Missions can look like a million different things. It can look like living in extreme poverty and feeding the hungry. Or it can look like living in the suburbs and teaching at a school. Or it can look like teaching the local people to provide for themselves. Or it can look like digging wells. Or it can look like doing evangelism. Or it can look like planting a church. Or it can look like homeschooling your 5 kids because your family is called to a place where there is not an education system. One thing I’ve learned during the past year of living abroad as a missionary and meeting many other missionaries, is that there is no mold. There is no cookie cutter definition. There are many different lifestyles of “missionaries” and they are all wonderful and they are all important and they are all fun sometimes and they are all a struggle sometimes. And we are all working toward a common goal, to reach the world with love.
I can also say that through the hours of waiting in line at immigration, the strange crazy scary times that the police pull my friends over and try to get them to pay bribes, the times that I stand in the market and look at the 25 different types of potatoes and have absolutely no idea which one is the one to just make regular old mashed potatoes, through all of this crazy missionary stuff, I have gained a LOVE for fellow missionaries. If you are living in a crazy country, figuring out how to buy potatoes, going to the inferno that is immigrations in a foreign land, BLESS YOU. We are in this together.
All of that being said, I want to give you guys an idea of what our lives as missionaries look like! People ask us all the time and so I thought I would write a post about it!
Missions is an occupation that is always growing and changing! Last year, missions for us looked like living in a church, spending a million hours in immigration, learning how to master the public transportation system, starting a street ministry, learning the language more, teaching classes at a local church, and teaching at a missions school.
This year, missions looks a lot different for us!
These days, a normal day for me looks like waking up at 6am to have some much needed alone time with Jesus! and a strong cup of Peruvian coffee! (yum!)
Jubilee wakes up around 8am and I spend the morning cuddling and playing with her! Sometimes I clean my house, sometimes I shop for groceries, sometimes I take her to the park, sometimes I talk to my mama on the phone, it really just depends!
On mondays we meet with our ministry partners here and work on ministry stuff for The Lily & The Sparrow like answering emails and phone calls, logging all of our receipts (because did you know that we have to log EVERY. SINGLE. PENNY. as missionaries? Yes, I am a receipt logging, record keeping machine! haha!)
Tuesdays for us are our family day. We pack up and head out to explore the city, or go to the beach, or sometimes just stay home and snuggle with Jubilee! And make brownies. And watch netflix, because my super tech-savvy husband figured out how to watch Netflix in Peru. (thank you Jesus!)
On wednesdays we usually have meetings, make lesson plans and mentorship plans, work on ministry things, write (we are both currently writing books to raise money for missions!), and sometimes we have to go to immigration (yuck), and then at night there is always a prayer service at church or Chris preaches!
Thursdays are my favorite. I teach an English class and do mentorship on Thursdays and it is the best. The girls come over and we cook Peruvian food in my kitchen, and sometimes I teach them how to make buscuits and macaroni and cheese, and they teach me how to cook pollo a la oya and ceviche and tallerin verde! Thursday nights we have house church in our apartment, which is also the very best. Can you tell that I love thursdays the most?!
But I also love Fridays the most. Because Fridays are the nights that we go to the streets with a love mission. To show the girls who are being sold that they are loved and beautiful and special and worth so much to us and to Jesus.
Oh and I also love Saturdays the most because we always have pancakes for breakfast and we go to house church (called Project Freedom) at our friend’s house.
On Sundays we go to Church and do ministry in different places. Sometimes Chris preaches and sometimes we go to pray for people or to make connections with different Pastors and ministries in the city.
That is a normal week for us. Or for me at least! Chris could write his own blog post about what his week looks like and it would be kind of different than mine! But for both of us, normal in Peru always involves some kind of crazy something! So just add a little bit of spice to the mix, like weddings that last until 3 am, church services that start an hour late and last two hours longer than regular time, running to the notary to translate documents, starting a sponsorship program, going to look at land for Freedom House, picking people up from the airport, ministering at all night services and conferences and worship nights, and always drinking lots of coffee!
I also want to tell you that in a lot of ways, my week to week life is really tranquil! I change lots of diapers and rock my baby girl to sleep. I hang clothes on the line and go on walks. I pray and cry and call my mama a lot to ask for recipes! I decorate my apartment and go jogging. When Chris goes out of town to do missions in the provinces I have slumber parties!
Being a missionary this year is a whole new and different adventure than it was last year. And I know that in the years to come, it will be different than it is right now (especially with Freedom House!) Something that is so important to me is really making a purpose to be thankful for each day as it comes because I know that life will change and being a missionary will look different each year. I’m thankful for all of our crazy moments living in the church and now I’m thankful for these moments that I have with my little family here in the apartment and I know that someday soon, I will be thankful for the days we have at Freedom House. I love the way God designs our days and the way he makes each moment so special!
Thanks for sharing this journey with me and for letting me be a part of yours!
With a whole ton of love,
Ellyn
