Calo has without a doubt been one of the most challenging jobs I’ve ever had. I’ve endured more physical and emotional trials here than most would look for in an optimal workplace, yet I don’t know how I could find a rewarding job I love more. While I came to Calo as a last resort, feeling completely hopeless at finding another adventure/job away from the lake (one of the last places I wanted to live after growing up here), God clearly knew my heart, talents, and passions better than I did.
While I’ve always had a passion for traveling and adventure, Calo was huge source of inspiration for the World Race. After working with traumatized kids adopted from around the world and hearing their tragic stories, I can’t shake that this is still the reality of a huge number of kids. The visual storyteller in me imagines Calo students close to my heart in their formative years in their country of origin. How on earth does a child survive on the streets of Guatemala? What does an overcrowded Romanian orphanage really look like? What could these kids have experienced that keeps them continually on high alert to this day? I crave to better understand these kids by gaining a first-hand experience of their past and many kids’ present. I want to step into that grim reality and make a tiny impact on the daily lives of the people I meet. I want to pray over these mothers and fathers to break the bondage and cycle of abuse ensnaring them. I want to hold these kids close to my heart and express their invaluable worth and purpose, praying for resiliency and God’s grace in their lives. Cumulatively maybe I’ll just be offering connection, a loving smile and warm hug for a few fleeting moments, but what if that’s the best example of Christ these kids have seen?
All this to be said that it’s not easily that I leave my position at Calo. I found deep satisfaction and purpose in the place I least expected to find it. I have a resounding passion for the work we do at Calo, which truly goads me towards this experience on the World Race. It’s my hope and full intention, Lord-willing, to return to Calo in some fashion upon my return with new perspective and understanding. All I know is where God leads me, I shall follow.
