Argentina- Entry 11

 Headed to BA (Day 10)

January 21, 2014

Thursday afternoon, we took a 4 hour bus ride to Buenos Aires. The bus was clean, the seats comfortable, there were two movies in Spanish (it gave me the opportunity to practice) and more air conditioning than what any human being would ever need. A luxury ticket cost about 19 USD. A great deal!

So since I don't have much more to report, I will answer a FAQ: "Why did I want to serve out of the country?" 

Well, everyday the reasons are growing but I wasn't always thrilled about the prospect...

When I was a child, I did not want to be a missionary. I think I wanted to be anything but a missionary :) I remember feeling it just wasn't meant for me (even though I did want to teach people about the Bible). Fast forward a few years: I am now a regular pioneer (spending at least 70 hours per month in my Bible ministry work), I love to travel and am fascinated by languages. But for some reason it doesn't register that I could become a missionary. Mainly because at the time I didn't know of many single sisters that went to other countries to help people get to know God better. I begin learning Chinese and have the goal of one day helping otter Chinese congregations get started in the United States. This was a wonderful plan. But 6 months or so after I graduated from high school, I realized it would be a long time before I would be able to afford to move out my parents' home, while continuing to pioneer. Being ever resourceful, I started to do research. I began to hear about all these wonderful experiences of single Jehovah Witness young women who moved to other countries (where there was a need) to serve temporarily or permanently. Men and women who do this are called Need-Greaters. I started to consider: "Is this something I could do in the near future?" The answer was obviously "Yes!" :) It could even solve my "being broke" problem, since there are many countries that have a lower cost of living. But as always with taking the leap, I was hesitant. Every time my fledgling plans would fall through, I would ask myself: "Does Jehovah God really want me to do this? Can I actually handle being a Need Greater?" But every time my resolve would weaken, Jehovah God would send me something to re-ignite my spark (whether it be a Bible symposium, a friend's personal experience, or an article in one of our Bible-based publications). Something telling me not to give up on my goal. And now... Here I am :)