Hello everyone! So much has happened in these first weeks in Albania! As I said before, my team was able to spend the day in Rome which was crazy cool! Afterwards we went to our ministry site and were able to have a few days of rest which was very needed! In that few days my team was given the opportunity to play as extras in a film being produced by a Christian organization to use as a door to give the gospel, to see the beach, and to find a shop that had wifi! We also found a shop nearby that carries Nutella (Praise the Lamb)! The food here is very good. Bread and cheese at every meal and the cook is the sweetest woman ever. Life in that first week was an incredible high.
And then the work started. To start out, my team has been given the task to prepare the campgrounds for the future camps and visitors. This includes weeding gardens, being shepherds, and shoveling poop. Loads and loads of poop. Pig’s poop, sheep’s poop, goat’s poop… It’s everywhere. And the task is hard. And gross. And smelly. It’s very easy to say that the high has faded. The rest is over. And the glamour is gone.
I know what you’re thinking: “I thought missionaries spent their days dancing in the streets with children, or preaching in churches?”
So very often, we tend to romanticize the idea of what a missionary does. It’s very rewarding, don’t get me wrong.
But it’s frustrating.
You don’t magically become some holy warrior for God. You still get upset. You still get exhausted. You get sick of seeing the same people every single hour of every single day (Except for my team; you people rock 😉 ).
It has been frustrating for me personally to see worth and value in what I am doing. It is hard to do all the behind the scenes work and not to see the fruit of our labour immediately. It is hard having to get myself up in the morning to make time for Jesus and prayer (I know, hard to believe). It’s even harder listening to someone you barely know tell you what you need to improve in your life. I can definitely say that all the glitter and glamour of the mainstream idea of missions work has worn away.
And yet, it is still beautiful.
I don’t really want the glamour. I love my new mismatched family. I love that I see them as my new sisters and brothers. I love my ministry. Because it is what God has given me to grow. This time has already opened my eyes to the possibilities of life rather than living the cookie-cutter lifestyle of mediocre Christianity. I know what it is to not only go to church, but to be the church every day. To build each other up rather than to tear each other down. To share an experience with a group of believers and to learn from each other.
I love what God is doing even though I can’t understand right now. I am extremely excited to see what the future holds for our team(: please keep us in your prayers!
God bless!
Karson
