Two Heavy Words: Reflections of a First-Year Missionary

The first year for any missionary is filled with adventure and trials. Assimilating to a new culture requires more than any book can offer. This is the story of a young woman who stepped out of her college years directly into the mission field. She was vastly unprepared in language, experience, and spiritual discipline, but she encountered the Lord in a way she never could while growing up in America. The transition from an American college campus to the sandy streets of a developing country was not easy physically or emotionally. The excitement of adventure soon waned in the face of homesickness and culture shock. Through it all, she found that the practices she had been taught for years in church and student ministry were vital for survival and that there is no hope, no strength, and no joy that can sustain you outside of what is found in Christ.

M. J. Weissenberger is a high school English teacher and missionary. She served as a missionary in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, with South America Mission for the 2011-2012 school year. She and her husband currently live in northern Virginia, but are associate members with South America Mission and are preparing to return to South America.