From Homebody to Home Away from Home

Hi, my name is Jane. I’m a HBSM alumni and graduated from Pennsylvania College of Technology. I was at Winter Conference when I heard the speakers talking about summer missions. I thought to myself that might be something I’d like to do.

My fear of going somewhere for 10 weeks without my family kicked in. I’m a homebody. I have never been away from my family for this long. I lived at home and went to school.

That night I was talking to other people from my school who were thinking about applying. This was very hard for me to understand whether or not this was something the Lord wanted me to do. I felt the Lord was calling me to get over my fear and apply. The couple who were my Cru staff were also going to be at HBSM that summer. Having friends who were also applying and having my staff there made it easier for me to apply. So I decided to apply.

Then I got accepted and went. There were many obstacles that came along the way. One of them being my extended family didn’t like the fact that I was going on this missions trip. Which caused some struggles of raising support. Thankfully the Lord blessed me with many friends and church friends who helped me raise the money I needed. I struggled to share my faith and going out to talk to people on the beach, but I had a great discipled who helped me along the way to go out and talk to people. I love the beach, so being less than a block on mission is great.

I love summer mission so much! It was the best summer I had. The Lord grew me in so many ways. By the end of the summer, everyone became like family to me.

If there is one thing to tell someone who is thinking about missions and is scared like I was, find a friend or two and apply for the same mission AND GO!