Considering short term mission?
We interview someone who's done it, liked it, and is going back again!
Q&A with Kylie Davidson, thanks to St Paul's Carlingford & Missions Interlink (see below for more information).
Q1. When did you become a Christian and was there a person or incident that influenced that decision?
A. I became a Christian in high school when God showed me that I can only be in a relationship with him through Jesus Christ. I was able to see that I am saved by God’s grace and not by what I do. Reading God’s word, especially Romans, and attending Christian camps helped me through this process. The leaders on these camps challenged me to think whether I was saved from God’s judgment or not. I realized that I had been trusting in myself and not God.
Q2. What prompted you to consider working as an Overseas Ministry Partner?
A. I was challenged to consider overseas ministry through attending several Church Missionary Society (CMS) events including youth camps and Summer School. There was always a take home message of how God wants people from all nations to hear his word and be in his eternal kingdom. I was especially challenged in January 2006 to put this into action and so applied to go on a short term mission. I was accepted with CMS to go to Kenya from December 2006-January 2007 which was an excellent experience.
Q3. If you do a little ‘crystal ball gazing’ how do you think your upcoming trip to Tanzania will affect you or change your thinking?
A. I hope that God will teach me many things about cross-cultural ministry while I am on this trip and that I would learn to trust Him more and be more eager to share God’s word.
Q4. Have you changed in any way (ie in your understanding or thinking) since you first volunteered for this trip?
A. In preparation for this trip I completed a course called Perspectives. It taught me that God states throughout the Bible that he is a God who wants peoples of all nations to be saved. I was also challenged to consider how I am to be involved in this plan. The MIST conference also reminded me of the difficulties of crossing culture when spreading the gospel.
Q5. Thinking about the differences in lifestyles between Australia and Tanzania, what do you think you'll miss most when you're in Tanzania?
A. I think that I will miss eating the normal food that I enjoy eating usually but am sure that I will (hopefully) get used to the traditional food. I think that I will also find it hard living with less technology including cars, reliable electricity, television and internet.
MIST (Missions Interlink Short Term Training) is an intensive weekend training course aimed at equipping short termers to adapt well to serving cross culturally. Apart from jumping on a plane and arriving at a location ready to use their gifts and skills to serve, short termers need to know how to:
1. act and communicate appropriately in a new culture
2. keep healthy and safe
3. come under the authority of the local church, their team leader and their mission agency
4. keep fresh spiritually whilst juggling many external demands
5. understand their strengths and weaknesses to enable them to positively interact in a team situation
To find out more about MIST, go to www.missionsinterlink.org.au and click on MIST.
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