Ready Or Not Here I Come!

Feb, 6, 2013 
                As most of you already know my missions trip to Vancouver is coming up pretty fast, maybe even to fast.I just finished a course called "Perspectives in Missions". The class was really helpful but also changed my perspective on short-term missions. In class we talked quite a bit about the pros and cons of short-term missions. Some of which I have never even thought about before. Before I took this class I had never thought of there being any cons in short-term missions. I think that learning about the cons of short-term missions has really helped me in preparing for the missions trip. I do not want to be one of those people who are disrespectful of culture or who come back from a missions trip changed for a week or two and then back to the way they were before. Being in the kaleo program I have grown so much and I don't want to loose that as soon as I am not here anymore. I want the growth that I have experienced to last and be a forever change in my life and I want the missions trip to have that same effect. Overall, the course really helped to equip me for my up coming missions trip. However, even though I am more equipped for the missions trip I still have some anticipations and challenges.

            I am really excited for the missions trip. It will be my first missions trip ever and I am really looking forward to it. I have heard great things from many other people I know who have been on missions trips. However, I am feeling a bit nervous for the ministry we will be participating in at Potters Place; especially because I feel like that will be the hardest part because of all of the brokeness. A type of brokeness that I have never experienced before. After taking the "Perspectives in Missions" course i have gained another fear about the trip. The new fear that I have is the spiritual low that we talked about in class. In class we talked about people who come back from short-term missions trips often feel a spiritual low and this is something that I am beginning to fear and hope does not happen to me or anyone else on my missions team or the Mexico one. However, I think that learning about this in class has helped me to prepare for if that does happen and it also provided me with a good warning so that if it does happen I will not be surprised by it.

           Some challenges that I have been facing as I have been patiently awaiting my missions trip are not knowing what to expect or how to prepare, I also fear not being able to connect with the people that I am supposed to be reaching out to because I have never done it before. Not knowing what to expect is not necessarily an bad thing because then I will not be going in to the trip with expectations that could potentially disappoint. However, it is a little scary because it is my first missions trip and I do not know what to expect, even though I learned a lot in class about missions. I also feel like I should be preparing some how but i just don't exactly know how. I have being praying as a way to prepare I just don't know how else I could. It would be greatly appreciated if you would all pray for me and my missions team as we all get ready for the trip and as we are on the trip. Overall I am really excited for the trip and can't wait for what God will do through us!