FAQ (finally!!!)

Sorry this took about 3 years to get around to posting hahaha but I finally finished going through y'all's questions! I had so much fun answering these! here ya are :

1. What’s your favorite bug you’ve eaten? —drew
Hahaha well I’ve only eaten one so far; it was a tree grub that we picked off of a special type of tree that we cut down in the jungle. The guys we were working with asked me if I’d eat it alive and I said heck no so they took it back to the kitchen, fried it, and I went for it haha. Let’s just say I didn’t eat a second one for a reason.

2. Have you run out of peanut butter yet — cassidy 

NO actually!!! I am actually so impressed with myself. But mostly because Kendall restocked me twice already jajaja

3. Have you experienced any kind of culture shock? If so, how bad was it? 

 
ahhh haha yes. It was the worst for sure in my first 1-2 months in Colombia. This is my first time out of the country, so you can imagine how different things (things that are so normal for people here) were for me at the beginning! 

You can’t flush toilet paper here. I messed up on that so many times hahaha

How many street dogs there are. Literally so many haha

Time. Time is so. different. here. That’s actually a shock that I hated at first and now it’s given me a renewed sense of value for it. I’ve learned that the U.S. is so caught up in time, instant gratification, and rushing through things, myself included big time! Here, time isn’t ever (literally ever) taken literally. If you say something starts at 2, that means 3 (or in Colombia that can mean like 4:30. Not an exaggeration), lines at grocery stores can take up to 30 minutes or more, and traffic is insane. In the first couple months I had such a hard time with this stuff!! That’s coming from someone who’s job is to make sure that your drive-thru is getting cars out in under 2 minutes hahah, but seriously I was inwardly so annoyed when things weren’t punctual, or when schedules changed so much. But I think God taught me through that how to value relationships (that includes with Him) better when you’re in a posture of waiting. The other week, I was in the grocery line for over a half hour, but ended up getting into a conversation with a sweet lady from here in Peru who was waiting in line behind me. She had just recently been to Atlanta, Georgia, and we bonded over the ATL skyscrapers and airport. What are the odds??! We miss out on that kind of stuff in the states when we’re rushing through everything!

4. Do people ever think you’re a local — cassidy

Actually yes!! I get so proud haha but it can usually die after a few words of my spanish lol. But there was one time where I called a taxi with my mom and he thought we were locals and charged us a normal price, and then I found out one of my teammates and her family got ripped off because they were gringos. My half latina self felt sooo proud haha

5. Have you learned any new Zumba moves — cassidy

Haha kind of! One of our outreach activities in Armenia was neighborhood Zumba at the local park, which was sooo much fun but we haven’t done much dancing otherwise. I do wanna learn some salsa-ing before I go back though lol.

6. Has your time on your mission been what you expected? What is different than you thought it was going to be? — maddie

Yes and no. I didn’t realize prior to getting here how much we were moving around. I honestly thought until training week that we were in the same location for 3 months each, with little moving, but nope! Haha there was one week where I slept in 5 different beds in 6 consecutive days. 

—How many people we’ve met, holy cow!! It’s one of my favorite (if not my #1 favorite) parts of this trip! I’ve met sooo many people and heard so many incredible stories and testimonies. I honestly did not come into this trip expecting to leave with such close friends. I thought they’d be more like acquaintance level relationships that I’d never see again, but so many of the people whom I’ve met I’ve parted with a deep connection and longing to see them again. It’s such a beautiful picture of how the body of Christ comes together and bonds in a matter of days!

7. Would you do it again? — mom

Absolutely yes. I’m gonna encourage my kids to do a gap year someday. I often hear the response to a gap year that you need to focus on college, and not wasting time in getting a job, but gosh I’ve learned how GOOD it is to just get out there and get experience, and seeing how Christ works worldwide. There’s parts of this trip that are super hard and that I don’t miss, but all in all, it’s been incredible and I’m already trying to figure out how I can come back down again soon.

8. Did you like doing laundry on a scrub board? — Grandma

Haha ehhh so we had to hand-wash laundry in the jungle, and it took my almost an hour to wash like 6 things. And meanwhile, the girls who lived there were able to wash their full load of laundry plus some bedding in like a half an hour. It wasn't terrible doing, but it gave me a renewed appreciation for laundry machines :)

9. Is it difficult to come back to your own culture — mckenzie

So this is actually something I’ve been thinking about a lot. Although I haven’t yet returned home, I’m wondering what the transition will be like. As excited as I am to be back and see everyone I miss, I honestly think it’s gonna be really hard for me. I’ve grown to fall in love with this place, which is crazy because the first month I was so out of my comfort zone and although I was enjoying seeing a new culture, I was so wanting to be back at home haha. And now I can’t believe that in just a couple months, I’ll be leaving. I love the beauty right outside my window. I love the simplicity of life here. I love not being wrapped up in homework or stressful deadlines. Even though too much of it can give me a headache haha, I just love hearing spanish. And most of all I LOVE the warmness and relationally here of the people. I’m pumped to be back home, but I’m nervous because I know the transition will be painful and challenging.

10. Did you fly to Ecuador / Volveras a Ecuador? — Jean Pier

jajaja si yo volve, jean pier

11. How is your spanish? -- Caroline, Natalie

Haha ahh some days I feel like I’ve mastered the whole language and some days I feel like I know 5 words. I can definitely see improvement since October, which is the best feeling ever. I started from a literal vocabulary of 20 words to now being able to have simple conversations, ordering for myself, receiving instructions for tasks, and the other week I understood my first entire church sermon! I can fully say though that none of this is my own capability because I really struggled first and there were some days I literally cried because I was so frustrated by the language. I know it’s seriously God who has been giving me understanding when I need it and giving me the right words to communicate.

12. What has been an unexpected lesson God has taught you during this season?

I think a big one has been the unforeseen challenges that come with living with a group of people for 8 months. We’ve all talked about how it’s been a huge learning experience for us to be adapting to different personalities, characters, etc. For example, I love love the girls on my team but Esther, Kendall, and I all 3 have very dominant, leader-type personalities, and we’ve had to learn how to work through that and find a way to operate as a team without clashing. 

I think two of the other hardest parts of Link Year for me were in Armenia (Colombia) and in the jungle (Ecuador). Armenia I struggled so much with homesickness, as well as physical sickness simultaneously. On top of that, because I wasn’t anchoring myself and my circumstances in Christ, I felt distant from the Lord for a good few days. I wasn’t fully seeking what He had for me, and instead was just feeling discontent in the situation that I was in. He taught me during those couple weeks what it means to have peace, regardless of where I am. I learned the difference of going through something difficult and having peace, versus having no peace. I felt very broken and sad in Armenia at first, but during that time, I was reading through the gospel of John. Chapter 14 talks about the type of peace that Jesus gives to us. “my peace I give to you, not as the world gives you…” He taught me about how he gives us HIS OWN peace. The peace that Jesus Himself feels is given to us as well!! This revelation rocked my world and shifted my mindset a whole 180 degrees. 

Fast-forward to our time in the jungle. I was faced with an unexpected trial, regarding sudden switches in location for our team. We ended up getting separated for various reasons, and I was the only Linker left in the jungle. I felt so confused as to what God was doing, and felt very helpless and nervous being left on my own without Kendall or Esther to help me with spanish. I was pushed out of my comfort zone big time while I was there. I compared this to my previous trial in Armenia; I remembered how I felt lost in my trial in Armenia, and didn’t initially respond to the challenge with a sense of peace. This time, however, I felt prepared. I realized, that I had a choice in how I wanted to respond. I could either:

1. approach the situation with a mindset of embracing where I was and choosing to serve God fully despite my circumstances and feelings of inadequacy or 

2. passively let the week slip by, feel sorry for myself, and not seek Jesus for peace amidst the chaos. 

That week was really challenging. I again felt lonely without Kendall and Esther, and so unequipped at times in my Spanish abilities. But even though my situations weren’t ideal, I never fully felt like I was wandering or alone, like I did in Armenia. I felt anchored the whole time, clearly sensing the presence of Jesus walking with me every step of the way.

Those lessons weren’t fun. I’ve come to realize that praying for God to “build your faith” can be a scary request at times haha because your faith grows the most when you’re placed in situations of discomfort. But the end results have proven to be both humbling and rewarding, as each time, He places you in a posture of surrender and forced dependence upon Him to deliver you. I’m thankful for those 2 lessons, because it taught me that even if I’m in a place where there is discomfort, I can still have peace when I choose to rest in Jesus.

14. Loneliness? Emotions away form the familiar? Endurance? — Hollie

This was definitely a huge challenge for me while I was in Colombia. I struggled so much those 2 months with loneliness, homesickness, and wanting to be back home with people I knew. It took me a lot longer than I thought it would to adapt to life here and to not knowing anyone. It really wasn’t until we got to Ecuador that I felt like God flipped a lightswitch and instantly removed all of those feelings. It was so cool, honestly! I had been praying all of November for him to replace those emotions with an eagerness to embrace life here and to supply me with joy that only he could give me. Literally day 1 in Ecuador, the homesickness was gone. That first week we got to Ecuador and settled into ministry was one of my favorite weeks of all of Link Year so far. I felt like God taught me that week what it meant to truly live and have joy in Him, no matter where I was. Because at the end of the day, it really doesn’t matter where I am or who I’m with, because I’m always walking with the one person that matters the most. I may be separated for a time from my “comfort” people + places, and that’s something that Satan can use to his advantage. He can make you feel lost and unknown when you’re put into new, unfamiliar situations. But the one thing he CAN’T take is the presence of the one who loves you most. No matter how hard the enemy tries, He can’t separate Jesus from being with you. That was one of the biggest lessons I learned in Colombia: learning that my joy should not be conditional based upon my circumstances, but that the giver of joy and peace walks with me constantly, and for this truth, I have something to rejoice about.

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As always, I am immensely grateful for all of your prayers and support, and even these questions! It means a lot that you guys took the time to ask me how this experience has been so far. I have super limited wifi here in Peru so I can't talk very often, but feel free to send me messages if y'all have more questions :) 

See y'all in under 2 months! 

-Allison