I recently had the opportunity to go to Bolivia with a team from Pine Cove for ten days to train some leaders in Christian camping. As I’ve been processing my time there, two things have stood out in my mind.

1. My labor is unto Him (Gal. 1:10, Col. 3:17).

2. Suffering for the Gospel, in any context, is a privilege (Phil. 1:29).

Doing any kind of cross-cultural mission work involves making sacrifices. For me now, the biggest come in the form of being away from my wife and daughter.

But there are other sacrifices as well, though they may be small. On these trips, my teams always joke with me about the food. The fact is that I am a picky eater, and being out of my American context usually means eating some things that I’d rather pass on (I’m jealous of all of you who can scarf down anything that’s put in front of you). The sacrifices may be taking a cold shower or the loneliness that comes with being the only “gringo” in a cabin full of spanish speaking teenagers (this was the case for most of our team).

The temptation, at least for me, is to just try and get through those hard aspects of the trip. Count down the days til you’ll be back on American soil in an environment that’s comfortable once again.

God really impressed upon me during my time in Bolivia that suffering, even in things like taking cold showers and being lonely, is a privilege if it’s for the sake of the Gospel. So, rather than just “getting through” the hard parts of these trips, I was reminded that I could enter into them purposefully. Head held high. Shoulders square. Not feeling sorry for myself. Not having a spirit of complaining or of ‘only 6 more days’, but knowing that the purpose was well worth any cost I’d pay along the way.