Enjoying My Second Childhood
By Grace H., on mission in Argentina
It was a pleasant surprise to arrive in Villa Jardín and find myself feeling nothing but joy despite encountering living conditions which would have previously made me extremely uncomfortable. Loads of trash, stray dogs, and unappealing smells lined the narrow passage to my new home. Along the way, several kids and adults came out from their homes — which in many cases are nothing more than small, poorly assembled one or two room buildings made of various rough materials— to greet me. The physical poverty was immediately evident, but so was the richness of their joy and love. I was (and am) shocked by the way the people welcomed me, a random blonde girl from the USA, into their neighborhood.
When you think of the start of a “mission”, you, like me, might imagine it being carried out by someone strong and powerful; someone who can easily serve everyone around them. I have found that the start of my mission has made me into anything but that. Instead, I have become like a little child.
Although my Spanish is far better than I thought it would be for how little I prepared, I am constantly in situations where I lack understanding. If I do understand, I cannot express the entirety of my thoughts or advocate for myself beyond basic needs. When I speak in Spanish, it is far from the eloquent prose and philosophical expressions I (try to) use in my native tongue. Instead, like a child, I am learning how to talk.
How beautifully humbling! It sounds terrible at first: to be a child. But I am realizing that there is a joyful freedom in it. I thought I would be expected to do everything all at once when I arrived on mission, but just like a child, I mentally and physically cannot. The good news is, God and my community members know that and expect me only to do what I am able to! He and they will do the rest. It is I who so often, just like when I was an actual child, want to grow up and have the verbal and physical strengths of an adult. I’m learning that it is genuinely okay to give myself permission to enjoy my second childhood.