Life's Challenges

In about a week’s time, we should be hearing who the August 2010 – 2012 missionaries will be. The interviews are finished and we are told our community will receive two – so this blog is for you!!! Last year about this time, I was one of those prospective missionaries who was reading blogs with great interest (aka blog stalking) trying to glean as much as possible about the city, community and life I was going to inherit. I hope will this will serve to address some of those needs.

This year we have a covenant that specifically spells out what it means to be a missionary. Some of the main points mentioned are; to serve and accompany those who are poor and marginalized, to grow in faith and spirituality through prayer and reflection, to accept the challenge of living simply, and to live in community and to work alongside the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word. Being a missionary is an invitation to claim God’s unconditional love and become Christ’s love to the world.

Since last year, I have grown in spirituality and living in community. The spiritual growth I feel is evident in the blogs. Community living is a challenge but it is also rewarding. As a perfectionist and introvert, it has been a challenge for me to stay open but I have enjoyed getting to know all of the present missionaries and serving alongside them. We often serve to inspire each other. Sharing chores and words of encouragement are essential. While I still seek some down time in my room to recharge from my 40 + hour work week, I cannot help but recognize I am far more social than I was in my apartment back in Texas. It is not all negative. I still have to force myself at times to practice Spanish with others but I have always loved challenges and would not have it any other way.

Living in solidarity will be a challenge but you would be surprised what you can get use to - cold showers, uncomfortable furniture, dirt, noise and a mountain of rice for dinner – all hardly noticeable over time. Try not to judge. In hospice, it is difficult to see people who are suffering and lacking in resources. A person at first sight, might walk into their life and think of it as a cursed life but that entirely depends on your own perspective. Author Henri Nowen in Life of the Beloved speaks of a world that tries to manipulate people into thinking any hardship is an affirmation of a cursed life rather than a pathway to joy. He offers the perspective that “great and heavy burdens become light and easy when they are lived in the light of the blessing of God’s unconditional love. What seemed intolerable becomes a challenge. What seemed a reason for depression becomes a source of purification. What seemed punishment becomes a gentle pruning. What seemed rejection becomes a way to deeper communion.” Attitude is everything.

The attitude you take into mission is important. As a missionary you have an opportunity to live the gospel. Remember to always be kind – especially to yourself. Some of the best advice I received was to manage your expectations, stay flexible and maintain a sense of humor - your happiness depends on it. Don’t try to become someone completely different in mission then who you already are today but know that it will challenge you and gradually transform you over time. If I was to repack I think I would have brought a few more comforts such as warmer clothes, nice clothes and a few more things for entertainment such as games, music and DVDs because there is precious little in the house. I hope to be in contact soon with the new missionaries. Blessings on the new applicants as they make the decision to walk by faith.

“How good it is to love on earth as one loves in Heaven and to learn to cherish one another in this world as we shall do eternally in the next.” – St. Francis de Sales