I’m leaving the country for 9 months.
Why? To travel the world? Why can’t I just wait till I graduate? What about school? Don’t I know all the dangers that come with traveling around the world? What about family? Friends? Money? Why would I give up so much for a silly trip?
Yes, it’s true. I am willing leaving for nearly a year to go a mission trip. But why, you ask? I have a story that I believe does a good job of answering all of these questions…
During recess my friends and I would always play follow the leader. We would march around the playground, never missing a step from the person in front of us. I remember with every game, the leader got to choose a pretend location to explore. This could be anything from the jungle, to outer space, to the ocean. Every step we followed drove us further and further into a land of adventure. There was one day in particular where the leader had chosen to be airplanes flying through sky. We flew around the playground with our arms mounted high, swaying side to side, making airplanes noises with our mouths. The leader decided to climb the jungle gym and jump off a platform pretending we were skydiving. In the moment, it seemed as if I was being asked to jump off Mount Everest. Naturally, being the tiny and fragile child I was, I was terrified. There was a moment of panic and doubt I had towards the leader. I mean let’s be practical here, I didn’t want to get hurt. After many pleas of “Come on, just jump! You’ll be okay” and “Jump so we can keep on going!” I trusted the leader and jumped. I remember feeling like I was on top of the world (even though I just jumped off it). From there, we continued to have fun until it was time to go inside. I remember this story like it happened yesterday and I was never quite sure why. I believe that God has us remember certain events to teach us things later on in life.
Instead of returning to school in the fall, God has called me somewhere else. I will be embarking on a 9-month mission trip to Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Ethiopia, Nepal, and the Philippines. During this time I will be engaging in various works such as slum ministry and children’s vacation bible school. I’ll also be working with survivors of human trafficking, orphans, and the homeless. This may sound like a fun-filled adventure of a lifetime, however, it was by no means an easy decision to come to. I think we can all agree it is not the norm to take a year off of school to be a missionary around the world. It is not the norm to not see your family and friends for 9 months. It is not the norm to just put your life on pause to drop everything and go. I would lay awake at night going back and forth with the idea of going on this trip. I made so many pro/con lists it’s not even funny. When it came down it, all I was really deciding on was whether or not I was going to trust God. One night, I was lying in bed praying about the future and for the strength to just make a decision when all of a sudden, I thought of that day on the playground. I thought of the fear I felt then and the fear I felt now. I thought of the trust I put in the leader then and the trust I needed to put in my leader now. I thought of the joy I felt after taking a leap of faith then and the joy I would feel after taking this leap of faith now. It became so clear to me what I was supposed to do.
Sometimes in life all we need to do is jump off the jungle gym. I’m putting my trust in God and words cannot begin to explain how excited I am to see what He does with that! I hope and pray that you can find it in your heart to support me during this life-changing endeavor.
Peace out Brussel Sprouts,
Maddy 🙂
