People Are a Blessing

Over the last three years, I have been writing about the things that challenge us living in Guatemala - the hard things.  For the most part, we knew most of those things would happen. We had read books and talked to other missionaries, so we were prepared. But, there is one happening now that I had not foreseen and I didn't realize it would be so hard.

The picture above is from my birthday last year. Those are all our friends that we invited who could make it that night.  As of December 20th, every one of them will have moved from Guatemala.

I have never needed friends as much as I do here.  In the States, I was kind of a loner. Sure, I might call my dad, see people at church, and occasionally have someone over, but for the most part my evenings were spent with my kids and family.

Here, though, because you are living outside your own culture, it is good to have people to talk to and to be able to express your excitement and your anxieties to.  While we have made some very dear Guatemalan friends, talking with them is not the same as communicating the struggles and joys of being a missionary. For that, you really need others who have lived the missionary life and understand.

Most people here are not lifers. They may serve five, ten, twenty, or even thirty years, but most are at least open to the idea of going home. In fact, in many conversations I have had with missionaries, this question comes up, "do you think you'll ever go home?"  We all know what is meant by home; it is the United States.  Some people do say, "I am home," but it is rare.

Most of us moved down here because we felt a call to serve, so we are also open to the call of moving somewhere else.  In fact, the last people from that picture who will be leaving later this month are moving to the Middle East.

Being a missionary is like being in a club, and the other people in the club become family.  No one I know does it alone on the mission field, and when people leave, it is like losing a brother or sister. We lose people who go back to the states.  We lose people who move to serve in other places.  And, we never know where we will end up, either.  Will we be lifers in Guatemala? Will we decide we have served enough and go back to the States? Will we be called to another country?  Someday will that picture be just a memory of people who were here in Guatemala and have moved on?

I don't know the answer to those questions, but I know two things right now: 1.)  I am supposed to be here in Guatemala right now.  2.) I miss those people in the picture a lot.