I’ve been living and working on the field for five months now. We are wrapping up our work in Asia and heading to Africa for the next two months. Overall, I will be away from home for just under a year and although that may seem like a long period of time for some, in missionary terms it’s still considered ‘short-term’. We spend a month in each country, working with an organization for about three weeks, before packing up and heading to the next location to do it all over again.
I’ll admit, I was discouraged coming into this season of short-term work because I’ve heard so many times before that, “you can’t make a difference in such a short period of time.” “Your job will be to support the long-term missionaries with their needs, but don’t expect to change others’ lives.” “You can’t build relationships with locals because you aren’t in one area long enough.” I have actually been told those things at one point or another, if not multiple times by some. And I just want to address now that the statement, “A short-term missionary can’t make a difference,” is complete B.S.
I want to recap the last five months with you.
India: In India we were partnered with a children’s development center that worked with families who were a part of the lowest caste system, the untouchables, and provided them financial assistance to educate their children. We went out into the villages for 3-4 days and ministered to the families and prayed for them. I’m still in touch with a family from one of the villages. Their youngest son sends me Facebook updates on his life and the father sends me family photos and pictures of the students getting new uniforms and books.
My teammate Caitlin and I met a woman Jayamma, who rescued two babies from the street and adopted them as her own. She has been a loyal member of her local church and gives the little money she has to her community. (More on that story here: The Woman In The Purple Sari) Since leaving, one of my supporters has since reached out and is now financially supporting her two children so that they can continue their education and have a house to live in. Their lives have been completely changed.
Nepal: My whole squad (50+) worked with a local ministry that went into the city of Kathmandu and ministered to street kids, women caught in sex trafficking and other local churches and communities. I was bold this month and met so many incredible people who didn’t know anything about Jesus. I met a guy, Rab that owned a pipe shop and restaurant and quickly became his friend. I went to visit him every chance I could and showed him that I cared even though there were so many language and cultural barriers between us. I still talk to Rab on WhatsApp and Facebook. We wished each other a Merry Christmas and he still tells me he wants to have a dream about Jesus. (He will!)
Thailand: Chiang Mai changed my life. Pat and his farm and family changed my life. We became a part of his family after living with him and the 9 boys he took in from the youth prison for those three weeks. We had family meals together, studied the Bible together and worked on the farm, together. Everything we did, we did out of love and selflessness. Pat’s daughter Perth became like a sister to me and I cared and had a blast joking with her and talking about all her school friend drama and her life. We all cried leaving Pat and we all still stay in touch with the whole family.
Cambodia: We lived on an orphanage in a village with 43 kids and a young man, Rotha, who was so in touch with God and had the biggest heart to serve the hurt and suffering children of Cambodia. He gave every part of himself to make sure those kids had every desire of their hearts met. We were able to financially support him while we were there, fundraising nearly $5,000 which helped to provide them a new truck to transport the kids to and from school and to finish a perimeter fence around the property to offer security to the orphanage. We were able to see the fruit of the money raised by being able to take all of the kids to the swimming pool for the first time! There were finally enough vehicles to transport all of the children around the village at once! It was incredible to see the joy in their hearts and we got to help provide that to them! God is so good!
Vietnam: We just left our ministry in Da Nang and this is where all of these thoughts came about. We worked in college ministry, teaching English to the local college students. We would meet every day for a few hours and practice English with the students at a coffee shop. The people of Vietnam are so kind! Not only did we hang out with the students during club time, but they would take us out for local street food after classes, drive us around on their motorbikes to touristy spots in the city, and they even picked us up from our hotel to drive us all the way to Hoi An (a beautiful city 30 minutes away). We threw three Christmas parties for them in our ‘apartment’ and 6 students came to know Jesus! We shared our testimonies and talked about how much we loved them and there were a lot of tears. I have never been more genuinely sad to leave a place. I feel like I built real friendships. These are people that I’m going to stay in touch with for the rest of my life. And I genuinely care about their studies, boyfriends/girlfriends, career and dreams. We cried leaving each other, we hugged and exchanged gifts and thanked each other for changing our lives and promised that we would never forget each other.
How can you tell me a short-term missionary doesn’t make a difference?! I can look back and not even be able to count the number of people that have changed my life and that I still stay in contact with.. and I know the feelings are mutual. We aren’t in these counties to put in minimal effort and hope to build a couple of friendships. No. We are out here pouring ourselves into these people and building strong firm relationships with everyone we meet!
Being a short-term missionary is probably the hardest thing I have ever done. Every time we leave a country I feel emotionally, physically and spiritually exhausted. It would be so easy to go to a place and do the bare minimum, and I’m sure there are missionaries out there that just scratch the surface of what they could be doing, taking the easy way out. But it doesn’t have to be that way. It takes effort and it’s draining, but it’s worth it. These people matter and their lives are so important! Learning to be interruptible these past five months has been the greatest thing I’ve ever challenged myself to do. I’ve been able to let go of my pride and my agenda and begin to look at people and value them. I’ve been able to set aside time to be present with others and (gasp) listen to what they have to say! It is incredible what can be done when you intentionally sacrifice a little bit of your time and agenda and focus on another person. Relationships form, real relationships that matter are built. You can make a difference.
I’m writing this to all of those that are considering being a short-term missionary and those that may be discouraged thinking they won’t be able to make a difference in such a short period of time. It’s just not true. It takes effort and sacrifice but it’s worth every moment. These friendships I’ve made have changed my life. I wouldn’t trade one second of what I’ve experienced for anything in the world. Sometimes it sucks being a short-term missionary because of the difference that is made, because you strip yourself down so much and pour your heart out to other people so quickly. It’s daunting to think I’m about to go into another month and have to immediately pour my heart to brand new people and give them everything I have for three weeks. We barely have a chance to mourn the month we’ve left behind before picking up fresh for a new ministry. It’s so hard, but I know it’s worth it!
Choosing a missional life for this year is the best decision I’ve ever made. Emotionally wasting myself each month is the greatest achievement I could accomplish. Building relationships with hundreds of people all over the world, pouring into ministries physically and financially, laughing with new friends and ugly crying when we say our goodbyes – that’s priceless. And that’s the part I hold onto and the part that keeps me going from month to month. This is the greatest thing I have ever done with my life and I’m so thankful for every moment of it.
