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“Wow! A Real Live Missionary ate at our house!” Was that really me they were talking about?! I do have the bazillion pictures tucked under my arm to show a little bit of our life in Guatemala. I am the only one in Minnesota wearing a jacket even though it’s a spring day of 68 degrees. I pray it wasn’t me in the outdated clothes! Yes, that’s one of my hats, I am a missionary, but that’s not how I think of myself. Should it be? I always pictured missionaries as people who ate things not meant to be eaten, liked bugs and snakes, walked for days in the pouring rain and enjoyed it, never wore make-up or used a hair dryer…and the list goes on.
The times I have been back in the United States I have noticed a change in myself. A bug in my cup? No big deal, just flick it out and I’m good to go. A three hour car ride on smooth roads with lines feels like a short little jaunt. I can turn on the faucet and not only does water always come out, but I can decide if I want it hot or cold and if I want to drink it!
These are all outside items. How has my inner being changed? Has becoming a missionary made my thoughts more Christ-like? Again when I return to the States I have noticed changes. It’s hard for me to hear gift requests of a stereo or video games when my next door neighbors would like a bed rather than the planks of wood that they sleep on. I go to the grocery store and all I can do is walk up and down the aisles thinking of the hungry village people whose homes, livelihoods, and families were swept away in the land slide. There are so many things around me that it’s easy to become distracted and forget that there are souls crying out to know Christ. Since being a missionary I would say that my heart is more in tune with the unheard cries. I’ve become better at not seeing labels; the transvestite, the drunk on the corner, the rich snob, but instead seeing a hurting person who needs to know Jesus as their savior.
When it comes to outside appearances I don’t fit the missionary mold, I wear make-up, I dry my hair, and I get tired of the rainy season. What defines a missionary is on the inside. When we yearn to see people come to Jesus we have a part of the heart of Christ, a missionary heart.
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