Opinion

Mexico es mi amor

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This summer I did my internship at Casa Kim, an orphanage in Tekax, Yucatan in Mexico and I could not have been more excited.

When I landed at the airport in Cancun I had several expectations of what my time in Mexico was going to look like, and let’s just say that my ideas and the Lord’s did not match up.

Throughout my stay at Casa Kim, the Lord really taught me three things. First, missions is not glamorous. Second, you must completely die to yourself. Finally, I wondered what this experience looks like back home – where I am comfortable.

I thought I grew up with a pretty good understanding of what missions looks like. I went on all of the mission trips that were offered at my church from elementary through high school. The problem with these little trips is that in no way do they prepare you for the actual mission field. During these week-long trips you usually stay in a pretty decent facility and do work in the morning and have the evenings to yourself.

Now, I am in no way knocking these trips, but as I was leaving for my trip, I had glamorized view of what I would be doing. I expected that I would live at the orphanage with the kids the whole month I was there. What completely threw me off guard was that almost everything was in one room and I was going to literally live life with the children and staff. I did not get my own space, and privacy was very limited for me during my time there. Privacy is a common American practice, but I learned quickly that I was not in North America.

Learning a new culture is always difficult to do, but being thrown into a completely different way of life is shocking. I had to learn that my way of thinking and upbringing were not the supreme way of doing things. I had to learn how to serve and love these people in their own culture and language.

During this time, I had to trust the Lord and draw from his strength every day or I knew I would burn out quickly. The Lord was so faithful to me during this month and I could not have done what I did without his constant guidance. It was such a beautiful trip and I am so grateful I had the privilege to love the children there. However, this only begins to scratch the surface. I took a lot away from my time in Mexico and I am continuing to learn all that the Lord showed me.

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