“In August of 2007 I served as a short-term missionary in Sicily with Aurora Mission.  Having never been on such an adventure before, I was concerned about traveling overseas for the first time to a foreign country all by myself and spending three weeks in a new culture.

My time in Sicily was full of excitement as each new week brought different ministry opportunities.  I had  planned to help the caretakers clean and prepare the housing units and help with meals for a mission team; but I also got to help the local church planter distribute VBS flyers door-to-door, attend a Bible Study at the U.S. Navy base, and attend the nightly  “piazza”  meetings.  I even had a few chances to use my poor language skills to translate conversations between the VBS children and a Mission Team from Michigan.

When I embarked on this journey, I had no idea the things that God would do in my heart.  The week of my departure, as I was heading out to Sicily, a friend said to me; “Isn’t it great to know that this is God’s perfect goodness for you?”  At the time I smiled at her flowery words and continued packing my bags.  But when my plane was rerouted or my luggage was lost, those words came back to me and I was comforted by the truth she had s poken.  I love those times in life when we allow ourselves to be truly held in God’s hands.  When you can sit alone in a foreign airport (not having planned on learning French as well as Italian) knowing that for all intents and purposes you should be panicking – but yet all you can do is smile knowing that THIS is God’s perfect goodness for you.  And those times when you can’t believe that God’s perfect goodness could be this good!  It’s amazing how we go to serve, but God uses that time to also teach us so much about ourselves and about Him!

Here are some things I learned while on my trip:

- If you always enjoy charades, you’d enjoy a mission’s trip to a foreign field.

- A smile goes a long way! (Even when you’re terrified that someone might actually speak to you – smile.)

- You never know where you might gain a dear friend, and you’d be surprised to know that friends don’t always have to speak the same language.

- Similar words in two different languages can mean completely different things.

- To a weary soldier fighting the good fight on the front lines, a fresh face can be just what he/she needs to keep fighting.

Working with Aurora Mission was a great experience.  Everyone that I worked with from Aurora was kind and helpful throughout the whole process.  I felt like the people of Aurora were behind me every step of the way!”