In my 22 years of life I have had the privilege of visiting four foreign countries. This week I will chalk that up to five. That’s a lot more than what most adults can say. I get “oh you’re so lucky!” or “it must be nice!” a lot! I’m not lucky. Lucky doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface.
The trips I have been on have been a lot less than glamourous. When people think of places like Costa Rica they think of the beaches and palm trees and all the ritzy places in the city. They never think of the third-world country that is the reality of the country. These are the places I’ve been and these are the places I love the most.
The first mission trip I went on was to Guatemala when I was 16 years old. I didn’t know what to expect and it was culture shock. Nine times out of ten there wasn’t a clean bathroom anywhere within a fifty mile radius. One time I had to use a cornfield, and lemme tell you, that was quite an experience! Haha! There were no five star restaurants for us to dine in either. During the day we had lunch at a local church. We ate whatever they ate, and being the picky eater I am, it was quite difficult since it was so much different than what I was used to.
The following year in Costa Rica we stayed in a hotel that had dirt all over the walls. In one room, I swear there was blood on the wall. It was pretty gross. There was also no air conditioning in any of the rooms, and might I add it was the middle of July. The whole week was like being in a sauna the whole time. The group carried around baby wipes and had to use them to wipe the sweat from our bodies at least once every other hour. It was hot and miserable and very far out of my comfort zone. And I don’t know how many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches I consumed that week. Ugh…
These trips are definitely not for the faint of heart neat freaks. However, it doesn’t matter how uncomfortable and dirty those two trips were, they were beyond rewarding. The purpose of the trips were to go into the schools, perform some dramas, and pass out the Book of Hope. Most of the performances were done outdoors with our stage being the dirty ground. When we walked in the kids lit up. Their little brown eyes glistened with excitement. The smiles when we distributed the books were priceless. If nothing else, their smiles are the reason I would go back over and over again.
While we were in Guatemala, we visited a village that had never seen white people. Their eyes were wide with wonder as we stepped out of the bus. They were even more excited when we started playing with them, and speaking to them in our broken Spanish. The satisfaction of knowing I made an impact in those kids’ lives is worth it to me.
It does have some other perks though. I have been to the ocean twice, and this week I’ll be going on a cruise in the Caribbean. I’m pretty stoked about it. This is how I can say I am truly blessed to have the privilege of being the one taking the good news to them. It is an honor to be chosen to do this, because I know a lot of people cannot handle it. The experience is truly humbling. I always come home realizing how spoiled I am! I have so much that I take for granted, and there the kids are lucky if they get new shoes. It’s a heartbreaking realization. I’m praying about my next venture, but I am so ready to get down and dirty. Hopefully in India. J
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