Dear Future Goers,
I have just finished my 2 year commitment living in Bangkok, Thailand. While I want to refrain from sounding cliche and repetitive, I can honestly say nothing impacted my relationship with the Lord, my understanding of God's word, and my view of people like living in a slum in Bangkok did. And I am excited to be writing to you as you embark on your journey to the world faithfully following the commandment to "go to the ends of the earth" in the name of Christ. You are in for an incredible ride!
With that being said, I also just want to share a bit of reality I wish someone had shared before I had left two years ago. I feel as though we have a really romanticized view of what missions is like. And while I am being truthful when I say it was life changing personally - I will tell you that anything that is truly life changing is not easy, simple, clean or comfortable. Life change comes when comfort is taken away, when life is messy and confusing, when faith feels impossible to have, when hope seems so far away - those are the moments when life changes. And I promise that you will have those moments in your time serving overseas. But I believe that the way they become life-changing is when you invite God into those feelings - the feelings of loneliness when you get homesick; the feelings of inadequacy when you can't pronounce "hello" correctly in this new language you are learning; the feelings of helplessness when you realize you are more dependent on people around you and incapable of helping yourself; the feelings of frustration as you stare straight into the faces of poverty and can do absolutely nothing about it; the disillusionment that comes as you see your friends at home getting married, having babies and living beautifully comfortable lives while you can barely have a decent conversation with adults in your new culture. My advice is to not fear the difficult feelings as they come but rather feel everything - for it is in feeling all of these things honestly and openly with God that He can actually speak beautiful truths to the depths of our souls.
Apart from that, some of the biggest lessons I learned while being overseas were...
1. Prayer is vital. And God answers the honest prayers of His people. Pray for the people you meet, the people you will learn to love. Pray earnestly and faithfully. Listen to God and let Him shape your prayers. Learn from the word what to pray for. Pray the word back to God. Learn from the people you are serving the cries of their hearts and pray out of what you learn.
2. Learning language is also vital. And I found I learned more than just a language through my language lessons but got a small insight into how Thai people felt, thought, did life - it is all reflected in the way they use their language. Pay attention to these things for they are just as important in serving as speaking and understanding language is.
3. Become like little children. This was the best advice I was given in language learning. Learn language like a child does. Even further, learn the culture, the people like little children. Be curious. Be adventurous. Be bold in your curiosity. Play with language - let it come out in fun, incorrect, playful sounds as you're learning. Children aren't afraid of playing and exploring the world around them incorrectly and we can learn a lot from them in that.
4. God's love is big - learn about it. Be open to it. Let Him love you in this time. Let Him teach you how to love the people around you - your team, your neighbors, your family back home, the people you are serving. I discovered God's love to be so much bigger than I'd ever imagined and pray you find this too.
5. Be open and take initiative - relationships won't happen if you're not bold, if you don't talk to people, if you don't put yourself out there (maybe making mistakes along the way), and loving them as you can. Take any chance that comes along to make a new friend, build a relationship, learn about the culture, and about God's heart for these people.
6. Rest - take a sabbath, stay in the word, seek God everyday. The Bible will come alive in a whole new way for you. But you have to take time to seek Him. Take care of yourself and your relationship with God - daily, weekly, regularly.
7. Find things that bring you life - and do them! For me it was laughing, running, writing, exploring. I had to seek those things out on my own in this new context, find ways to make them happen, and intentionally pursue life-giving relationships to keep myself from burning out or getting too tired out. It's ok to take care of yourself!
8. Don't be afraid to make mistakes - make them, learn from them, push into them. Some of the greatest successes I saw and got to be apart of came directly from mistakes I had made. God has this awesome redeeming ability and mistakes can become some of the greatest treasures for His Kingdom - we need not fear!
So there you have it - a snapshot of some of the things I've learned in the past two years. If you'd like to read more, here is the blog I kept while living in Thailand: kristenmatheson.wordpress.com.
I am thankful for you, your heart, your faith and your obedience to God. I am excited for you - both for what God will do through you but also what God will do in you in these next two years. I am praying for you - that God meets you in all of your seasons, in all of your transitions, in all of your feelings (good and bad).
Glory to Him,
Kristen