"I Don't Want to Be a Missionary!"

*(We originally blogged this over three-and-a-half years ago as our family was preparing to leave Idaho to go on the road to raise support for the mission field. We just recently shared this story with Hosanna.)

With all of the change that is happening in the life of our family we have tried our best to spend time talking with our children one-on-one. We want to talk to them, and more importantly, to listen to them so that we can gauge how they are processing all that is going on. Our prayer is that God would be continually preparing our children to go to the mission field.

In one such exchange Hosanna, our three year old, was sitting in my lap and I was telling her what it was going to be like to be a missionary. I was telling her all of the great things that God was giving us the opportunity to do and experience and how God is very loving to us to allow us to get to serve Him as missionaries.

 

But in the middle of our conversation Hosanna's face turned sour (those of you that know Hosanna know exactly what I am talking about). And she leaned right up into my face and exclaimed, "I don't want to be a missionary!" Now this came as an absolute shock to me because for the last year all Hosanna has talked about is going to Africa and living there. This is the same little girl that every time we would get into the van would ask if we were leaving for Africa now.

 

So I began again to rehearse all the great things that come with being a missionary. But she got right back up into my face again and said, "I don't want to be a missionary! I want to be an African!" It seems that God does indeed have her ready to go. Africa may never be the same!

 

*UPDATE: Hosanna is currently doing her best to become an African!