Growing up, I remember always being interested in missions. Listening to the missionaries tell their stories about the country and culture they were serving in, and God’s presence and power in  the ministry and the lives of the people, became my favorite part of bible camp and youth conferences. For the next couple weeks after hearing about mission trips, I would dream about the places I could go and the projects I could be a part of.  Big projects always came to mind, such as building houses, churches, schools, preaching salvation and whole villages coming to Christ, digging a well to provide a community with clean drinking water. These thoughts would only last a short time and then I would forget and move on with everyday life.

Spring of my sophomore year of college, I felt God truly call me to go on my first mission trip. I was sitting in a class listening to the Peace Corp representatives talk about everything they were doing in 3^rd world countries. During that presentation I felt such a strong calling to missions that knew I was finally going to serve God in another country. That night I started researching countries and knew without a doubt that I was being called to Haiti. I went on a ten day trip to Haiti and built rubble houses with Conscience International and the Haiti Housing Network. A year later I was blessed to spend a month in Haiti. During that time I gained a deeper understanding of the nature of missions.

While in Limbe, we were asked to serve as the hosts of the Haitian Baptist Convention. This is not what I generally think of missions work as being and it definitely did not turn out to be a glamorous job. We cleaned and scrubbed the dorms that the pastors were to stay in; with the help of our Haitian friends of course. We greeted pastors, probably not always very well due to the language barrier but hopefully they felt welcome. The job that I found to be the biggest blessing was helping the kitchen staff cook three meals a day for at least 150 pastors and church representatives. The working conditions were not great. There was no electricity, no air conditioning, and there were charcoal burning stoves inside the kitchen which really heated the place up. Despite the hard work and heat the ladies in the kitchen did their work with a smile and singing praises to God.

Although working in the kitchen was not originally part of the plan, God taught me through this experience. Being a missionary is about having a servant’s heart that is willing to follow God wherever He may lead. Therefore, being a missionary is possible no matter where a person may be.  It does not require going overseas, or to a third world country, nor does it require setting out to do mission work. I believe that every day, as I am going about my normal routine I can be a missionary by serving others in their need and taking every opportunity that God provides. Just as Jesus humbled himself and washed his disciple's feet, we are often called to humble ourselves and serve with a servants heart.