The Mission Field as a Lifestyle: “This isn’t a week long trip”

Right now I sit in my room writing by head lamp because the electricity is out for the second night in a row (they say this happens a lot around here. Just keeps things interesting I guess).

I don’t even know where to begin… Arriving at the farm on Thursday we pulled up to the gate and I got out of the truck to unlock the gate and barely had time to look up before I was tackled by one of the girls I had grown very close to when I was here in Honduras at the ministry in December. It was an amazing reminder of what this is all about after a long emotional day of traveling.

I have gone through all the normal processes of being new somewhere: getting settled into my room (which is in one of the houses with 2 girls from the farm), getting a phone, learning the rules and schedules, paying attention to everywhere we go, and being very intentional of learning the language (it would have made way too much sense to learn the language before I came). Of course you have that one person you follow around the whole time because they were the one that reached out and made you feel like they cared. Thankfully for me it was Natali who I already knew and was excited to work alongside. She keeps telling me, “Its ok, you will have to do it for the next intern.” J

Ive been on many short term mission trips through my church, Crosspointe Church. I never knew how different the immediate feelings and thoughts would be from those trips to this year long commitment. When you go on a week long mission trip, there is so much excitement and just trying to consume everything as quickly as possible because reality is that you will leave soon. This is totally different. I almost feel like I am in slow motion while everything else is on fast forward around me. I am trying to process everything, pick up and pay attention to everything, discern so much, and understand the systems behind everything. There is no thought of when I leave, there are only thoughts of how to settle in and make this my lifestyle, how to function in this environment most effectively. So that has been my prayer, that the Lord would show me how to function in this lifestyle in the most glorifying way to HIM. That the Lord would show me schedules and systems that work best for me to pour into the girls, invest in the ministry, and allow for the word to renew and transform me.

Before I left Valdosta, I made four extremely Christ centered, edifying, encouraging, and challenging relationships with 4 AMAZING girls over the past year of my life. I know God ordained these girls into my life. They challenged me in my relationship with Christ simply by looking to me to speak truth. It always caused me to cling to the cross and run to scripture. I am so thankful for them and the way God has used them in my life. Since I have been here I have struggled with not being able to get in the word with these girls, do ministry with them, or talk to them whenever I want to about everything JESUS. But today the Lord revealed to me that even these girls were a part of his plan for me in Honduras, to show me what these relationships have meant and that I can have the same relationships with the girls here on the farm. That these girls need Christ centered, edifying, encouraging, and challenging relationships in their lives in the same way the girls and I in Valdosta do. He challenged me with being all in, showing me that my growth was not for my own sake but for the sake of the Gospel being made famous right here in these girls lives in Honduras. Thank you Jesus!