I arrived back home in Michigan a few days ago after two weeks of pre-field training in Chicago. Pre-field training was the last big thing on my to-do list before packing my bags and heading to my placement. These past two weeks have laid a foundation for what my time overseas hopefully will be: hard, but worth it.
One of the things the leader of my sending organization repeatedly told us was “it’s going to be hard.” Moving overseas naturally brings a level of difficulty to daily life. Grocery shopping will be hard when I don’t know the language and have to do currency conversions in my head for each item. Adjusting to a new culture, in a new place, with new people will be difficult. But just because it’s hard, doesn’t mean it’s not worth the sacrifice.
I don’t know what hard stuff I’ll experience during my two years. I’m preparing to experience culture shock and challenges learning the language, and I don’t know what other challenges will come my way. But the paradoxical beauty of the Christian life is that in our “hard, but worth it” situations, God offers us Himself. He doesn’t always offer solutions or answers, but He always offers us comfort and help. He makes the hard stuff worth it.
Although I am cherishing my days left in the States, I feel ready to face the hard stuff. I feel a deep-seated peace from the Lord that pursuing missions with GoCorps is what I was made to do in this time of my life. Saying my goodbyes and packing my bags will be hard, but worth it.