If you are involved in Cru you have probably heard a lot about summer missions these past few months. This past summer I spent two months in Gatlinburg, Tennessee where the man goal was to shoe the love of Christ to the international students working in the area, and those two months have honestly been the best two months of my short life because I met wonderful people that I can call my best friends and know that even states away they will support me through whatever trial I am going through. Smoky Mountain Summer Mission was also the most influential event in my spiritual growth so far.
1) Applying
Applying is the very first step, some people feel anxious or nervous, some feel super excited, some just feel like it is not a big deal. When filling out the application I felt bombarded by all the questions it asked that it took me three days to finish, but when I finished I heard back almost immediately that I was accepted to the Smoky Mountain Summer Mission.
2) Support Raising
Support Raising, some people hate it some people love it. Sure, asking a bunch of people for money is super nerve-racking because they have the power to tell you no, but once you realize that when they say no to supporting you, they are saying no to God not you. God can use support raising to grow you in so many ways that you will need when you go finally go on your summer mission.
3) Arriving
When you arrive, you are overcome with so many emotions you don’t know which one to acknowledge, it is probably your first time away from your parents for the summer so your nervous and excited, there are so many people introduced to you and you cannot remember any of their names. When you get to your room you have to pick which bed to get and you realize that you must share living quarters with people you do not know at all and are hoping that your living habits do not weird them out, because they are going to be complaining about said habits for the next two months.
4) All the Evangelizing
If you are not used to evangelizing on streets full of people you do not know with people you barely know, you get to know the people you are on summer mission with quick. The first night of evangelizing I found out one of my roommates spoke fluent Spanish, after a few weeks we started going to hotels and talking to the International students that work in Gatlinburg, so we could invite them to a game night that we would be hosting at a local church
5) Leaving
The hardest part about a summer mission is leaving, when you get there you feel like the time to leave is never going to arrive but when it finally arrives you despise it with your very being. After two months of growing relationships and being in a spiritual bubble it is time to go home, there are so many tears shed and goodbyes said you end up telling the same people goodbye about 10 times. After all the goodbyes and tears, you get in your car and go home just to be bombarded with questions about your summer and all you really want to do is sleep for a week and go back, but after a few days of sleeping and calling your friends cause you miss them so much it gets better and you can go back to your normal life.
