There are only 19 days left on the race and as I reflect on my time this past year I can’t help but to laugh at some of the odd and fun things I’ve done. We have been asked to do some pretty weird things for ministry that I would never think to count as ministry. There have been a lot of times that I’ve questioned why we were doing what we were doing, but then I remember that we are not only serving the people we are living with, but we are also serving the Lord. Here are just a few odd things that my team and I have been asked to do for ministry.
Scrape moss off trees
Spray vinegar on bed sheets
Host an unexpected birthday party for 30+ five year olds
Dig hole and plant banana trees
Carry your own poop and pee in buckets to fertilize plants
Teach children swim lessons with no translator
Sit in meetings that we didn’t understand just because we were white missionaries
Make greeting cards
Make and move bricks
Sift dirt/ soil for brick making
Clean hay off the garden
Pick weeds from the flower beds
Clean algae out of a pool
Dress as a clown for a street show
Sand metal bars to get the paint off
Stand in the middle of the street to pass out flyers
Dress up as any character in the Bible for a Bible story
Cut grass with scissors, butter knife, sickle, or our hands
Renovate a bathroom
Watch movies with kids
Attempt to help with hospital inventory
Choreograph a dance
Make a Christmas play
Having a sermon or testimony always prepared (You will always have to share)
Those are just a few strange things I have gotten to do this year for ministry. Besides ministry, I have had a pretty incredible year and have gotten to experience things I never would have dreamed of. My off days have been filled with so many adventures and coffee shop hopping. Some of my cool adventures have been:
Swimming in the Bay of Bengal
Taking my first over night train ride
Seeing/ flying over Mt. Everest
Hanging out with elephants and going on a hike with them
Going to the Killing Fields
Seeing the sunrise at Ankor Wat
Getting a minnow pedicure
Riding a moto with one of my students to Hoi An, Vietnam
Experiencing a traditional coffee ceremony
Living without wifi and the outside world for a month
Going on my first safari in Africa
Getting to do ministry with my mom for the first time
Going to the Salt flats in Bolivia
Hiking and experiencing Machu Picchu
Swinging on the edge of the world swing in Ecuador
Seeing the Equator
Throwing up in every country *car sickness is SO real on the race*
This life has been such a crazy ride and I have missed home so many times but I wouldn’t trade doing odd things and having so many adventures for anything in the world. Living as a missionary for 11 months in foreign countries has been so much fun I have gotten to see the world in a whole new way and experience so many different things. This has been one of the most challenging, but also most exciting adventures of my life and I wouldn’t change one thing! PEACE
