To Be a Missionary...

This last weekend was our first of three Ministry weekends, where our teams are divided into smaller groups and living in Host Homes in El Tejar. Both teams are working with different churches to help out where they could use help during this time, and are seeking to learn as much as possible from the church, the people and the culture. For the coming weekends, we will be staying in the same host homes, giving us a chance to get the know the families better and to interact with them more. I am in a host home with Sam and Keryn, who are both interns this year. Our home is small and busy, with people, dogs and a parakeet all making it their own home. The food is wonderful, though after this weekend I have become sick; my "Canadian Stomach" is finally catching up with me.

At first, getting sick was wearing on me emotionally as well as physically, because it seems I have only been presented physical challenges to overcome in our time here; first the crutches, than my hand, and now my stomach. I awoke this morning with a nasty fever, so sick that I could hardly make it down the hallway to the bathroom without fainting. Another girl in the program has been on bed rest for the last week or so, due to an extreme case of food poisoning, and I have been worried by the idea that my sickness might last that long. Spending the afternoon in bed unable to move is never something I enjoy, but especially when I know I could be out and about doing things, being involved in helping people or seeking God's will in some way. In the midst of my feeling awful about my condition, however, God sent me some encouragement through the form of one of the friends I have made here at GBS.

Before leaving for the weekend, I had added one of the Guatemalan guys on Facebook, a friend I had met through meal times. When I came back from the weekend, I was surprised to see that he had gone through a bunch of my photos and commented on them. He was particularly taken with a photo that captured the sunset from my dorm room back at Prairie. He liked it so much that he made it his profile picture, with a caption explaining that I, his Canadian missionary friend, had taken this photo at my school back in Canada. He also wrote about how it, for him, captured the glory and vastness of God in a simple photograph. The fact that he called me a missionary, when that is what I have been going to school for for the last few months, surprised me, as in Canada most would not consider me a missionary, but a missionary in training. This, however, reminded me of the concept that we are all missionaries, all put on the earth to fulfill God's will; we don't have to have special training or be in a foreign country to be a missionary, I can be a missionary wherever God puts me.

I also found this encouraging looking into the future. Ii have no idea what I am going to do after this year of school. I have applied for the internship in my program, and I would love the opportunity to do it, but I don't know if that's where I'm supposed to go, what I am supposed to be doing. My best friend is also applying for the male internship, which would present a very interesting situation were he and I to receive the internships. The reminder that I can do God's will no matter where I am or what I am doing was comforting in this time of not knowing whether or not I will be returning to Prairie in the fall. God is good; even, especially, when times are hard down here. His grace is evident in all of creation, and His providence is a blessing I do not deserve.