The longer I spend on the field, the more I learn about myself – my faults, my passions, the things I excel at, & things I dislike. Going through counselor education, I have learned that I have a passion for helping people find their voice by learning how to tell their story. A huge part of telling your story, is being able to talk about the major experiences in your life that have shaped you – the hard, the good, the bad, the ugly, the beautiful. My heart leaps for joy when I see young{er} people all around me doing just that – saying “yes” to the unexpected & diving into what the Lord has set before them.
I lead youth at my home church in Pennsylvania. Pictured above is a handful of the great youth I have gotten the chance to know, walk along side with & love on! It has been a joy watching these young people grow, discover what “faith” actually looks like, & learning more about God & what their life looks like with him in it.
One of my youth gals, Ronnie (right side, below), recently went to Baja, Mexico, with a handful of other youth & adults from my home church.
Ronnie is 18, a senior, & hopes to pursue photojournalism after she graduates. Ronnie reached out to me & we got to talk about our varying experiences being short term missionaries. She was so moved by her experience in Mexico that she decided to do her senior project on her trip. Ronnie asked me to share her story & experience because her & I both have the ability to reach different groups of people (her – many nonbelievers & me – many believers). I am also passionate about people finding their voice & learning how to use it; I also love Ronnie & think her words are beautiful & powerful. I hope you enjoy!
**all of the words below are Ronnie’s **
We are all taught in church or throughout life that God has a plan for us.
For me personally, I would hear this phrase and know it, but I did not actually understand it until recently. I signed up for a mission trip to Haiti. God is crazy unpredictable and sometimes it can be very stressful, because you don’t see it at first or understand his plan or what he has in mind for you. God has a way of putting you in his mouth, chewing you up and spitting you out right where you are supposed to be. And for us, that was a small town in Mexico.
I would say there were two major things I’ve learned over my trip to Mexico, the first one being that idea that humanity cannot be segregated. Just because a barrier is made between a group of people doesn’t mean they are no longer able to empathize with each other. Going to Tijuana as a first stop, as soon as we crossed the border, was necessary in order to humble us and prepare us for what we were about to experience. If we did not visit Friendship Park we would not have witnessed the impact of some international policies and how many people have been hurt and separated from their families.
This experience gave us a sense of grounding. We all wept for the families who could see each other through the border and yell across to one another, but were unable to touch the skin of their loved ones. We all wept for the individuals who were escorted out of America (Mexican or not) and not given any instruction on how to start their lives over and thrive in a totally different culture. We all wept for those who created the murals, inspired by pain. And last but not least we wept for all of the American vets who fought for our country and were then deported. We gained a deeper level of empathy for what this country has gone through. We were not only standing among these people, we were standing with them.
We were about to ask God why he sent us here and what he would like us to accomplish while we were serving the beautiful country. Standing in front of us was a painting. The red words running throughout read “Humanity cannot be segregated” which was a perfect explanation for the emotions radiating between us.
The second thing that The Spirit brought to me was that God’s love has no language. I have seen God work through people who could not verbally communicate, but even so bonds were made between people, and we learned to love each other despite this. Going in to the trip we feared language would be the most challenging part and we would find it difficult to pray for people and mourn with them if we could not understand them. Most of us spent so much time learning French, then were suddenly sent to a country where they spoke Spanish. It was challenging buying things from stores and reading menus, however, when it came to connecting with the people of the church we connected spiritually.
I thought maybe it was the service relationship we had with them, maybe worshiping with people gives a telepathic bond between them, or maybe it was the translators we met, but there had to be only one possible way this could be explained. Jesus.
God sent us out to this small town for a reason, he wrote it in all of our books, every single person who went on the trip was there for a reason. I am so thankful for the organization who sent me on a journey to find a better version of myself. The website and donation link is provided down below in case you were moved by a part of my story and feel inclined to give so more people can continue to go on trips like these because missionary work is very important.
https://www.prayingpelicanmissions.org/
A donation link is set below incase you are moved to help The Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that promotes justice by providing free and low-cost legal services to under-served immigrant children, families and refugees in Central and South Texas.
If you’d like to comment or share your thoughts with Ronnie, I would be happy to send them her way!
