Initial Thoughts

I'm really excited at the prospect of going on mission in the Summer of 2014. Since I experienced helping with my family at an orphanage in Kenya around 5 years ago, I have always wanted to go back and serve abroad. Up until now, I had not felt God calling me or asking me to take part in mission but since my confirmation, my relationship with Him has grown and after a lot of praying with family and friends, I really felt a strong sense that God could use me and I was so excited to be accepted as part of the team.

As well as growing my relationship with God throughout the mission, I am also really looking forward to serving the BLC and all the children it cares for. I am very excited at the thought of meeting the children and developing friendships with them throughout the time we are there and hope to maintain these whether that means using some kind of messaging system or just going back out to see them another year.

Although I am really looking forward to experiencing the different culture of India, I am also slightly daunted by the idea that I may not understand their culture fully enough and may accidentally come across as rude. When I was in Kenya I learnt about having put aside our response to cultural habits and see things from their perspective. However, to try and avoid this, I am going to do bit of research on the way they live and the differences in culture, as well as talking to past members of mission teams to see what advice they can offer me.

Last but not least, over the course of the next year and throughout our time in Goa, I look forward to developing relationships with the rest of the team. I know that we will be pushed to the mental and physical limits while we are in India and that we are going to need to be able to rely on each other for support and encouragement. I'm looking forward to praying and socialising together over the next few months before we leave.

I'm super pumped for this mission and am looking forward to get underway!