on a mission trip. Everyone is doing everything—cutting, cleaning, building, and getting very dirty.

What I couldn’t help but think about while nailing another sheet of shingles on the roof was that this type of teamwork is exactly how our relationship with God works. 

A life of faith means that we no longer are going about our life on our own. No longer are we forced to figure out the solution without help. Now we have Jesus to lead us, the Holy Spirit to guide and the Father to care for us. They are the ones that are measuring, holding, cutting and working alongside us. They are ones with the building plan, vision and the solution in mind. God is the one who knows what it will take to get through the next step in whatever challenge you are going through.

It takes a team, and that is why God sends church members, friends, family and random people on a mission trip to walk into our lives - to help us raise the walls in life, fix the leaky roof, and clean up the debris from another challenging situation. 

Don’t forget that you have an amazing team of people ready and willing to work alongside you in whatever challenge you are going through. You don’t have to do it on your own—Jesus is ready to help you.