Today’s blog is being written high above the clouds en route to Medellín, Colombia (pictured below). Training officially finished, things officially getting real.
What a week it has been. I knew that being a missionary, going off to serve in poverty-stricken areas, I would have to do my fair share of ‘slumming it’ – forsaking some of the luxuries that I’ve allowed myself to become so dependant on. However, I was not expecting that I would encounter this in the U.S of all places.
I arrived on Thursday, extremely jetlagged, to find out that we would be sleeping on the ground, moving our bags around every day, were limited to porta-potties, and would be allowed to shower once… for ten minutes… on Sunday.
So I spent much of training camp tired, disoriented, and feeling a bit gross. And what an opportunity it was. I eventually experienced joy in learning that I could accept discomfort and choose not to grumble.. unfortunately choosing to stay awake during a powerful talk on healing ministry was much a much harder task. Lol
And really, despite my discomfort, I had an amazing week. I got to meet my amazing team who have inspired me so much with their enthusiasm, their faith, and their humility. I’m already a big fan of my new family.
One of the things we kept coming back to over the week was Luke 10, where Jesus sends out the 72 and commissioning them ‘The harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few… Go your way; behold I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.’ And I was struck in a new way about what it is I am about to do. Not only am I getting the opportunity to help those in need but, far more importantly, I am being commissioned – along with the other 75 participants in the room – to go to all corners of the earth and share the love of God with them and minister to them. What an honour that is. Here a group of 75 young people have decided to take time out of their lives because God asked asked ‘whom shall I send’ and they had the courage to respond: Send me!
