My Magnificent Obsession
I was trying to think of something to write about that wasn't related in some way to missions or what I am learning in my missions class this semester. But I failed miserably because the reality is that is who I am to the very core. I am a missionary. Yes, I haven't spent time on the field for more than a month. And yes, I don't even know if I will make it through a 6 month internship. But, my heart and mind are that of a missionary. I think, dream, read and talk missions. So, it makes sense that that's what I would write as well.
Yesterday, I was in the car with my boyfriend, Spencer, heading back to campus after spending Fall Break at his home in Indiana. And somehow, like always, we got to talking about missions. One day, he's gonna get sick of talking missions with me. I guarantee it. But we were talking about different missions organizations and Casas por Cristo (check out https://www.casasporcristo.org for info on the ministry) came up in our conversation. Spencer has gone on a trip to Juarez, Mexico with them, but I never have. But I know the ministry and the executive director, David. He was my trip leader to Ecuador and a huge reason for why I went to Italy in 2005 with CIY, the year after I went to Ecuador.
The Christmas after I was in Ecuador I received a phone call from the head of the CIY missions department. And he talked to me about my trip and asked me what I thought about it all. And then he told me why he was calling. I had been given an outstanding review by my trip leader, David, and he was wanting to personally invite me to take part in a longer, specialty trip that coming (2005) summer to either Italy or South Africa. I told him that I was honored to receive the invitation, but had younger siblings who needed a chance one day to go on missions trips and I felt like I couldn't ask my friends and family again to support me financially to go. But I ended the conversation promising to pray about it and to let them know if anything changed.
Well after I got off the phone, I talked to my parents and said I wanted to go to Italy. They weren't so crazy about that idea and really encouraged me to go to South Africa (p.s. I have never really had a desire to go to Africa... not sure why, but maybe one day that will change). Well, I didn't want to even consider South Africa, so I kinda just brushed it off and didn't think twice. Until my mommy said something to her Sunday School class at church one day to ask for people to pray about it and the possibility for me to go overseas again. Well, before leaving church that day, I had more than half of what I would need to go to Italy promised to me with the possibility of even more coming in without me even having to write one support letter. I was blown away and took that as a sign that I should apply and see what happens. Well, when I went to apply, the trip to South Africa was full and Italy was open. So, I applied for Italy and soon got accepted and began the preparations for going to Italy for 3 1/2 weeks.
That trip was an incredible one. It was a very tough trip to be on because once again I was the youngest on my team and didn't know anyone. This time I didn't have my best friend, Anna, to go with and I wasn't sure where I fit. Much like my trip to Poland that I wrote about a few weeks ago, I wasn't sure why I was there or what the point of me going was. But now that I look back on it, I learned a lot. We were there to encourage the missionaries and to take some of the workload off of their shoulders. We were working with a Team Expansion team of 2 families, 1 married couple and 2 single guys (one of them is now married) in the city of Ancona. We were there to help them create small group lessons, hand out English surveys at the University and simply be there to encourage them. We also were there to learn about culture and how to immerse oneself in the host culture in order to learn to survive and do ministry. It was a crazy a lot of work. But it was an experience of a life time.
While we were there we got to travel down the coast to Lecce to attend a Christian convention (nothing quite like the NMC or NACC) with members of other churches in Italy. We got to stay in an old fortress that had been turned into a resort, eat amazing Italian food, walk to the sea just two miles away and dance at night with the locals. It was so fun. I got to spend all of my time with the missionary kids there so that their parents could participate in the services and sermons. It was so fun to interact with them and to try to learn from them as they laughed at our few words of broken, choppy Italian. I learned a lot that weekend about what it means to worship even in the midst of the reality that the church is dying in Italy. And I was reminded of what it means to join besides believers of another culture in worship before the God who created all.
Along with taking a trip from Ancona to Lecce, we took a trip from Ancona to Rome. That was an incredible experience and one that I will have to write about another day because this is already quite long. But I can say that I learned a lot and stood in utter amazement of what I saw.
Italy was a trip that only God knew why I was chosen to go on. But it was a trip that I would never have gotten the opportunity for if it hadn't been for my trip to Ecuador and my leader, David. Once again... here is a piece of missions that has shaped who I am and my heart and love for the world. This is yet another piece of me.
Yesterday, I was in the car with my boyfriend, Spencer, heading back to campus after spending Fall Break at his home in Indiana. And somehow, like always, we got to talking about missions. One day, he's gonna get sick of talking missions with me. I guarantee it. But we were talking about different missions organizations and Casas por Cristo (check out https://www.casasporcristo.org for info on the ministry) came up in our conversation. Spencer has gone on a trip to Juarez, Mexico with them, but I never have. But I know the ministry and the executive director, David. He was my trip leader to Ecuador and a huge reason for why I went to Italy in 2005 with CIY, the year after I went to Ecuador.
The Christmas after I was in Ecuador I received a phone call from the head of the CIY missions department. And he talked to me about my trip and asked me what I thought about it all. And then he told me why he was calling. I had been given an outstanding review by my trip leader, David, and he was wanting to personally invite me to take part in a longer, specialty trip that coming (2005) summer to either Italy or South Africa. I told him that I was honored to receive the invitation, but had younger siblings who needed a chance one day to go on missions trips and I felt like I couldn't ask my friends and family again to support me financially to go. But I ended the conversation promising to pray about it and to let them know if anything changed.
Well after I got off the phone, I talked to my parents and said I wanted to go to Italy. They weren't so crazy about that idea and really encouraged me to go to South Africa (p.s. I have never really had a desire to go to Africa... not sure why, but maybe one day that will change). Well, I didn't want to even consider South Africa, so I kinda just brushed it off and didn't think twice. Until my mommy said something to her Sunday School class at church one day to ask for people to pray about it and the possibility for me to go overseas again. Well, before leaving church that day, I had more than half of what I would need to go to Italy promised to me with the possibility of even more coming in without me even having to write one support letter. I was blown away and took that as a sign that I should apply and see what happens. Well, when I went to apply, the trip to South Africa was full and Italy was open. So, I applied for Italy and soon got accepted and began the preparations for going to Italy for 3 1/2 weeks.
That trip was an incredible one. It was a very tough trip to be on because once again I was the youngest on my team and didn't know anyone. This time I didn't have my best friend, Anna, to go with and I wasn't sure where I fit. Much like my trip to Poland that I wrote about a few weeks ago, I wasn't sure why I was there or what the point of me going was. But now that I look back on it, I learned a lot. We were there to encourage the missionaries and to take some of the workload off of their shoulders. We were working with a Team Expansion team of 2 families, 1 married couple and 2 single guys (one of them is now married) in the city of Ancona. We were there to help them create small group lessons, hand out English surveys at the University and simply be there to encourage them. We also were there to learn about culture and how to immerse oneself in the host culture in order to learn to survive and do ministry. It was a crazy a lot of work. But it was an experience of a life time.
While we were there we got to travel down the coast to Lecce to attend a Christian convention (nothing quite like the NMC or NACC) with members of other churches in Italy. We got to stay in an old fortress that had been turned into a resort, eat amazing Italian food, walk to the sea just two miles away and dance at night with the locals. It was so fun. I got to spend all of my time with the missionary kids there so that their parents could participate in the services and sermons. It was so fun to interact with them and to try to learn from them as they laughed at our few words of broken, choppy Italian. I learned a lot that weekend about what it means to worship even in the midst of the reality that the church is dying in Italy. And I was reminded of what it means to join besides believers of another culture in worship before the God who created all.
Along with taking a trip from Ancona to Lecce, we took a trip from Ancona to Rome. That was an incredible experience and one that I will have to write about another day because this is already quite long. But I can say that I learned a lot and stood in utter amazement of what I saw.
Italy was a trip that only God knew why I was chosen to go on. But it was a trip that I would never have gotten the opportunity for if it hadn't been for my trip to Ecuador and my leader, David. Once again... here is a piece of missions that has shaped who I am and my heart and love for the world. This is yet another piece of me.
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