When people think about life as a missionary they usually picture a glamorous lifestyle that includes joyfully praying for people, working in an orphanage and laughing with little children, or enjoying spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ with a big smile of their face. But if this is what you picture the mission field to be like (which I did before the race) I have some breaking news for you…
the life of a missionary is FAR from glamorous.
Now do not me wrong, I absolutely love the World Race and being on the mission field but I believe people have many misconceptions about what life as a missionary is really like. People assume everything is fun and easy while serving the Lord overseas, but I can testify that is not always the case.
There are times on the mission field when you do not want to pray for people because you are beyond exhaustion. There are times when you do not want to love your team. There are times when you do not want to do what your ministry host tells you to do. There are times when you get annoyed because you have to sleep in a room with 7 other girls. There are times when you want to go home. There are times when you do not want to do ministry because you would rather have free time to do what you want. There are times when you do not want to love people the way you should.
Throughout the race I have had to do a lot of mission work that I did not necessarily enjoy. For example, today I had to babysit a malaysian child who hysterically cried for 45 minutes straight. She screamed words in Malay at me while kicking me as I tried to pick her up to comfort her. Days like today I am reminded that being a missionary is not always fun.
And if people think that being a missionary means you will be clean, think again lol I have sweat more in the past two months than I have my entire life. I have gone over two weeks without a shower or shaving. I have shoveled dirt until my hands blistered. I have re-worn dirty clothes that smelled and were quite disgusting because I had no other option. I have had hundreds of bug bites on my legs. I have sat on a bus for over 24 hours traveling. Some racers have gotten lice, had children throw up on them, even peed and pooped their pants while on the mission field! (and most of these experiences are nothing compared to stories from other missionaries)
Being a missionary is one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life but there is no place that I would rather be. I am truly thankful that being a missionary is not easy because it has allowed me to grow in areas that I never would have been able to back in America. The World Race has shown me how important it is to die to your flesh everyday and to always allow the Lord to refine you when difficult circumstances arise.
I would encourage anyone who is thinking about doing mission work overseas to absolutely do it. God will challenge you, break you, re-build you, and completely redefine anything you have ever known about life, God, and even yourself.
Life on the mission field is definitely unglamorous, but I would not change it for the world.
