For my Southern Baptist friends, this is the time of year we begin to focus on international missions and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. And my non-Southern Baptist friends, who don’t know Lottie Moon from Goodnight Moon, are thinking about Operation Christmas Child and Compassion International and other ways to give this Christmas season. So in that spirit, here are 10 things I learned on mission trips:
1. Not all missionaries live in grass huts. All the missionaries I have personally visited lived in homes very similar to mine OR in inner city missions.
2, Few other countries put ice in their drinks. And it’s really not that big a deal.
3. Kids are kids are kids. From Ecuador to Houston to Vail to Mozambique, kids like attention and love and playing and having their picture taken.
4. Missions involves hard work. But not always unpleasant, dirty work--sometimes it’s the most fun, most beautiful work you’ve ever done! (Hmm…and sometimes the unpleasant, dirty work could be the most beautiful work you’ve ever done…)
5. Toilets drain in the opposite direction in the southern hemisphere.
6. People appreciate your attempts to speak their language, no matter how bad you are at it.
7. The missionary mealtime prayer ("Lord, I’ll swallow it down if you’ll keep it down") works. Sometimes you just can’t think too hard about what you’re eating or where you’re eating it.
8. Music reaches beyond language barriers.
9. If you feel sick on an airplane, don’t mention it to the flight attendants until after you are in the air. (More explanation of that one can be found here.)
10. Missionaries are real people. The only difference between them and the rest of the body of Christ is where God calls them to serve Him. More times than not, they consider where they live “home,” and it’s right where they most want to be. (They just wish it was easier to visit the US sometimes.) And they come in all shapes and sizes and job descriptions. Whatever skills and talents God has blessed you with can be used to serve Him and build His kingdom, wherever He places you! What a relief to know that He’s in control of all these things, and we can trust Him to work His will in our lives. So His yoke really is easy and His burden really is light!
I’m sure there are some readers out there with more mission experiences than I have, and who are deeper thinkers than I am…so what have you learned on mission trips?
5 comments:
Amen!
Kecia, I really enjoyed this. Hold missionaries in high regard. Not sure about the toilet thing.. never really thought about it:)
Awesome post. My editions are: #11 - We're also not spiritual giants, just people with a calling to share the gospel in a different country. You have that same calling to your own neighborhood. #12 - And yes, I realize there are lost people in America. DERRRR!
I am opposed to not putting ice in drinks. I really couldn't get over that part, and that you said, "It's not a big deal." What????!! Honey, in my world, the most coveted thing in my freezer is the ice tray. If it's empty the world just might end! It almost did just the other day, for exactly that reason!! :)
True words, Kecia. It's like you have come to visit us! Ice in drinks is a luxury, so is having a microwave to heat up leftovers, so is having a refrigerator or a washing machine. But when I enjoy those things, I am so much more grateful and aware that they ARE luxuries! My neighbors enjoy life without all of them :-)
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