Dear Friends and Family,
I need to warn you: I just returned from a meaningful mission trip experience. I met some people who were very different than me, I served those who have far less than me, and I got to see what life in another context looks like. I left my schedule, my community and my comfort zone to try something new. I did things I didn’t know I could and was stretched in ways I didn’t expect. And it was really amazing… but coming home… well… it’s harder than I thought it would be.
When I first showed up in the community I visited, I didn’t expect that just a short time later I would feel so torn about leaving. There were people who it was hard to say goodbye to. However I know this journey is not over I will see them again.
Don’t get me wrong. I was pretty exhausted upon coming home and there sure is something nice about being back – nice in a long-nap-and-warm-shower kind of way. But things are different. I’m noticing things I didn’t see before… like that I have a bed and shower and food in the fridge and a place to come home to. Not everyone I met on my mission trip had those things… but they had other things like warm smiles and creativity and joy that wasn’t reliant on owning stuff. It makes me feel a little guilty.
Something else I am noticing back home is – to be a little blunt – you spend money on things… and to be honest, it almost makes me angry because it’s like you don’t understand that your money could be used to get clothes or food or school supplies for kids who don’t have those things and for parents who wish they could buy them. You could be sending money to a service organization to help them love people better or to a struggling church so they could improve their building. It shows that there is plenty to be done and this is why the Great Commission is more than just a mission; when God says “GO!” it hit different.
