The Start of an Adventure
I’ve made a crazy decision. A big, bold, crazy decision. In just a few months I will be moving to Honduras to serve as a missionary at Farm of the Child (Finca del Niño). This is a big change, but one that I felt called to. I’m a recent college grad who studied elementary education in college. This past year I completed my student teaching at an amazing Catholic school and was able to live at home and be close to my family. While I loved my school and was offered an incredible position, I felt the Lord calling me to a different mission.
I found out about Farm of the Child over a year ago. At the time, I was wanting to go on a mission trip during the summer. One morning I woke up to an email my dad sent talking about a gospel reflection he read. The writer, a current missionary, wrote about having childlike trust in Jesus during her time serving at the Finca in Honduras. A three-sentence email, sent before 6 am and ending with “Have a Great Day!” started me on my journey to where I am now.
I looked into the Farm of the Child through the link my dad sent me, and I was intrigued by this place. They took missionaries during the summer to teach local, Honduran kids while the long-term missionaries had a summer vacation. It sounded like a beautiful, warm, Christ-filled place. There was only one problem; they spoke Spanish. I took Spanish classes in middle school and high school, and even continued on a bit in college in hopes of being able to use Spanish in my classroom someday. I never thought that I would actually be teaching in Spanish. But even with all those years of study, I’m still not very conversational and certainly not able to stand in front of a class and teach them in Spanish. Knowing that I wasn’t qualified to be a summer missionary, Farm of the Child slipped from my mind.
It was about a month later that I was looking into missionary trips with FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students). I knew I wanted to go on a mission trip during the summer and FOCUS was a great organization. While looking at trips taken to Central America, Farm of the Child caught my eye again. This time I looked into their website and at current missionary blogs. I fell in love. That night I stayed up way to late binge reading blogs written by current and past missionaries. I couldn’t get enough!
A little while after rediscovering the Finca, I was invited to go on a mission trip with a friend of mine who is a FOCUS missionary. The trip was to El Salvador, another Central American country. I spent 2 ½ amazing weeks in rural El Salvador connecting with people and doing home discipleship as well as constructing bathrooms. I had a wonderful time encountering the people of El Salvador and experiencing life there.
That mission trip set my heart on fire for service. That flame continued to stay lit until it was burning so strong inside of me this past spring that I had to do something about it. I had stayed connected with the Finca through reading monthly emails and blog posts and I felt God prompting me to apply. With some resistance and hesitation, I told my family, I filled out the application, and prayed that this was the right decision. The day before my birthday, I gave my official yes to becoming a missionary. I couldn’t be more thrilled and excited for the journey ahead!
If you want to know more about the Finca I highly recommend looking at their website and facebook page. Please feel free to ask me questions, I'd love to answer them!
