We were asked to write a blog about how we felt before leaving on this mission trip. Here is what I am expecting…
I expect to make deep connections with my both my teammates and our partners in each country. And because of those amazing connections, I expect to feel a sense of loss and sadness every month as I leave a country and journey toward the next unknown.
I expect to have a lot of fun exploring each new culture and amazing pictures to share with those at home.
I expect to come back a changed person – hopefully, a more effective minister of the grace I have been given.
I expect resentment toward my backpack, tent, and Tevas at some point along the way.
I expect a deeper, more meaningful, understanding of God’s Word, resulting in a deeper relationship with God.
I expect to be hot, miserable, and dirty but still have a wide smile on my face.
I expect to miss my family and friends so much that it physically hurts. A lot.
I expect to have my faith tested and to see miracles.
I expect that I will have to eat things that I don’t want to – and I expect that I will end up liking these new foods….or at least some of them.
I expect to feel like my heart is not big enough or strong enough to contain God’s love for the orphan in my arms or the beggar in the street.
I expect bugs and lots of them.
I expect a broken heart.
