The scattered showers throughout the day revealed that even the sky was reminiscing our time in Albania. Even though at the beginning I knew the inevitable end, I was unwilling to say goodbye once again.
I stood barefoot at the entrance to our affectionately named Princess Palace and I peered into the darkness that had fallen upon us. The chattering group of youth whom I spent my last few weeks with was ready yet equally unwilling to say goodbye. I held them all tightly one by one and there was one last goodbye…
“Ohh Andi” he has a fun name to sing, you should try it. Andi hopped down off the step and tears welled in both sets of eyes.
It’s not easy for me to speak many words at the junction in life. This is the eighth country I’ve visited in the past eight months. The goodbye was more painful than most. If to love your neighbor is the greatest command we as Christians have been given then the pain of this moment must mean I did something right. I also cannot continue without saying that a large dose of love was given to me as well.
One of my favorite parts about short term missions is being able to go to a place and be completely unaware of the people you “shouldn’t” talk to. You know that crowd that is weird, or different, the people that you can love from afar but you don’t want your friends to know ever associate you with “those people”. When you’ve never been with a group of people you don’t know who to keep a distance from for the benefit of your own social standing. I love being able to walk into a place and to love freely and unbiased.
I came on this trip to learn how God wants me to continue to walk in ministry and this is something I want to transfer to “normal life”. If this is challenging to anyone else I invite you to ask God how you can love deep and love wide among all the people you come in contact with. God has put every person in your circle for a reason and he is willing to give you the grace to love more than you think you can.
