“MIS*SION*ARY, (noun) someone who leaves their family for a short time, so that others may be with their families for eternity.”
Being a missionary isn’t easy. It isn’t “a vacation from the real world”. In reality, everything about the life of a missionary is hard. Going thousands of miles away from your friends and family is hard. Sitting in airports, sitting in planes, and riding on busses for full days is hard. Jet lag is hard. Raising thousands of dollars is hard. Especially, when you are still over a thousand dollars from being fully funded. Carrying almost 90 pounds of luggage on your back for miles or days is hard. Leaving the comforts of home is hard. Sweating to death because you don’t have air-conditioning in a desert is hard. Walking for miles or being squished like a sardine into a public bus instead of driving your car is hard. Not being able to speak the same language as anyone else is hard. Living in a one bedroom apartment with eight people is hard. Being deprived of tacos and brownies is hard. Risking your safety by being overseas is hard. Constantly eating cheese and drinking milk that tastes like manure is hard. Conquering squatty potties is hard.
Life as a missionary is hard but it is also completely worth it. Because, in all honesty, the hardest part of being a missionary is saying, “Goodbye” to those you have met.
Tonight is my last night is Tirana, Albania. A city that I have not only been given the privilege to call my home, but also the city that I have completely fallen in love with time and time again. The aesthetic beauty of the city with purple mountains on the horizon is enough to fall in love. The souflaqe and ice cream is enough to fall in love. But, what really gets me is the people. Despite this city’s hardships from a previous communist government, the people still extend love and joy abundantly. Every time I see someone offer their seat on the bus, I fall in love. Every time they offer to pay for coffee with the little money they have, I fall in love. Every time I experience their hospitality, I fall in love. Every time I hear someone’s aspirations, I fall in love. Every time I see someone’s drive to work hard, I fall in love. Every time I hear someone’s story, I fall in love.
Contrary to my recent adventure videos, my team has been hard at work in Tirana. We have had the opportunity to show love to boys and men in various prisons. We have been able to give hope to women escaping human trafficking. We have been able to do crafts with children with Down syndrome. We have been able to teach bible stories to neighborhood children. We have been able to teach English to hundreds of students. We have been able to disciple people we have met at coffee shops and grocery stores. Everyone we have been able to speak with has changed us.
The people in Tirana will always have a piece of my heart. I pray that this isn’t a “goodbye” but rather a “see you later”. Because the hardest part of being a missionary is falling in love and then having to leave.
But now, we are going to Tacloban, Philippines. Jet lag will be hard with it being 12 hours different from the United States. Having an eleven hour plane ride and a 20 hour bus ride will be hard. Living in a tent for five weeks will be hard. But, I hope that the hardest part of the Philippines will be leaving it as well.
Please continue to pray for my team. Pray for our safety and ability to reach those we need to meet in the Philippines. Please pray for those that we have been given the blessing to meet here in Tirana. Pray for God to continue to work in and through them. And, please pray for me to be able to reach my fundraising goal before November 30. Thank you very much for all of your support and prayers.
