Thursday, June 7, 2007

Romanticizing The Mission Field.

Each trip I go on takes me further and further away from when I was a teenager and I romanticized the mission field. My first trip to Prague reminded me a lot of the USA, except for the food and the mode of travel. My next trip was to South Africa, but again, I stayed at the Wilhites house which was (mostly) free from any wild and insect life. But my eyes were being opened whenever we traveled to the dusty village of Mothiba in Africa. There I saw chicken heads, feet, and claws in a pot. There I felt the bumps along a poorly constructed dirt road. There I experienced (in a small way) the African way of life. Going back to the Czech Republic for the second time was a tad bit different from my first trip, since we headed out for the countryside instead of staying in the city. But the countryside of the Czech Republic reminded me so much of Pennsylvania and the village of Modrice was very quaint.

Coming to Thailand has got to be the most interesting experience of all of my trips. For starters, I'm living here. I'm not a guest in someone's house; I will not go home in two weeks. My clothes and personal items are all stored in a standing wardrobe and my suitcases are stashed under the stairs. This is my home for the next two months. Seeing the way the kitchen operates was a definite eye-opener. Susie and April (this is a second stay for both) are very used to it, but to my unaccustomed eye, it's different.

And this is the mission field.

Having been in this country for a couple of days, I can already tell this is going to be an amazing stay. I've had to kick myself out of my American mentality and force myself to try new things. By nature, I am a very consistent person. True, I'm spontaneous, but I'm very consistent in my spontaneity (is that possible?!?!). Going out of my comfort zone has been the theme so far, but that is a good thing! When I get comfortable and "know what to do", my dependency on God drops swiftly.

April and I were talking about how people back in the USA often have the perception that all a missionary does is hand out tracts all day and do Bible/discipleship studies. But that is so not true! There are the "mundane" things of life that need to be done. Meals cooked, floors washed, e-mails sent, blogs updated (!), going to 7-11, running to the mall and to the computer store, forgetting to take along packages for the post office so you have to have it run into town for 80 baht, and so many other things make up a day in the life of a missionary.

My mind still stumbles when I see a price tag of 45,000 baht and yesterday Pookie and I had the hardest time trying to convert that into American dollars:o). I can't believe the sun sets by 7 PM and is up by 5 AM. Staying home at night is a change, but a very nice change! Tasting the food is going to be trial and error before I know what is spicy and hot and what is not. But I wouldn't change it for the world! This is where God put me and I'm enjoying every minute!

3 comments:

Melissa said...

wow, you are in Thailand! I will definitely pray for you while you are over there. :) And if going to 7-11 is "mundane", then I like mundane things. 7-11 has slurpees.....yummy! Anyways, hope you stay well and get a lot accomplished. I hope I will have a similar opportunity someday.....it sounds like something every Christian should do at least once in their life. My parents are going to be going on some missions trips soon, hopefully. They feel God has called them to full-time service, although they are unsure as to the capacity. You never know where God will lead. Have a great summer, Anne, I will check back and see what you're up to.

Anonymous said...

Wow, i've never blogged or commented on-line before, but after spending 2 hours reading all of yours, I feel like i'm living the experience through you! Lol. I got your e-mail, but I feel you'll read this before any reply I send to you. Please keep blogging over there, because I know sarah and I will follow it all. Thank you for soldiering in the field for Christ. I never had appreciation for it, until I read what you have done. Little sister, you have made me look back at my lack of missions with regret. All the more for us to pray harder for your successful witnessing. And we will. Until we see you, keep writing, enjoy your summer, and know that your "home team" loves you and is praying for you.

Tiffany said...

I am so glad you are enjoying it there. I wish I would have had a chance to go on a mission field. It will be exciting to see how God uses all these trips in your life...where He is going to take you in the future.