Amber’s Mission Trip

"Bye!" Amber waved as her aunt drove away. Aunt Nina had eaten dinner with Amber's family that night. Afterwards, Aunt Nina showed them pictures from the recent mission trip she'd taken.Amber sighed as she returned to the kitchen. "I wish I could go on a mission trip. I never do anything important." "Why do you say that?" Mom asked, handing Amber a plate."Aunt Nina traveled to another country and told others about Jesus. She helped doctors in that village serve sick people. Everything I do seems like no big deal." Amber shut the dishwasher and looked sadly at her mother."Here." Mom placed the leftover garlic bread in Amber's hands. Amber glanced at the bread. "What do you want me to do with it?""Tell me what it is." "Bread." Amber shrugged. "I don't get it.""Do you remember the story of the miracle Jesus performed with a few fish and loaves of bread?"Amber nodded. "A little boy gave his lunch to Jesus. Not much, but it was all he had. Jesus turned it into enough to feed thousands of hungry people.""That boy believed Jesus could do something special with what he offered," Mom replied. Amber tucked the leftover bread in a bag and waited for Mom to explain more. "Jesus has forgiven your sins and given you a new life, Amber, and He promises to help you share His love with others so they can know Him as their Savior too. Don't you think He can use whatever you have to offer Him--just like He did with the boy in the Bible story?" Mom asked."What do I have to offer?" Amber wrinkled her forehead."Well, Aunt Nina needed to pack long skirts to wear on her mission trip. Remember how she found a big tear in one of them? You sewed it up for her.""That's right! I saw her wearing it in lots of her pictures too." Mom nodded. "You had a part in that mission trip.""I guess my needle and thread were my loaves and fishes," Amber said. "And I can't wait for God to use them again!"-Allison Wilson Lee