Sí, I'm Not Your Typical Missionary

I was raised in a missionary household.

My parents were missionaries.

My sister became a missionary and is always heading off to some third world country or other.

I have desired for missions and tried to seek it out in my own life.

Mostly because I thought that it was what I was supposed to do.... Like I wasn't being a good Christian if I didn't go on at least one missions trip.

And yet, for whatever reason, God has always kept the door to foreign missions closed to me.

I came to the conclusion in high school that this was because I wasn't called to that sort of missions work. I was supposed to head to Hollywood instead and reach out to the people there.

Through the end of high school and college I did so with a burning passion in my heart. But now, for the time being, God has closed that door as well....

I left LA with no direction where I was supposed to head.

I prayed and prayed for guidance.

As God has promised, it came, but it came in a way that I had not expected.

It came with a three month trip to a third world country, helping missionaries.

I was excited but a little confused why God would take me to the mission field now, after I had tried without open doors for so many years. But my heart is in a different place this time. I did not seek this trip, God brought it to me. I did not accept it because I thought it was something a "good Christian girl" was supposed to do, I did it because I knew that it was what God wanted me to do.

The more I'm out here, the more I realize that I am not a "missionary" in the most widely accepted definition of the word. If I'm tired at all, or have been swamped with too many people at one time, I can be less than the type of person who draws everyone in and makes them smile. I'm not super talkative, and I usually prefer to spend time with animals than people.

This is just who I am.... Who God made me.

I can push and squeeze myself as much as I want to try and fit into that mold, but I would be neglecting the strengths that God has given me.

For one, I'm a photographer.

I love to inspire people.

I am a storyteller. Whether it be writing, or taking photos, my desire is to tell a story.

This is my mission field.

And so, after watching the missionaries at work here in Nicaragua, and spending an evening in despair that I could not achieve the things that they were, God sat me down and reminded me of what He had once taught me.... That He does not make everyone with the same strengths and gifts.

That is not how the body of Christ works.

He has given me talents that I can and should use for His glory.

Some people are great as missionaries and ministers in foreign countries and people groups.

Some are better prayer warriors.

Some are givers.

Others (like me) are created to perform arts, write stories, and inspire people by showing them truth, goodness, and beauty.

God has brought me to Nicaragua to seek Him, to help the missionaries, and to take photos and write stories that will honor Him, and inspire others to live a life wholly pleasing to Him.

Assr vísa ykkarr brand.

(May God guide your sword)

ElizabethMarieKauffman

My Perspective is Best

An airplane is like a giant, magical time and dimension traveler.... A portal to a different planet other than your own.

It takes us out of our comfort zone and puts us into someone else's life until we get back into the plane and travel back to the safety of the familiar.

While you are on the plane, or waiting in an airport terminal, no outside time exists. It is as if your life before that point was merely a dream, and life after is some phantom emotion that isn't quite within your grasp. 

You can't tell whether you truly exist or not....

You cease to be yourself.

You live in a dream.

You have stepped into the unknown.

Suddenly you bond with your fellow travelers as though you were the last people on the planet.

You don't know their name. Sometimes you don't ever say a word.

And yet you look upon their face as a comrade in your trek,

a friendly soul who shares your portal, and so, perhaps a corner of your life, your heart, your hopes.

One of my favorite things on an airplane is to look around at my fellow travelers

and try to deduce what their story is based upon what I observe.

I will never know if I came to the right conclusion of who they are, but it opens my eyes,

makes me look twice at the people around me.

Not just the people in that airplane, but everyone that I come into contact with.

That raving mad driver?

Did a loved one just die? Did he/she lose their job? Has he/she lost all hope in life?

That snobby waitress?

Has everything been going wrong for her today? Is she perplexed with life and can't seem to find any answers in the midst of amounting trials? 

You have very distinct thoughts that flow through your brain.

You have convictions that stem from your past struggles, triumphs, and pains.

We are so certain that what we feel and believe is the absolute truth and there is no other way.

We turn up our noses at the thought that someone else might have a different take on our favorite Bible verse, one that is equally as good and true as our own.

But I have to wonder what the world would be like if everyone brought together their unique perspectives and fit them together like a puzzle.

If we could do that, would we be able to obtain a so much truer vision of who Christ is?

Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

Assr vísa ykkarr brand.

(May God guide your sword)

ElizabethMarieKauffman