Coming back home from a three month long mission trip is definitely hard. I had no idea it would, I thought coming back home would be the best thing in the world. And don’t get me wrong, it is amazing. It is also extremely hard, though. After leaving everything I have ever known to live with people I don’t know and do mission work every day, it’s no wonder it’s hard for me to try to adjust to life at home again.  

After our time in Albania we went to do missions in Italy. We went to schools in different cities in Italy: Isernia, Venafro, Macchia d’Isernia. The teachers allowed us to talk about our faith in religion classes, so that’s what we did. Some of the kids didn’t pay any attention, and others asked more questions than the rest of the whole class put together. I loved when those kids asked questions. They asked, and we talked, and then they had two more questions and we would just keep going until class was over. Not all the classes were like that though. There were some where none of the kids seemed to be paying attention, but we still tried our best to share with them what we believed.

Of course a lot of the kids didn’t speak English, so we had to have translators, and a lot of times our translators were other kids from the school who just happened to know English. So they got pulled out of their class to translate for us. Some of those kids we got to know really well. We hung out with them whenever they were free outside of class. We talked with them about our faith, Italian culture, America, and we also just joked around a lot. At the end of those two weeks doing ministry with them, they shared their testimonies of how our time there impacted them. I hadn’t realized until then that we had impacted their lives more than I ever imagined. After getting to know the people we worked with so well in such a short amount of time, it was really hard to say goodbye, but we had to keep going. 

The very last week of our mission trip was debrief week, but I think of it more as goodbye week. All of us on the trip were trying to spend as much time as we could with each other because it would be the very last week for those who weren’t coming back. We stayed in small cabins in a camping area, and we always went to visit each other’s cabins to have small cabin parties. Ten or more of us would cram into a cabin meant for three people and we would just talk and play guitar for hours. That last week was a lot of fun, but inevitably we had to leave for the airport to say goodbye. 

Coming home was a lot stranger than I thought it was going to be. I realized immediately as I walked through the door how much luxury we have. I slept in my own room that night, and showered with water that I knew would be warm, and the next day I could drive wherever I wanted (within reason). I didn’t know what to do with all these amazing options. I quickly realized that I didn’t just want to go back to living life how I had lived before. I kept remembering how hard ministry was sometimes, but I was always glad I did it. I remembered how some days I was so done with socializing, but then later I was glad that I had a certain conversation. I remembered walking two and a half miles to the store in Albania and then two and a half miles back, and the people that I talked to on that walk. I remembered all of the things that were so hard for me to do, but later I was glad that I did them. I remembered how I felt like I was always doing God’s work and I knew that I wanted to continue doing that. So as I get more adjusted to life at home, I also try to make sure that I don’t get too comfortable. I’ve never realized before how true it is that the more you have the less you want to give.

I do plan on going back on the trip in January, which is coming up soon, and since I didn’t plan on returning originally, I need to fundraise again for this second half of the trip. I would be incredibly grateful if you wanted to support me financially. If you do get to my fundraising page and see that I am 100% fundraised, then if you still want to give, you can contact me about sending me money directly, which would be going toward flights, food, and other necessities.

I also started an online store where I am selling shirts and other apparel that I design, and most of the money that I get from that is going to be put towards my trip. So if you are interested in some cool shirts or sweatshirts, consider buying something.

Finally, thank you all for supporting me throughout this trip financially, spiritually, and emotionally. I really appreciate all of the resources that you guys have sacrificed so I can have this opportunity!

You can get to my fundraising page here

And my online store here