The Struggle of missions is Real.
I think over missions overall I have been having to battle against a lot of self reliance, my own frustrations at myself, and attentiveness in a group environment. Rather than chilling in the kitchen and doing dishes to get away from my other teammates, I need to not always be the first one that jumps up even it’s something as simple as prayer to serving, but just to quietly remind the group through quietly asking, “hey, can anyone help with with x,y or z?” is just as effective if not more effective as “YO! CAN SOMEONE DO THE DISHES?” With the help of a friend, I kind of realized I didn’t do the dishes, because I wanted to serve, but because the environment of missions has been quite overwhelming for me personally. Interacting with people although a genuine joy is quite challenging getting to know the other team members in a group environment, because it’s so loud sometimes. (Mealtimes, UYO etc)
Most of my friends and teammates, if I have not mentioned this before are Asian, so looking at their culture through my own, in my opinion they can be not only very subtle, but also very sensitive through the different avenues in the way that they communicate. It’s interesting that I am still learning something new from my friends, even after in some cases two or three years of knowing them.
Has been a real struggle for me personally. Even though I pushed myself a lot doing low-impact workouts like swimming, social dance, and also weight training technically, before my foot was fully healed, I still haven’t been able to keep up with my teammates. My legs just haven’t been enough for me to get to my previous strength level, so when I do PT I have had to ask a guy to restructure the workouts. His name will be now and forevermore to be known as “The Commander”, because he’s in charge of our PT plans. Every single day of PT has been such a struggle. Everyday, I am always the last one to finish everything, but my teammates have been super encouraging about it. They always shout my name, and clap for me, just trying to encourage and love and support me, which honestly just makes me feel more awkward at times. (insert derp face).
Overwhelmed.. Frustrated… discouraged… ok I’m walking away now…. Try Again
Perhaps I have always known this, but every time I am faced with a challenge typically I break it down, or I feel overwhelmed, and then frustrated with myself, then discouraged, and then I walk away in order to cool off a bit, and afterwards I will try again. I have had to wrestle through this cycle a lot on missions, wrestle with a lot of anxiety. Etc.
Differences in People, but the same Body…
Many of my friends/teammates are from different countries, are different ethnicities, are from different cultures, speak different languages, have different passions, but together we are one team, with one mission that goes to one city, and is a part of one body, together we serve the greater body of Christ, to glorify him in every aspect, and making disciples of all nations in the name of the Father, the son, and the holy spirit.
1st Corinthians 12:12-31.
-Team Unity: that despite our differences God’s Grace would overarch any differences that would separate us from God’s mission.
-For the Gospel: as we boldly love on the students at CCA, we would boldly share the Gospel with them.
-Personal: Grow in awareness, discernment, and working through my own emotions
