I’m not going to lie…when I first decided to be a missionary, I glorified the position. Never did I think I was better than anyone else, but I never understood what I was really getting myself into.
I figured, I would travel to these countries, talk to the people, and help them find Christ. I knew there would be difficult days. But…I’m a missionary so nothing too bad could possibly happen to me…right?
Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Oh man was I WRONG. Understanding this trip, talking to my team mates, and reading blogs has been the biggest wakeup call I have ever received. There are missionaries getting Malaria, tape worms, lice, getting hurt, having money being stolen from them, having to kill goats, and so much more. This trip is not going to be easy. It is going to be the hardest thing I will probably ever do in my life.
For instance, in Madagascar there are hissing cockroaches…I don’t like roaches I am a baby and scream when I see one. But for 11 months, I’ll be co-habitating with them and I’m just going to have to suck it up and accept it.
But the main thing I’m caught up on right now is LICE. Lice. It attacks your scalp, makes you itchy and miserable and one missionary got it FOUR TIMES. I honestly believe, after the first time, I’m just going to shave my head. Hair is a material item, I don’t need it to be beautiful or to define who I am. That comes from within, that comes from the internal gifts God has granted me.
As I said before, this is going to be the hardest thing I will ever do in my life. (Most likely) I’m not going to have a luxurious bed to retire to at the end of the day, and I’m probably not going to have warm showers a lot of the time. But that’s okay. Because I’m ready, I am so ready to give up everything for Christ. I’m so ready to sacrifice my comfort to bring God’s children back home. I never thought I would be willing to shave my head or to live with cockroaches. I still have another five months until I launch, and God has done so much work on me already, I can’t wait to see how he changes and uses me for that 11 months. So this is my declaration “I WILL DO ANYTHING GOD CALLS OF ME. I WILL GO WHERE HE ASKS AND I WILL SPREAD HIS LOVE ACROSS THIS NATION. I WILL BRING HIS CHILDREN BACK TO CHRISTIANITY”
Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
