Mission Trip/ Lack Of Motivation Caused By Fear...

[Annie12]

Hey everyone,

I have been thinking about doing a mission trip this summer but while I think I would love it, I am paralyzed with fear at the thought of it. I start to think about how much I could help others and grow spiritually and then I get bombarded with thoughts of inadequacy. I have prayed that if God wants me to go on one he will put a trip right before me. But, I always think I am not good at anything and would end up being a thorn in everyone's side. So, I hold myself back. Do any of you have thoughts on this? Do you know of any trips?

[BigJon16]

I'd check out Luke 5. Verses 1 to 11. Or Luke 1:26-29, the Annunciation. 

 

Jesus calls us, even if we are inadequate or even resistant. Being Jesus's hands and feet isn't about us at all, rather it's about Him working through us. Serving isn't about the server, rather the one who is served. Find Jesus is the "least of these" that you would serve, and you'll see. You are not inadequate. You are not "good-for-nothing". You are His beloved daughter, and He wants to use you to do Great Things. 

 

Praying for you. :) 

[Era Might]

I think you should question the whole idea of a "mission trip." Is it really about the Gospel, or is it a form of charity tourism?

 

You are certainly not inadequate, but I think that feeling of inadequacy is a reflection of the do-goodism implied in mission trips. Are you there to do something to a group of people, or to listen? Are you there to learn a language "as good as the natives," or to recognize from the outset that language is their way of being in the world, and the only way to truly understand it is to admit from the outset that you are dependent on them. To accept, in other words, that you are not in a position of power, but in a position of weakness, that you are dependent on them, not the other way around.

 

True mission work requires the same submission. The mission of the Gospel is not a project of colonialism or economic development, it is an act of becoming all things to all men, giving up, in other words, what you are, and becoming something new through a specific group of people.

Edited June 11, 2013 by Era Might

[Annie12]

um...I just want to help people less fortunate than I. I have no ulterior motives. I promise.

[Era Might]

um...I just want to help people less fortunate than I. I have no ulterior motives. I promise.

 

I don't doubt you have good intentions. Just suggesting that you question even your good intentions. Here's an essay that might be useful to you, "To Hell With Good Intentions":

 

http://www.swaraj.org/illich_hell.htm

[Kateri89]

um...I just want to help people less fortunate than I. I have no ulterior motives. I promise.

Hey I want to go on a mission trip too! We should go together and that would probably lessen your anxiety if you're not going alone. I really want to go visit the Missionaries of the Poor. Of course I'd have to be able to get time off of work...

[Basilisa Marie]

I deal with similar feelings sometimes, it's pretty paralyzing.  What I find helps most is trying to let go of control over the situation, and give it to God. What I mean by that is asking God to help you be the best tool in his toolbox that you can be, to take your anxiety and use you in spite of it. :)  God LOVES to use people who feel inadequate.  Moses had a stutter. David was a young shepherd boy.  Sarah was past her fertile years.  Jonah ran away.  Matthew was a tax collector.  Peter was obnoxious and headstrong.  Paul tried to get Christians killed.  Mary didn't have a husband.  And yet they and so many others are some of the most important people in the formation of our faith.  It's almost like it's a requirement that you have to be inadequate in some way.  :hehe2:   Reminding myself that God will make up for any of my deficiencies as long as I try my hardest to do his will, stay close to the sacraments, and pray lots, sometimes helps me feel like I can power through the inadequacy.  

[Spem in alium]

I agree with much of what has been said, but just want to add my own two cents:

 

It is my belief that God does not call us for no reason. I think we are all called to varying tasks and roles because we are the most suitable person to fulfill them. I recently picked up a volunteer job as a catechist, which is a job I initially felt very inadequate in. I kept telling myself there are many more people better suited and more knowledgeable than I, and sometimes those thoughts made me feel like giving up the role. But then I would reflect on the fact that there must be a reason for why I was called to that particular ministry. The same can be said of your own story. There must be a reason as to why you are intrigued by a mission trip. Search for it within and outside yourself. There is always a reason behind being drawn to something or feeling that a desire comes from God, we just need to find it.

 

 

Reminding myself that God will make up for any of my deficiencies as long as I try my hardest to do his will, stay close to the sacraments, and pray lots, sometimes helps me feel like I can power through the inadequacy.  

 

I wholeheartedly relate to this. Stay close to God, as through Him you can do all that is good. Inadequacy's been something that's plagued me most of my life. In spite of it, I can say I've managed to achieve a lot so far, and anything that I've been successful in has resulted from God's abundant graces and through doing what Basilisa Marie mentions to the best of my ability :)

 

 

Edited June 11, 2013 by Spem in alium