In my shoes...

"In my shoes" is a weekly series that is updated every Thursday. I hope you enjoy the following post and that like me, you will learn more about a different walk of life, which will help you to love better! We love comments or likes and would love to have you follow this series with us. We have some amazing women and amazing topics to share. If you have something YOU would like to write about, please contact me!

I have to confess that when Mindy asked me to share about the life of a foreign missionary, I immediately resisted. My family and I lived in Peru for nearly two years, and we were full time missionaries, but we are not currently foreign missionaries. We returned to Waco, Texas for my husband to attend Truett Seminary in preparation for what God has for us long term. That being said, I did live as a missionary, and I know all too well what that involves.

In 1996, I went on my first mission trip to India with Youth for Christ.  I was sixteen years old at the time.  My parents must have understood the importance of that trip in my life because I cannot imagine letting a blonde, sixteen year old girl travel with an unknown group to India.  I am so thankful that they trusted God enough with their daughter, and I am so thankful for what God showed me on that trip.  It was during that trip that my heart had a burning passion for those around the world who had much less than I could ever imagine, yet they had a need and a desire for the Gospel of Jesus as much or more than I did.  I knew from the moment I arrived in India that God was preparing me for a lifetime of involvement in foreign missions.

In 1999, at the age of nineteen, I married my very best friend.  While I knew that Michael had faith in Jesus, I am confident that He did not share a passion for missions as I did.  After being married for a couple of years, we went on a few weekend trips across the border of Mexico.  I saw Michael’s heart begin to be transformed.  Fast forward to 2005 when Michael had the opportunity to participate in a trip to Limatambo, Peru.  Unfortunately, I was at home, pregnant with our first child.  I think that trip was a final stirring that drew Michael toward his passion for international mission work.  We were now able to share in that passion. We had no idea if/when/where God would take us into the world, but we trusted that He would show us in due time. 

In 2007, we both began to sense a stirring in our spirits that it was time to trust God with all that we are and begin the long journey into the mission field. We had no idea at that point where we would go or what we would do, but we had faith that He did know.  After seeking counsel from many trusted friends and pastors, it became clear that God was taking us to Limatambo, Peru where Michael had already visited. 

Now that the decision had been made, it was time to move into the world of raising funds, researching missionary insurance, learning about the place we would soon call home and so much more. 

To be totally truthful, we never looked forward to raising our finances. We had actually looked for any opportunity possible to go serve without having to take on this task. It is humbling and sometimes painful to ask continually for people to sacrifice their own money so that you can support your family in a foreign land. Although we dreaded the process, God showed Himself to us in ways that we could never imagine, and we would have never seen Him there without trusting him and moving forward. We received money from friends who did not have money to give, from friends and family who are not Christ followers, people we did not know as well as many friends and family that we love. Every morning, we woke up and trusted the Lord with our lives. That included our time, and our resources. We trusted that He would provide the finances we needed to carry out the mission that He had taken us to. There were many months that we did not know if we would receive any money at all until the deposit was made, but God always provided more than we could ever dream of.  

Although raising money is a huge part of life for any full time missionary, it was not all of it.  We lived in an extremely rural area of the Andes Mountains in Peru.  We were approximately thirty minutes from the closest town, Limatambo and two hours from the Cusco- the nearest city.  We were fortunate enough to have a personal vehicle so that we were able to run to town for the basic items that we needed, and we took a trip to Cusco once a week for real grocery shopping and other errands that needed to be run.  

As an American, it is hard to imagine life “on the farm” as we called it.  Life was very, very slow. We did not have access to telephone or internet where we lived, so there was no way to get lost in facebook for hours.  We did have Direct TV, but we used it more for news than for entertainment.  Preparing meals took much longer as we had only fresh ingredients, and we had to be creative in our culinary creations (and that might have something to do with not having a single cookbook for the entire first year.)  We did have a washing machine, but we had to hang out the clothes to dry.  We would often lose water or electricity. In the case of no water, we had a large barrel that we filled with water. That meant we would take bucket baths, and use as little water as possible for dishes.  We were fortunate enough to have plenty of clothes to get us through a short time, so laundry would just pile up.  When the electricity went out, well…we went to bed very early!

Michael taught English classes in the local school to kinder through eleventh grades.  He would spend a lot of his daytime at the school, and he would later travel to the mountain villages to hold church services of sorts in the evenings. Fisher and I would stay home, unless of course Fisher had a fit about his daddy leaving him. If that happened, Mike would just take him to school.  We would also sometimes tag along to the villages at night, but it was very cold, so we usually stayed home. 

I formed a great relationship with the teenage orphan girls from the orphanage where we lived.  We began having weekly Bible studies in my home. After some time, the girls came more to just hang out and be teenagers than to study as they had lots of organized Bible study time at home.  The girls knew that they had an open invitation to our home, and that when they came, there would always be some sort of baked goods ready to eat along with real coffee.  When they were at our house, we allowed them to be silly, to laugh, to cry, and to dream.  I still get messages from those girls about the dreams that they wrote down for their lives. 

Life on the farm was very slow, but there were always things going on.  There were always people out and about, and someone was constantly at our door. We loved living in community for the most part, although there were days we wished we could shut our curtains and be left alone for a little while.  As soon as the sun rose, we had people outside our door. We formed amazing friendships with the people we lived around, and they became family to us.

At the same time, life was often very lonely.  Friendships are a lot more difficult through cultural and language barriers. The friends I had in Peru did not have any idea about my life in Texas other than what they see in the movies. They were unable to understand what things were important to me and why. They could not believe that I never learned to like their food, though I regularly tried.  They did not know or understand my way of parenting and being a wife, as the way they do those thing is very different. They did not understand why I would not take their parenting advice, and I could not tell them that it seemed just as crazy to me that they would suggest such things.  I longed to have mom friends, yet I knew that was part of the sacrifice.  I went through a pregnancy and childbirth without my family at my side. The experience was incredible, and I hated that my family missed it. Meanwhile, my sister was going through the same thing without me at her side.  I delivered a tiny baby girl in Cusco at nearly 12,000 ft elevation,  in a concrete clinic. Five months later, I sat in the hospital with that same baby girl for a week while she gasped for each breath.  Praise God that He took care of her during that time, but it was hard for all of us.

This is just a tiny little glimpse into our daily life in Peru.  I could write a short book with many more details. Overall, I really loved the simple life in the mountains of Peru. I loved having my family of four in a tiny apartment. I loved learning to cook and the tricks of baking at high altitude.  I loved being able to let my tiny children run free outside. I loved speaking Spanish and learning something new with each conversation. I loved sharing Jesus with people in the communities who did not know Him.  I loved my time with the teenage girls, and I miss them like crazy.  I loved hearing the kids call out to Profe Mike as they walked on the road.  I loved filling our Montero so full of people that it nearly dragged the ground.  I loved never knowing who would show up at our door to join us for dinner or to fix dinner for us. I love that we were able to give jobs to some of the kids as they prepared a garden area for all of us to enjoy. I love the cold weather and all of the fun hats that I was able to wear. I loved not being able to turn on the internet or check e-mail when I was bored.  I loved life without text messages.   I loved all of the uninterrupted time that I had to be with my Savior and to know Him more. I love that God revealed Himself to me in so many ways while there.  I love that God loved and trusted us enough to move our family to the rural area of Peru to be a light for Him.  I love that even though I am not still living in Peru, God continues to use us through our experiences there.  I love even more that God is preparing us for the next work that He will have us do, and I look forward to the next journey He will take us on. 

How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!” Isaiah 52:7

Written by Alyssa Mantooth.