For the last 11 month, ‘Month 11’ had always been a distant thought.. “Wow, won’t it be crazy to be in month 11, having a phone full of photos and a journal full of memories and a heart full of all that Jesus has done in and through me over an entire year?” Yesterday my teammate told me we would be back in the states NEXT WEEK; to which my immediate response was to correct her because surely she was wrong. But then I looked at my calendar and almost puked. HOW did this happen? How has almost an entire year FLOWN by? How do I have 14 countries worth of new passport stamps and 3 entire journals full of all of the incredible things Jesus has done and taught me and shown me this year, and 5,229 photos of faces and experiences that I will never forget?
But here we are: month 11 coming to a close. Going into this month, I was honestly feeling pretty burned out and exhausted. After over 100 hours of bus rides and living in two different jungles in Bolivia, I was counting with agony every second of the bus rides I would need to take to get to Peru, then to the jungle and back. But with a lot of prayer I decided to take up the mindset of “I can do anything for 3 weeks, Jesus has gotten me through 10 months, we can do this.” And whatcha know about a faithful God?? This month was literally incredible, and I am so thankful for every second of every bus we had to take to make jungle ministry possible.
When we first arrived in Peru, we had the once in a lifetime opportunity to hike Machu Picchu! That was surreal in itself, looking more like a painting than actual landscape! From there, we took a 23 hour bus ride to Lima, where we stayed for a few days, speaking in schools and helping at our home church. We then took a 13 hour bus to Chuquibambilla, Peru where we were for 2 weeks working with the Nomat Siguenga people. It was wild to be in Lima, which has some relatively modern and advanced pockets, then to be in the middle of the jungle just hours later, surrounded by chickens and little jungle kids running around in Kushmas (the traditional orange dresses worn by the Nomat Siguenga people).
We worked with a young missionary couple, helping with various construction projects around the base, teaching English, children’s ministry, home visits, church dramas, painting, village clean- ups, spending time with the precious kids and people of this tribe, and getting to travel to a nearby village to put on an all-day kids program for their church’s anniversary service. One day, to our host’s amazement as we were a team of women (*gasp*), we trekked a few miles of jungle in rain boots to gather wood for the base’s next construction project. We had a blast doing so, especially knowing we were breaking gender stereotypes and winning our bet with him;). Personally, I spent many hours picking lice out of teammates hair (yum), as well as translating Spanish for our host and village community who spoke little to no English. As far as the jungle juice, the Nomat Siguenga people usually welcome visitors by giving them a drink that consists of chewed up and spit out fermented sweet potatoes. Our host took one for the team and drank the whole bowl of it so that when it would pass by us it would already be empty. My team and my intestines thank you, Pablo!
I think my biggest takeaway from this month came from a conversation one of my teammates had with a local. They asked her, in complete seriousness, if we had the whole Bible translated into our language in the US. My teammate responded saying of course we did. To which the person raised their eyebrows and said wow. Like what? How many Bibles do I have on my shelf at home? Different translations, devotional bibles, journal bibles, pocket bibles, leather bibles, waterproof bibles. All in my language. And I’ve never known a day of my life where that wasn’t the case. Whereas these people just got the New Testament translated into their language (after 4 years of translation), for the very first time, last year. Last year people. 2018. And they are eagerly awaiting a linguist to come and translate the Old Testament for them. They don’t even have the entire Bible in their language, yet they hunger to hear more about the God they are slowly coming to know. That was just mind blowing to me. I’ve never actually experienced, firsthand, this kind of “unreached,” and it really set in my heart a newfound motivation to make Him known, and it also gave me a much deeper gratitude for my access to the gospel in my own language.
Although I was pretty apprehensive about the thought of spending another day in a jungle this year, it was honestly some of my most impactful and amazing ministry of this year. Who am I that Jesus would find me worthy of this calling? Nothing I have ever done should measure up to the greatness of carrying this Truth to His kids that might be geographically far, but oh so close to His heart. I am so humbled and grateful to have had the opportunity to spend my last month in Chuquibambilla, and I really would love to one day return to the Nomat Siguenga people!
So just like that.. the year that I anticipated and planned for what seemed like an eternity, then suddenly was launched into in what felt like a whirlwind, where each month felt like a different world and a different lifetime… is drawing to a close. As you look back on your 2019, how does it sit with your heart? What do you feel; what do you remember; what do you regret; what do you take pride in having done? With 2020 approaching quickly, and the rest of our lives just around the corner, what do you want to do today that will set in motion something that changes the rest of your life? I know it seems cliche, but don’t wait for a new year to do or be what you want to do or be. This is your life. Our God is a big God. Don’t limit yourself or your God to something small. Life is short; you were created to do big things. Don’t let fear or insecurity hold you back from the things you know you are called to in the deepest parts of who you are, in the quietest parts of the night where it’s just you and your thoughts. Surround yourself people who love you and who feel like home and who have your best interest in mind. Stop wasting time on stuff that doesn’t matter. Choose to be interruptible and unoffendable and unconditionally loving. Decide that you want to live a life on purpose whether you feel ready or not; rather, live a life that you couldn’t even be ready for.
Well, thats all for now my people. Keep seeing life as a mission field whether you’re at home, Whole Foods, or Africa. As for me, who really knows where the heck I’m going in life— back to the Motherland of Minnesota for now. Back to the land of the free and the home of the brave. Back to needing to get a job and health insurance (PSA my Venmo is @christine-liesener for those who just feel the Holy Spirit leading them;)). Back to Chik-fil-a and real iced coffee and real showers with warm, clean water.
I truly cannot thank you all enough for following along with me on this journey. To everyone who has supported me mentally, spiritually, through FaceTime calls and encouraging texts, financially, emotionally, etc. I am incredibly humbled by the love I have gotten this year, and I hope to be able to see you all in person to thank you individually. May God bless and refresh each of you for blessing and refreshing me so much as it talks about in Proverbs 11:25.
Tomorrow morning, my team will be boarding a 34-hour bus to Ecuador where we will spend a week debriefing our year, then it’s back to the US of A. NEXT WEEK. Like what??
If you haven’t noticed I’m dragging out this wrap-up more than I should.. it’s just so surreal that this all is coming to a close. But I’ll spare you the ramble and cut to the send off:
I love you all, and I am eternally grateful for each of you in my life. See ya stateside in a few!
