One thing that I have found very challenging as these months have passed by, is putting into written form how I have processed the things I’ve seen, felt and lived through. As I draw close to the end of this journey I am quickly realizing how important it is for me to inform those I love at home how challenging it will be for me to return home.
There might be times when something at home triggers me, reminding me of a different person or memory from a different country, good and bad. If this happens I might want to talk about it, or I might not want to, and instead I draw quiet.
There might be something new that I don’t understand or know about, because I’ve been out of the country the past nine months. I might just act differently than you last remembered me. My point is that a lot can happen in nine months, people can change a lot.
This journey may just seem like a trip to just about anyone, but for me it was more than just a trip, it was my life. I got to see a glimpse of what life was like in each country I went to. I got to be immersed in different cultures, not just in each country but with those I traveled with.
The community that I was surrounded by were not just my peers, but they have been my family for the last nine months. There were new uncomfortable experiences that I have lived through with them, that I have helped to bond us, and some of these memories won’t make sense to anyone else but them. I learned what I meant to live in a community of people from all over America, with their own culture and experiences of their own. These were the people who were once strangers, but have become closer to me than many people from home that I’ve known for years.
These are the people that I experienced my first Christmas away from home with (in India, a Hindu culture that doesn’t naturally celebrate Christmas). And other holidays like Thanksgiving, New Years, Easter and even Valentine’s Day. Oh yeah, and my birthday.
These are the people that I have seen so much growth in, more growth than I’ve seen in some I’ve known for years (I’ve also grown tremendously alongside them). They’ve taught me how to be vulnerable with others and how to accept people where they are at.
I’ve also been through struggles with them, whether that means communication/ getting along, or grieving a very sad and tragic situation that has happened at home, or on the race.
This has been the body of Christ to me in the past nine months that I have been poured into by, and have been pouring into. And to be honest, there are many things I have tasted in this community that add to such a safe and Christ like environment, that I have never before seen or experienced at church back home.
Not only will I have to adapt to the American culture again, but I will have to grieve the absence of my family all over again.
That being said please have grace with me and my transition, and I will also have grace with you knowing that as much as you love me, there will still be some things that you won’t fully understand because you weren’t with me.
I look forward to sharing some of the sweet memories from the different countries I’ve seen and people I’ve met. And please share about your last nine months as well, I want to heat about what’s happened with you!
Here are a few short memories from each country:
Swaziland: I fell asleep in our small compound on the cement floor, one day after ministry and woke up to the local high school choir singing, only I literally thought I was hearing angels.
Lesotho: My team and I got to pray over a 106 year old lady who was from one of the local villages.
India: Swimming in the Bay of Bengal on Saturday’s and losing what are the odds to Jace, ending with me eating a living sand crab… it was gross 🙁
Nepal: Visiting a leprosy hospital, and hearing the cry of a man who was left there by his friend, helpless, unable to walk, but touched by the very idea that we would pray for him and tell him that Jesus will never abandon him like his friend did.
Nicaragua: Getting to see my parents (on the parent vision trip) pray for and hear the testimony of some of the locals, experiencing a glimpse of what the race is like.
Guatemala: Looking around and not seeing one squad mate who cared what they looked like while they were worshipping. Also seeing all the growth in myself and my squad mates coming full circle.
Please Pray that….
– Me and all of my squad mates keep our hearts open to God in this transition back home
– That we are able to process the race in a healthy way
– The memories we have made don’t fade, but change us for the better
– All fear of the future would be left in Guatemala and not taken home with us
– We would take up the new healthy habits we’ve learned and leave behind the old unhealthy ones
– That our faiths would continue to grow and God would bless us with community that we will continue to grow with
– Also that God would use us and the experiences we’ve had to pour into those at home
