One of the most incredible things about being in a room with a bunch of missionaries is the incredible span of cultural experiences that are contained in one room. Yesterday, patient as the staff for all of the Missionary Kid programs were introduced, I was touched by each of the workers as they said their name and their background. The majority of the staff are missionary kids themselves who are now in college, so as they went down the line they stated their name and the country they were from. As I looked down the line at these seemingly “normal” American teenagers I realized that each one had amazing stories to tell of their life outside of what most would experience – the types of foods they were used to eating, the many languages spoken among them, how they interact with other people. Hearing them list off the countries they had lived in was almost overwhelming, realizing we had a true global presence gathered together in one place. It’s an incredible blessing that they are willing to spend their summer pouring into the lives of other kids who are embarking on the same types of journeys. They are able to share an insight that few are able to give to each of the children in the program.
We were very happily surprised when we found out that one of the staff is one of our favorite Colombian MKs! Miss Alicia babysat Alex and Maggie often while we were in Colombia and is someone Maggie likes to model herself after. She even became a vegetarian for a day, inspired by Alicia…however, her love of meat overcame her and that faded fast! It was a nice comfort to see a very familiar face.
In our final session tonight we sat through 3 minute presentations by many of the missionaries here. It’s an opportunity for everyone to practice their presentation and receive critiques, but as a member of the audience we are given a window into the areas all over the world that will soon be reached by new missionaries. It’s a very inspiring time as we hear about the needs and the dreams to reach them. Again we realize that we are sitting in the middle of something very extraordinary and love that as we see these new friends in years to come we will learn more about cultures we didn’t even know existed and miracles that God is doing throughout the world. These are exciting times!
~Tona