Don’t Send My Friend Home

Hello all! 

• A year of sleeping in MY bed (comfortable, big, and doesn’t change places every few weeks)
• A year of being away from family and friends
• A year of being in the comfort of my own city that I know 
• A year of having a normal routine that stays constant
• I’m going to have a year of eating strange food that I may have never eaten before or would have never even thought to eat
• A year surrounded by these people I barely know
• A year of being engulfed in unknown cultures and languages every month that I don’t understand
• A year of seeing things around the world that I know are going to break my heart
• A year of constant travel and long travel days (21 hr bus rides, 13 hr plane rides, 4 day travel days)
• A year of many more unexpected things I never thought I would have to give up or realize that I gave up until I was gone…aka for example: 
  • Being able to go the bathroom in a normal bathroom that isn’t a squatty potty or a hole in the ground or a tree (if lucky) off of the highway 
  • Not having to make a day plan to schedule a time to Skype home; waking up extra early so with the 12 hour time difference people are awake and available, find a place that has internet and not just internet but good enough that you are able to actually Skype and then figure out transportation there (walk, bus, tuk tuk, taxi) and try and slot out enough time to talk to everyone before you have to take the adventure back home or to ministry
  • The ability to have my own space or make my own decisions all the time
  • Taking a shower, let alone a hot shower
  • Not being able to talk to anyone at anytime when I want to…basically no cell phone…I know foreign concept :0

• Time to truly focus on my relationship with God
• Find out who I am and what I’m made of and the famous World Race line, who God says I am
• Ability to travel the world and see the ways people live all across the regions
• Live like a local not a tourist, see and experience the country in a different way than most 
• Change my perspective on what I actually need (hot shower, normal bathroom-although would be nice lol, cell phone, internet, access to a fast food restaurant at my fingertips, normal living conditions, air conditioning, or even electricity)
• Help others in need whatever way that may look 
• Do a wide variety of ministry I may have never done before 
  • Orphanage
  • Wheel Chair Factory
  • Play with street kids
  • Work amongst the locals in farming, construction, etc
  • Work with local churches and see how churches across the world work
  • Teach English
  • Prayer walk places Christians/white people have never taken step before
  • Helped at a School for special needs children
  • Work with the deaf

• Able to worship the same God with people from across the world despite language barriers
• See God in different shapes and forms than usual
• Watch people come closer to the Lord and be part of something greater than myself