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Serving overseas is...
Crying because the first time you make local rice it
burns and the second time it’s too soggy. It’s trying to bake in a gas oven
without a temperature gage and with cooking taking up so much of your time, you’d
rather just not eat (husbands & children do not feel the same way). It’s
having to relearn the art of cooking (not that you had mastered it before) and doing it so much that you regret taking Art in high school and wish you had taken Home Economics instead.
Thinking you got this whole latrine thing down… only to
completely miss the hole and pee on your feet. It’s realizing you should have
brought toilet paper with you… (yes. true story).
Finding cockroaches under your sink, behind your bed,
in your cupboards and under your clothes. It’s finding cockroaches everywhere
and yelling for your husband to come and destroy them. Every. Single. Time.
It’s thinking you will never find the courage to kill them for yourself.
Face-timing your best friend and screaming when a rat suddenly runs into your living room. It’s yelling for your husband to save you because
your laughing best friend can’t. It’s reaching for a shirt in your closet when
you meet a mouse staring down at you. You yell for your husband (again…) and
wonder just how many there are and when they will make their debut.
It’s at least once a month where you break down crying
because there was another spider in your bed, you had to sweep 5 times that day, you just realized you are raising a toddler in Africa or you burnt the beans!
Going to send an email only to have power (and
internet) go out. For a few minutes. For a few hours. For a few days. You just never know.
Hand-washing poopy cloth diapers and trying to find the
joy of the Lord in that moment. It’s bleeding knuckles after washing cloth
diapers because you are hand-washing the wrong way.
Covering your child with a mosquito net while he sleeps
so malaria carrying mosquitoes can’t get him. It’s creating screens for every window using caulking, staples, screen and velcro.
When you realize you are raising a teething toddler in Africa. It's having a panic attack when he puts his dirty hands in his mouth or almost puts a cockroach in his mouth. It's when a “used to be fun bath time” turns into “don’t splash!” so he doesn’t get sick from the water. It's the fact that EVERYTHING goes into his mouth. It’s crying just a little because he is never clean no matter how many times you wipe him down or give him a bath.
When you forget that you can’t drink the tap water and you run your toothbrush under it and realize you will not be brushing your teeth tonight... you have to wait until it drys hopefully by tomorrow.
Walking down the street and being shouted at “mono!” or
“muzungu!” or being charged double (or more) when you go to buy something. It's being told you look fat... and coming to terms with the fact that it is a compliment and not an insult.
Learning to drive with vastly different "Rules of the Road"... (mainly one: biggest vehicle wins, unless it's a cow... then you wait). It's driving on the opposite side of the road,
trying to avoid massive potholes, huge speed “humps,” ditches, large roaming
animals, other weaving vehicles and people.
Missing Tim Hortons Iced Capps, chocolate glazed donuts
and cheese bagels toasted with butter & herb and garlic cream cheese… (mmm,
cream cheese)… and pretty much everything on their menu. It’s missing “fast
food” in general. Fast food here is a goat tied to a boda boda (motorcycle)
speeding down the highway.
HOWEVER…
It’s also… reconnecting with old friends and sharing stories
over chai. It’s seeing your wedding picture displayed proudly on their mud hut
wall.
It’s encouraging pastors and church leaders in a village
church made of mud and a straw thatched roof, in the middle of a massive
thunderstorm.
It’s sharing an Indian meal with your Hindu neighbors. It’s
celebrating a birthday by surprising a dear friend with a party, who deserves
every happiness.
It’s reading an encouraging word from a dear friend back
home and longing to spend time with them. It's being incredibly grateful for friends and loved ones who support your decision to follow the Lord and the sacrifice they also make for you to do so.
It's thinking... "How will we survive with a toddler and without grandparents around?"... and leaning on God for your strength, joy & peace. It's knowing those grandparents are a message or video call away... and will even come visit you (well, their beloved grandchild that is...).
It’s spending time with a girl struggling with prostitution
and praying for God to move in her life. It's taking the time to love on her. It’s sharing with her that she is of
great value and worth.
It’s struggling to learn a new language so you can connect
with those who don’t speak English. It’s attempting to speak the local language
in the market and bringing laughter to the vendors when your pronunciation is
wrong but they applaud you for trying.
It’s spending time in a tailor’s shop comforting a dear
friend who is mourning the sudden loss of a brother. He leaves behind a young wife and 7 children.
It’s praying in a store selling household items, with a girl
who is having horrible nightmares and can’t sleep. It’s seeing her the next day
with a smile on her face and sharing that she slept well that night
after praying.
It’s learning to trust the Lord in the area of finances,
good health and safety. It’s learning to live bravely in the uncertainties of this missionary lifestyle and all the challenges it brings.
It's living “in between” three homes, but being rooted Christ so that you can love
without walls. It’s trading in comfort for the cost of serving no matter where
you are called or what you are called to do. It’s knowing that the seemingly “insignificant” sacrifices
aren’t for nothing. It’s all for Christ.
It’s saying
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