1. Learning a new language
Ever heard your friends or someone you know speaking in a foreign language and wished you could join in? Besides the “cool” sound of another language, it’s a useful tool and says a lot about the people using it. As a student missionary, chances are you’ll serve in a country with a different first language. You’ll be immersed into a group of people you don’t understand, but, with a great deal of patience and effort, you’ll have the rare opportunity of picking it up.
2. Getting out of your Comfort Zone
You’ve neither left your family and friends for 10 months nor lived in a foreign country. This may seem pretty intimidating (terrifying) and it probably will be at first. However, it succeeds in pushing you right out of your comfort zone and into a new environment. To handle this uncomfortable new situation you’re forced to embrace the new life and adapt, but in the end you’ll look back and discover a lot of personal growth.
3. Opportunities to Travel
You scroll idly through Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or whichever social media platform you use, and find almost unbelievable/incredible pictures of various destinations across the globe. You would love to visit these locations instead of sitting in a classroom surrounded by freezing snow. Well, you can get out of the freezing temperatures and find these unreal locations as a missionary, serving in a country of your choice almost anywhere in the world. Tropical paradises, waterfalls or famous monuments - you can see them for yourself, with your very own eyes.
4. Experiencing Selfless Love
You meet many different kids and realize you’re the adult supervising all of them, responsible for all of their issues and problems. However, the more you listen to them, as well as spend time with them, you realize how much they trust you and how much you don’t want to let them down. You care a lot about them and they believe in you completely, and soon you begin to put them first in every situation. It doesn’t matter if you’re tired, burnt out or angry - your love for these kids comes first. Experiencing this selfless love for others is what being a missionary is all about.
5. Making a Difference
Being a missionary is a powerful opportunity for you to make a huge difference in people’s lives. You may be worried about how much good you can do in only ten months and without a college degree, but you will definitely make a difference. You will see kids learn and study what you teach, finding them at the end of the year with harder reading books, better written paragraphs and working on tougher math problems. Not only is the growth all academic though, you also see these kids grow spiritually and morally. You get to witness them as they talk about God and their understanding of what it means to do the right thing. It’s an enormous blessing to be a part of this process of learning and growth and to see your part in it.
6. Gaining Perspective
Going as a missionary adds perspective, it gives you a chance to find a new spot in which to view the world. You’ll step back from the United States and discover there’s more to life than what you were led to believe. American culture tells us college students “life is all about progress”; but there’s more, it’s also about finding value in each day. It’s about enjoying the moment you’re in with the friends and family around you. It’s about getting out and looking at the globe through another’s eyes, and it’s these unteachable perspectives you will gain through a year as a missionary.
7. Exploring a New Culture
Culture is something difficult to describe. You can see it in some examples and feel it in others but explaining it is another thing entirely. It is usually described by the clothes people wear or the way a people welcome you to their island, but there is more to it, for it is also the way in which people react to the world and live their lives. It is how they choose what is of value and what is not. As a missionary, you’ll learn a completely new method of interacting with the world and discover the possibilities this brings.
8. Finding Adventure
Sitting in class day dreaming about all the past adventures you’ve had with friends, like the road trips or crazy nights, and you just wish you could create some more. As a missionary you’ll have no end of these wild adventures, no matter where in the world you’re serving. You’ll meet locals or students who will take you to do the wildest activities or find new places to explore. You’ll end up taking part in local traditions, drive around in the back of a truck, boat students around for a field trip, scuba dive in crystal clear waters or see awe-inspiring locations with no one else around. The list of possible adventures is endless.
...and with a full ten months as a missionary, you can find a lot of them.
