Forever Changed: A missionaries musings

[January 2020]

It’s been 6 yrs now since I first stepped out of the plane and into Liberia for the first time. I had no idea how much my life would change since then. Throughout the years, our ministry there has evolved, changed and grown…and so have I.

I’ve seen need like never before. I’ve felt the

overwhelming sense of helplessness as suffering was right before me and I was incapable of doing anything about it. I’ve experienced spiritual warfare pressing like a heavy weight on my body and in my mind that I had never felt. Been told horrific stories that one couldn’t even fathom. Felt the heaviness of hopelessness and living in survival mode.

But amidst all of that…there was more. Beyond the brokenness, the heartache and pain that this war torn country carried…I found glimmers of something that gave me hope and helped me to see the goodness of Jesus. I saw lives being changed, and prayers being answered. I marveled at the sense of community and the amount of joy amidst the lack of so much that I was accustomed to.

I have since discovered the true joy in simplicity…of washing my laundry by hand (even if it takes 2 hours because I waited too long) or enjoying a good nap on the cool tile in the middle of a hot day. Waking up each morning and hearing the calls across our H4L compound, “Morning oo! How was your night? How you slept?”

And no one could have prepared me for the feeling of a child’s hand slip into mine and looking down to see their eyes looking up at me, full of life and mischief, when not too long ago, all I could see was pain. I saw people from all different backgrounds and walks of life coming together with one common goal: to look after “the least of these” and give them a sense of love and belonging.

It’s been being given the opportunity to see beyond myself and my comfortable little corner, facing challenges and learning to trust in the Lord for provision and wisdom when all seemed lost and seeing His hand move, firsthand!

This. This and more has been what has changed me and I’ll forever be grateful.