5 Things Future Missionaries Should Hear

   Today I read an article talking about things missionaries wish they had been told before they started their work. I loved the article so much that I decided to make my own list of 5 Things I Think Future Missionaries Should Hear. Hope you enjoy!

1. Do not try to "lose yourself" in the culture or become "one of them."

   This is probably one of the hardest things I had to come to terms with and it took me the longest to learn (and I am still learning). Sometimes it may be easy for you to want to fit in and kind of "lose your old self" in your new country or area. For me, this was very hard. I wanted to strive to be "one of them," and I would get so frustrated because I was never quite accepted as one of them. But what I have learned is that this isn't a bad thing. Don't ever lose sight of who you were before you came to the new country. Be willing to adapt to the culture and even take on certain aspects of it and things…but do not try to get rid of who you are. To the native people, you will always be seen as a foreigner, but they will come to love you for who you are. And they will accept you into their lives and family in a special way. 

2. Life does not get easier..it actually will get harder

   Sometimes, people who are about to go on missions are filled with the stories of greatness from the mission field, and they don't hear about the hard things…kind of like war stories that a grandchild hears from their grandparent. Just because you are doing mission work for the Lord, it does not mean that things will be amazing and like you will be on a "Jesus High" all the time. In fact, things will be very hard a lot of times. You will go through phases of missing home intensely, meeting people with heart wrenching stories and not knowing exactly what to do, or anything else. That doesn't mean that missions are horrible…absolutely not! I recommend everyone to go on missions; it will be one of the best, if not the best experience in your life. But I think it is important to know that those best months, years, or weeks are accompanied by some of the hardest things you might face.

3. Be patient (the hardest part is the beginning)

   Always be patient. I read somewhere that the first 2 months are the hardest…and I will completely back up that statement. I remember that my first 2 months living here were super hard for me; Not because it was a horrible experience, but because I missed home so much. There were many times in those first 2 months that I questioned if I had made the right decision of coming out here. But after those 2 months, life got easier, and I adjusted to the culture and life. So my advice for you is to just be patient and wait. Give yourself time to adapt and get used to things.

4. Be prepared to be humbled

   This one kind of goes along with being patient, but be prepared to be humbled…especially with the language! I came out here and had a decent grasp on the spanish language, but when I first got here, I realized I really was not up to speed. It has been a lot of sweat, a lot of tears, and a lot of embarrassing moments. And you know what? I'm still learning! You will have many times when you get blank stares from people because you said something completely wrong, or someone will laugh at you, or you will get corrected 100 times a day…every day…for months. Haha! But hey, you will get a grasp on it and it will eventually start coming naturally. Just be patient and realize that it is difficult learning a second language. Also, you will get humbled on some of the cultural aspects. Just roll with the punches, and be realize that it is not the end of the world if you get embarrassed. It's just a learning opportunity.

5. Don't get discouraged

   It is so easy to get discouraged as a missionary. You will have times when the people you minister to just eat up the word of God and everything. And then you will have more times when you don't see anything change, and you will get discouraged and ask, "Am I making any difference, God?!" But remember…plants and trees don't grow overnight. You are planting seeds that you don't realize. Sometimes it just takes longer for others.

*BONUS*

   Something I wish I had been informed on is that mission work does not always look like feeding homeless and starving children like we see many pictures. While that is amazing and beautiful, missions, many times, look like normal life. I am a school teacher here. I wake up, get ready, go to school, teach, tutor, go to the grocery store, meet people while walking home, etc. It sounds like a very normal life like what many people have. In reality, this is what many missionary lives look like…because our missions field is in the every day life. It never stops. The mission is where you are.

Hope you enjoyed! Please comment any things you would like to hear about next time. I also included the link to the other article I based this off of if you would like to see it.

-Tim Tito

(Native Texan and Catrachigringo in Training)

www.askamissionary.com/question/31

A Glimpse of My World

So, Tim, you've lived in Honduras for all this time, and you have not even given an idea of what the culture is like or anything? Well guess what, guys! I am finally going to give you a little snippet of Honduran life (at least here on Roatan).

I live in Roatan. It is one of the Bay Islands off of the northern coast of Honduras. It is the biggest of the Bay Islands, but it is still small. Specifically, I live in a small community called "French Harbour," which started out as a fishing community. In the area of French Harbour that I live in, most of the people speak spanish, but on the other side, most of the people speak Island English. (Island English is kind of like a Creole english.)

The culture here is pretty cool. It is very tranquilo and relaxed most of the time, and the people are very friendly. The main industry of the island was fishing, but it is beginning to turn more to tourism, as a lot of Americans, Canadians, and Europeans like to visit. However, they normally stay on the west end of the island.

One of the things I really find cool about this place is all the food. Wherever you go, you will find people selling fruits, vegetables, and cooking meat on the side of the road. And let me tell you, the food is amazing! Islanders know how to cook...like seriously! A normal meal usually consists of some kind of meat, beans, rice, and platano. There's a lot of other variations, and they are fantastic. If you ever come to visit, you HAVE TO eat Baleadas. The best way I can explain it is heaven wrapped up in the warm hug of a tortilla. Baleadas consist of a freshly made tortilla, frijoles, queso or mantequilla, and you can also add eggs, aguacate, longaniza, or some kind of meat. Just trust me...it is AMAZING!

Continuing with this snippet of the life here, I thought I should give a brief look at the spanish here. If you speak spanish, you probably have noticed that different countries have their own ways of speaking the language. Here in Honduras, we have different caliche (or nicknames/slang) for certain things. Here are some of them:
1. Paja - a lie
2. Maje - dude (or fool)
3. Wirro/a - boy or girl
4. Tacos - cleats
Another things you should know about Honduran spanish is that they use something called "voseo," which is an informal way of speaking where they replace tu with vos. Honestly, when I first came here and would speak spanish with people, I would get so confused when people would speak to me in vos...but now I use it all the time, and I actually prefer it. I think it's easier sometimes than using tu.

Now, with all of this, I can't leave out some of the important things. Roatan is beautiful, and a great place I would recommend anyone to come and visit (or live). But just like every place has their richer and fancier areas, we also have the poorer areas as well. And these areas, in my opinion, are the best areas. Yes, it's nice to see all of the scenic places that you want to take a picture in front of, but to me, life truly exists in the areas where there isn't as much money. This is where life is real. Hondurans are strong people, and they are amazing people. They have a lot of heart, and a lot of spirit. Living here has really put into perspective the life people (me included) have in America.

Those from America, we are truly blessed to live where we do. We don't realize how blessed we are. Don't take anything you have for granted. Living life here has put my own life into perspective and seeing how blessed I was growing up, and my family was not even a well off family. There is so much I would love to say and impart, but I have to save some things for another time.

I would love to talk to you guys if you have any questions or would like to know more about life here. Have a great week, and God bless!

-Tim Tito
(Native Texan and Catrachigringo in training)