{extra + ordinary}
~ordinary women being used by an extraordinary God~
~doing ordinary things in an extraordinary way~
~living extra in the ordinary~
Next up is the lovely Christine! She has a job in the healthcare field, is active in serving and leading in her local church, loves being with children, and enjoys hanging out with her friends after work and on weekends. Sounds pretty normal, right? Like many other twenty-somethings, right? Except.... that she does all of this in another culture, in another country, and in another language! She is currently living and doing life in Honduras. You can read about her journey and her adventures over on her blog. I feel like she is a legit Honduran now. ;) She has truly just fit right in with the people and culture. In the time that I've known Christine I feel like she has lived more years in Honduras than she has here in the States. It is evident from her life that she has grown to love these people as their stories have become woven into the story of her life. I love the honesty with which Christine speaks of her experiences in another country. Life as a missionary is not always one giant adventure as some may think. Life in general is hard. It is not always easy. The same is especially true when living as a missionary in another country. She experiences bad days at work, friends who are suffering deeply, the frustrations of living as a single woman, physical exhaustion.....BUT she also experiences the immeasureable joy of knowing Jesus and of getting to be a part of Him bringing others into a relationship with Him. She trusts Him in the sorrows and in the joys and she presses on.....and she inspires and encourages me as she does it!!
After several short term mission trips in college, God really opened my heart to the idea of missions. No one in my family had ever gone on a mission trip, knew missionaries, talked about missionaries, and far less...supported missionaries. This was something different from the norm of my family that God was preparing me for.
I remember thinking...how can God use me...little ol me? I have nothing to offer. I remember one day when I was preparing to go on my 2nd trip, praying and fighting with God about going to the field one day...I put stipulations on God and said when You do this for me, I will do this for You. God broke me of MY plans and sent me to the field without those stipulations. I had to trust Him. I have to trust Him.
The story of how I got to Honduras is totally God. I wanted to go somewhere after college for a couple of months to see missions for not just a week, but a couple of months. I never thought I would be able to use my degree on the mission field. I thought...it is not as practical as a nurse, or doctor, or physical therapist so how could I ever go to the field. Then a friend told me about missionaries in Honduras that were in need of a Medical Technologist at a hospital they were at. She had no idea I was praying. Then I had to look at a map to see where Honduras was...no joke. The first time I came to Honduras in 2005, I fell in love with the people. There was no going back...God had gripped my heart. After 4½ years of saying I would go one day, God finally got me here in January 2010.
So, after being on the field for 3 years, I would say there are blessings and difficulties of being here. There is a huge learning curve of learning the culture in which I am surrounded. I have been learning since my first trip here and still learning new things daily. There are things that I love of the culture and things I hate, but this doesn't change my love for the people. The people here are a very oppressed people with a government that takes advantage, a police that does nothing for crime, and a people that have a poor man's mentality. Living about an hour outside of the nearest city, we pretty much live in the Wild Wild West where people take justice into their own hands.
My first year here, one of the missionaries peaked his head in the lab while I was looking in the microscope and said, “I love to see people doing what they are called to do.” I work in the lab on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays when the clinic is open. Tuesdays and Thursdays I have to prepare for Bible Studies, Sunday school, English class, etc. In the hospital I get to see God work in marvelous ways. We have patients that come to the hospital and we can't figure out what's wrong with them and by all medical standards will die. We don't have near the medical resources as the states or even the hospitals in the cities here. Sometimes, we see God save people's lives in such a tangible way. Then we get to point them toward the cross and tell them that God has a purpose and a plan for their lives.
I love working in the local church as well. I am very involved in leadership of a local Christians in Action church plant. We will have our anniversary celebration next month in April. The church was started in a small mud hut about 8 years ago. I have taught Sunday School since a month after I arrived in 2010. I absolutely love teaching the kids and wouldn't have it any other way. I also get the opportunity now to preach sometimes since my Spanish has drastically improved since arrival. It always makes me nervous, but God is so good.
I am currently living in a little “casita” (little house) at the orphanage that is part of the hospital ministry. This is the 8th place I have lived in over the last 3 years including living with a Honduran family for a little over a year and a half. It is a blessing to be near the kids some of which I have done Bible study with in past years. There is a real lack of spiritual education here in our area. I'm praying about how I can be more involved here and meet the spiritual needs of the kids.
We had the privilege to send out the first missionary from our area back in mid-February. A young girl named Karla in her 20's has gone to Mauritania and is there for 3 months. She will be back mid-April. It was a huge blessing to see her church rally around her and send her off with their blessing. Many churches here are against missions. I am currently teaching English to two ladies who may one day go overseas as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment