My new mission field

To get to my new mission field I only need to drive 1 hour 20 minutes from the place I have called home for almost 8 years. The culture is my own, the language is my own the climate is much colder

and the air is crisper.

Last year I lived in a city of a million people and I lived within an awesome community. Now I’m heading to a small country school, with a total of about 500 people in the whole community and 110 in the whole school. I will be teaching a class of 10, 5 year old's to begin with. This is a striking contrast to my home in Tanzania yet it’s a mission field none the less. I’m no longer “Teacher Rachel at Joshua School Arusha, but instead I get to be “Whaea Rachel”at a country school in small town NZ.

I’m going to a place where I must admit is not exactly my “dream location” or “first choice” but I know that it’s Gods first choice for me in this season, just as Tanzania was his first choice for me last year.
I have struggled with knowing my purpose since being back in New Zealand. I’ve had what can only be described as homesickness for Tanzania and If I’m honest I’ve been living off the “I spent last year in Tanzania” speech since I got back and the “wow” response it gets from people, rather than fully embracing this new season, and its significance. Of which I will probably know more of in hindsight

It’s so easy to put certain life paths, or locations up on a pedestal but whatever we do is significant for Gods kingdom so long as we keep loving the ones in front of us.

Tanzania now seems like a distant memory. It doesn’t take long to settle back into NZ life and for this to become the norm. Yet somethings changed there’s a deeper hunger for the things of God because I’ve experienced more, there’s a greater awareness of Gods miracle working power because I've seen more. There’s a greater responsibility to share because I know more than I once knew. There’s also this unrest in me because I know there is still more, yet it is so easy to become comfortable and just go through the motions of life.

But just before I get too comfortable and too use to my quiet part time schedule, God has opened a new door and I’m back on the edge of my comfort zone, having to meet new people, learn a new system in my very first New Zealand Primary School teaching job. 

The last 3 months have been both awesome and challenging. It’s been awesome sharing about my time away, catching up with family and friends, being a bridesmaid at one of my besties weddings, road tripping around NZ and hiking up mountains. God has been so faithful to provide all my needs. I haven’t had any consistent work for 3 months, yet I haven’t once run out of money and just when my finances started to get low I secured a job.

I don’t fully know what the rest of this year will look like, how long I’ll be teaching at my new school, or what the future holds, but I do know that life with God is always an adventure and I wouldn’t want it any other way!