Little did I know, I'd be overcome in a matter of minutes.
As I paged through a couple friends' pictures, I noticed one friend in particular. He posted some pictures of a missions trip he went on to Guatamala. As I scrolled through each picture, I began to weep at my kitchen table. The faces of children who have almost nothing. Yet, smiling. Laughing.
I then began to think about when I lived overseas for a summer in high school. I miss the mission field. I miss being a part of touching lives in another country. Yes, we can do that here, I understand.
But what you don't understand, is there's something different about Latin American culture.
The passion is unexplainable.
The love for God is unmatchable.
The devotion is indescribable.
The hunger for truth is undeniable.
The worship is incredible.
The commitment is unbelievable.
I miss being in a foreign country, where I'm the minority. Where everybody looks at me and knows ooo....he's not from around here.
I miss speaking spanish to little children who innocently think I'm 100% fluent, while I'm basking in the moment, because I understand every word of their tiny vocabulary and small sentence structures.
I miss praying prayers for adults in Spanish, praying for God to touch their life and transpose them into something great, all while they weep under the presence of God.
I miss laughing at jokes, more so because I actually get it, not because it's that funny.
I miss learning new colloquial phrases.
I miss the culture. I miss the food. I miss everything.
I miss it so much.
I know that God has called me to do something in the missions field. Be it overseas, here, I don't know. That's a huge part of my life that I don't know yet. But still, I sit here, tears and all, thinking of the opportunities, the commitment, the desire, the burden, the need, the availability, the will of God, the people, and all that entails.
I'll be back soon. I know that.
"I have but one candle of life to burn, and I would rather burn it out in a land filled with darkness than in a land flooded with light"
-John Keith Falconer
1 comment:
Thanks for sharing this! (I'm not sure you actually remember meeting me) I recently went to Argentina and am currently planning a mission trip to El Salvador. When I talk about missions, and helping people in other countries people look at me as if I'm crazy. Why can't I have the same passion and desire to help Americans. When I read your post, I got it. I understand how you can share moments, then suddenly its as if an entire culture has captured your heart. Thanks for making me feel like I'm not the only person in the world with those feelings. :)
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