5 Lessons from My Mission Trip
I went on a mission trip and questioned missions.
This past summer I served as a regional communications intern with One Mission Society Europe and the Middle East. Based in Budapest, I spent seven weeks serving through creating content and capturing what God was doing in the region. I also rethought a lot of what I thought I knew. Here are my five takeaways from my time in Hungary.
1. How to Embrace Normal
At the beginning of my internship I was slightly annoyed whenever I would engage in mundane activities like grocery shopping or riding transportation. My life did not suddenly become holier when I did missions. This sounds like a “no duh,” but it’s important to understand. If this was the case, it would mean God’s rules of faith are inconsistent. If I had to go on a mission trip or become a missionary to grow in faith, I would not have a grace-based faith. I realized I shouldn’t hold missions to a level of spiritual perfection that it was not intended to be.
The same rules that govern “normal” life apply in another country doing “holy” work. As my lovely friend Naomi answered when I asked her about the hardest part of being a missionary – it is “embracing normal.”
2. Effectiveness is not defined by me
God knows best and what he does is not defined by me. This meant I had to grapple with many questions testing how much faith I actually had.
What if God doesn’t show up in the way I thought he would? What if no one gets saved? What if all my plans fall through?
And then there were the questions doubting what I was even doing there.
Will I still trust that I’m where he wants me? Will I trust His calling on my life over people’s approval? Over what my supporters think? Over what my parents think?
I was brought to the events of Luke 9:57-62. Jesus asks three people to follow him. They all respond with various excuses, things they must do before they can follow him. They are even things that seem valid to us, such as burying a dead person. But Jesus drops this: “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the work of the kingdom.”
Throughout my trip I continually had this conversation with the Lord:
“Why am I here?”
“Because I want you here.”
“Okay, that’s enough.”
3. Being uncomfortable is the point
I realized I’d spent my whole short years of life running from the uncomfortable – from anything that would cause me to question how I think God works.
Then I walked down the streets of Budapest. I saw unhoused people begging on every street corner. I watched the darting, avoidant eyes of people still affected by years of horrific oppression and soaked in the stench of smoke and alcohol. And I asked, where is God’s presence here? I’m not comfortable with this, God.
Then I realized it's not that God hates me to be comfortable and happy. It's just that he wants to be my source of comfort. And he does this by taking away circumstances and environments as the source and tether of my peace.
4. Seeing the Normal Work of God
I saw God work in the lives of ordinary people. I heard stories of amazing faith and trust. I saw God answer prayers immediately, right before my eyes. I got to see the tangible and mysteriously normal kingdom unfolding in all the ways Jesus said it would. Through children placing simple faith in Jesus. Through inviting neighbors around a table. Through worshiping as a cross-cultural, global family of God. Through encouraging words and repeated themes and phrases, through perfect timing, and unexpected provision in tiny things.
Because God shows up all the time. He’s showing up right now. I learned that if I just tuned into seeing what God was already doing, I would witness His kingdom coming to earth.
5. God wants everyone
Finally, I learned that God wants me. Not the person with more talent or a certain personality type – he wants me.
And he wants you because he wants everyone. It turns out it actually does take all types of people to do the work God wants to do. ADD people, organized people, pastors, teachers, visionaries, detail-oriented people, planners, and the go-with-the-flow – everyone bringing who they are to who he is.
So yes 1 Corinthians 12 is a real thing that actually needs to happen in order for the Gospel to spread. And maybe your version of obeying God and “doing missions” doesn't look like everyone else's idea of missions. That's okay.
Ultimately, I came to a place where I started before going on this trip. My friend’s dad sent me a prayer the day I left. One line of it said, “Let her own soul be the mission field.”
God is on a mission, completing his plan day after day, moment by moment, and not one detail has been left out. And just like he invited me, he's inviting you to be a part of it.
Let your soul be his mission field.
