I know for months I have been telling you all that I was preparing for a 9 month long mission trip to 3 different continents. But as I stroll down the cobblestone roads of Guatemala and look past the colorful flowers and doors to the volcanoes engulfed in clouds I realized that I have a confession I should make. I am not on a mission trip. I am not going to serve the community and share the Gospel for just 9 months.
Now don’t be upset. Your donations and support have gone to good use. And I still cannot thank you enough for helping me get to this opportunity.
Let me explain..
For the past two weeks I have been waking up in my bunkbed with my entire squad around me. Going outside to workout and take in the beautiful scenery. Spending time “alone” (actually surrounded by about 40 other people) reading my bible, writing in my journal, and doing devotionals; then doing an hour of worship with my squad.
Our entire squad eats breakfast, lunch and dinner as a community. Our teams go to the local markets daily for produce and necessities. We wait at the bus stop to be picked up, and then squeeze into an overfilled bus that has people hanging out of the doors so we can get to Antigua. We converse with the locals and the tourists; bargain with the street vendors and say hello to familiar faces. We get dominated by the local kids in soccer and anticipate tomorrows next game.
At night we talk about our day, build each other up, have dance parties, sing Disney songs, pray, worship, laugh and cry together.
We listen to the raw stories of the people we say hello to on the streets and pray with them. We speak in broken Spanish to the person next to us on the bus and laugh together when we can’t break past the language barrier. We hold hands with complete strangers and pray for one another even though we don’t understand the language. We fundraise for our ministry by selling comedy show tickets. We sit in dead center of Antigua with a guitar and makeshift drum and bolt out worship songs.
I am not on a mission trip – I’m living a life on mission. I am not visiting these countries – I am immersing myself into their culture and lifestyle. I am not just here to serve for nine months – I am here to pick up the habit of serving and worshipping every moment of my life. My mission is not to travel around the world, my mission is to have every breath and every step be for Christ.
