7 Things I've Learned as a 7-Year Missionary

Seven years ago, I moved to the mission field with enthusiasm, a lot of plans, a dose of naiveté, and very little idea of what God would actually teach me. The path to where we are now has been filled with hard work, uncertainty, wrong turns, and plenty of moments where I had no idea what I was doing. But it has also been marked by refinement, joy, and the privilege of watching God transform both my own life and the lives of so many people here in Guatemala. Looking back, these are some of the lessons that have shaped me the most.

1. It's not about what I do, it's about how I do it.

I often measure my days/years by results: How much did I accomplish? Did the ministry grow? Did I make a difference? Old habits die hard. As a former financial analyst, I naturally think in terms of metrics, growth, and measurable outcomes. For years I brought that mindset into ministry as well.

But God seems far more interested in my character than my performance. He wants my whole self—not just my work, but my attitude, my obedience, and my trust in Him. He cares about whether I serve with joy or with complaining, whether I love people well or simply try to get things done. That realization has been incredibly freeing. God's approval isn't based on my productivity. He is shaping who I am, not just evaluating what I achieve.

2. Growth Is Often Surprising—and a Testament to God's Sovereignty

One of the most humbling lessons I've learned is that growth is often surprising. As Paul wrote, "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth" (1 Corinthians 3:6).

After seven years in ministry, I've seen this time and time again. Some of the people I've invested in most haven't grown as much as I expected, while others have flourished in ways I never anticipated. The same has been true of ministries. Time and again, I've watched God bless areas where I felt unqualified, underprepared, or convinced I would fail. Meanwhile, some of the ministries I poured the most energy into didn't grow in the ways I had hoped.

I am constantly amazed by how God works. He rarely follows my plans, timelines, or expectations. That's why every season of ministry has become a reminder that we are called to be faithful in planting and watering, but God alone produces the growth.

3. Have no exit strategy.

During one of my most difficult seasons as a missionary, I sought advice from a veteran missionary. I asked her, "How do you stay on the mission field long term?" I was afraid I wouldn't make it.

Without hesitation, she told me, "The secret to staying on the mission field is to not have an exit strategy."She didn't mean ignoring God's leading or pretending life before missions never existed. She meant that constantly imagining an alternate life makes it difficult to fully embrace the one God has given you.

Long-term ministry requires embracing where God has called you rather than dwelling on what you left behind. If I spend my energy imagining an alternate life, I'll never fully invest in the one God has given me. Once I started living out this advice, my heart truly became invested here in Guatemala.

4. Thanksgiving is the antidote to anxiety.

I am naturally a very anxious person. Honestly, I think no matter where in the world God placed me, I would probably find something to worry about. Missionary life certainly provides plenty of opportunities. Work goes unseen and unrecognized. Prayers seem unanswered. Efforts seem fruitless. Sometimes it feels like there is no one coming to help.

In those moments, gratitude becomes a discipline. Thanksgiving shifts my focus from what God hasn't done yet to what He has already done. Every year, especially around Thanksgiving, I intentionally take time to reflect on God's faithfulness. One practical way I do this is by creating a Thanksgiving video highlighting some of the ways I've seen God work throughout the year and sharing it with our supporters as a small expression of gratitude.

Looking back reminds me of what I so easily forget in the present: God has been faithful before, and He will be faithful again. It helps quiet the anxiety that comes from wanting certainty about the future.

As Isaiah writes, "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock" (Isaiah 26:3–4). The more I focus on God's character and faithfulness, the less consumed I become by the uncertainties around me.

5. Be faithful with little.

Not every day feels significant. Ministry certainly includes the moments we celebrate—baptisms, transformed lives, answered prayers, powerful moments in God's presence, and seeing people take steps of faith.

But ministry is also filled with ordinary, unseen work. It's cleaning the sanctuary after everyone has gone home. It's making coffee for the meeting. It's taking care of children, mine and others. It's focusing on my spiritual life so I can pour out to others. It's counseling the same people through the same struggles. It's having difficult accountability conversations. It's sermon preparation, calendars, budgets, recruiting, reports, repairing stuff and wearing dozens of hats. Sometimes ministry feels less like accomplishing something new and more like faithfully doing the same things over and over again.

Yet Jesus repeatedly emphasized faithfulness in small things.

I've learned that there is no act too small in God's Kingdom. A prayer, showing up consistently to your ministry, an encouraging word, a visit, a lesson taught, a meal shared, a floor swept, a report completed—God uses things that often seem insignificant to us.

My responsibility is not to do only the visible or exciting work. It's to faithfully steward whatever God places in front of me, trusting that He sees both the public victories and the hidden acts of obedience.

6. Ministry Was Never Meant to Be Done Alone

One of the greatest gifts God has given me on the mission field has been a ministry partner who is also my husband.

When we first arrived, we tended to stay in our own lanes, each focused on our own responsibilities and strengths. But over the years, God has taught us how to work together as a team. It has been sanctifying, painful, and difficult work—but also deeply rewarding.

The closer you work with someone, the more aware you become of both their strengths and weaknesses—and your own. At times, we've mistaken a different perspective for opposition, viewing each other as an obstacle rather than recognizing that God was using both of us to bring balance and wisdom to the ministry.

Learning to value each other's perspectives has strengthened both our marriage and our ministry. Many of our best decisions have come not from one of us being right, but from learning to listen to one another well.

There's a saying: "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." I've found that to be true in both missions and marriage.

7. Missions Is a Relay Race

If short-term missions is a sprint, our intern program (1-2 year) is middle-distance running, and long-term missions is a marathon, then God's global mission is a marathon relay race. The goal was never to build a ministry that depends on us. The goal is to raise up leaders—ideally local leaders—who can carry the work forward long after we are gone.

That's a difficult transition because the skills required to launch a ministry are very different from the skills required to hand one off. Passing the baton means creating systems, developing leaders, empowering others to make decisions, and accepting that they may do things differently than you would. We have just started this process in the last year or so, raising up a vice principal for the school, investing in pastors for the church, administrators and deacons. Wow, has it been a shift in our perspective, how we run things and has challenged us to be new and different types of leaders (we are still working on this one!!!!)

In conclusion, seven years in, I'm realizing that success isn't building something that lasts because I'm here. Success is helping build something that lasts even when I'm not. That's both humbling and freeing. The ministry was never mine to begin with—it belongs to God.

Six years ago, after my first year on the mission field, I wrote a blog post called "10 Things I Learned in My First Year of Missions." Looking back, most of those lessons still ring true. But I can also see how much God has grown and refined me since then.

In many ways, the lessons have changed, but the theme remains the same: trust Him with the results. Trust Him with the growth. Trust Him in the good times and the difficult ones. Trust Him when the future feels uncertain. Trust Him when your plans don't work out. Trust Him when the work feels small and unseen.

The longer I serve, the less I believe missions is about what I can accomplish for God and the more I believe it is about learning to faithfully walk with Him. Seven years in, I still have much to learn, but I am more convinced than ever that God is faithful—and He can be trusted.