This title makes me feel like I need to write something profound. How is anyone called to do missions? I feel like each story is unique, yet God does not compare our stories to others or call one better than the other. I am so thankful the HIS opinion matters more than others.
I remember some of my first mission trips to Mexico. I always had a blast, worked hard, made new friends and served God. After two weeks, however, I was ready to go home to the comfort of MY bed, my friends, and Chickfila. Yet after I was comfortable again, my experiences on missions lingered. I wanted to be back there, somehow forgetting how inconvenient it was to brush my teeth with bottled water. I was dissatisfied with the way I live so indulgently. I would live in this bitterness at ignorant Americans (myself included) until those feelings subsided and I was ready for another 2-week mission trip!
This process tended to become a pattern as I would go on more short term trips to Madagascar, Ethiopia, Haiti, and Peru. Finally after Peru, when I was processing my trip and journaling, I asked God “Why do I always come back from missions so bitter?” And the Holy Spirit revealed: Satan has been trying to rob me of what God did in those two weeks! So instead I chose to be thankful for my experiences on the field and for what God did in my heart and in my team, thankful for a job to come back to and thankful for money that I can share with those less fortunate. And just like that…there was no more room for bitterness to linger!
I love short term missions because each one planted and watered a seed in me that there is more “out there” than the comfortable life I live. But it has become a crutch of selfish ambition to “get my fill” and then come back. I am thankful for each trip because they have been stepping stones to this next great adventure! It is like these stepping stones have led me to a big body of water that is unknown, dangerous and…uncomfortable. And I am ready to dive in and swim across it, not knowing where it will lead me but trusting that God has something for me on the other side. (If you didn’t catch the analogy…the World Race is the body of water, hehe).
So that’s my story so far and I can only imagine the growth I will experience along the way. It is finally hitting me that I am ACTUALLY going on the World Race in July! I am finally moving forward and tackling all the logistics. This season of preparation will be tough and I know there will be many obstacles along the way to try and deter me from going. But I choose to trust and move in God because I know that He will never leave or forsake me and He has called me to GO…”and if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.” –Philippians 3:15.
