Meet Kendall Ruehling: she followed the tug on her heart, left her comfort zone, and found her calling.
What led you to say yes to going on a mission trip with your church to Honduras?
When I was in middle school I would always hear of the biannual student mission trip to Honduras, and at that time the thought of going to a foreign country absolutely terrified me. Through the years I heard many great things and exciting stories of the things that my peers did in Honduras, and how it positively affected both the lives of my friends and of the people in Honduras.
My junior year of high school, they announced that we had the opportunity to go on a mission to Camp Barnabas. Camp Barnabas was a church camp for special needs children, and I wanted nothing more than to go and serve those sweet kids. I had a wonderful time that week growing closer to God and my camper, Chloe, while also being totally exhausted and out of my comfort zone. After that mission, I felt a tug on my heart to go on the next Honduras mission. I wondered why I had been willing to branch out to go to Camp Barnabas, but found it so hard to want to go to another country to teach more sweet kiddos about Jesus. Remembering all of the stories about the impact these missions had on Honduran children, I decided to start fundraising for what turned out to be a trip I would never forget.
One of the things you got to do while in Honduras was meet Jeferson, a little boy who your family sponsors. What was it like to finally meet him?
Meeting Jeferson was surreal. I had known from the time I had committed to going to Honduras that I was going to meet him, but it didn't really sink in until I was getting off of the plane in San Pedro Sula. I had even packed some fun little gifts to give to him.
Once we got to La Lima where he lived, I started to get really excited and almost anxious about meeting him. What was I going to say to him? Will he even know who I am?
When we arrived at his school, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw him. It was Jeferson! He was more than just a picture that we hung up on our fridge. He was right there in front of me, playing with his friends! I got really shy and didn't know how to start a conversation with him so I finally went up to him and asked "como te llamas" (what is your name), and he puffed his chest out and confidently stated "Jeferson". I know very little Spanish, so all I could say next was "tengo un regalo para ti" (I have a gift for you). His eyes lit up as he repeated back to me, "un regalo?". After I gave him his gift he gave me the sweetest hug and made sure to follow me around the rest of the time we were there. Leaving him was so super hard because not only had we just met, but the probability seeing him again soon was very low. Meeting him was an experience not many people get to have, and I feel blessed to have had the opportunity.
What was one highlight from your time in Honduras?
Oh goodness, this is a very hard question. After we left La Lima, we made our way up into the mountains to a village called La Entrada. The main part of our mission was supposed to take place in the school there. We were there to rebuild their bathrooms and give them running water and also run a Vacation Bible School for the kids. Working in the bathrooms was tough, but our team made it fun knowing how much these kids needed better bathrooms. One of my favorite highlights was just getting to hang out with the kids and show love to them through my actions. We couldn't even communicate with each other, but they became friends with me anyways.
I had a group of sixth grade girls always following me around, and each day they would come back with new English words they have learned to compliment me and communicate with me. They would say "beautiful" and "I love you" constantly. I tried my best to learn things to say back to them, but I was just constantly shocked at how endlessly they gave compassion and love to us when they owed us nothing.
What have you learned about the Lord and yourself while serving in this way?
I learned that if you truly believe you were called to do something, the Lord will provide. I wasn't completely sure at first that God truly wanted me to go on this trip, but it became apparent soon after I started fundraising what His answer to this was. With His help, I raised 100% of the money I needed to go on the trip. I know that without God's help, I would have never raised enough.
Also, I learned that my true calling was to work with kids. I have always dreamed of being a teacher, and after hanging out with the Honduran kids for a few days, I feel assured that that is what I'm called to do.
I learned that the Lord works in crazy ways and can make even the scariest task something life changing!
What advice do you have for someone who feels called to serve internationally and make a difference but isn’t sure where to start?
My first advice would definitely be to just pray about it. Make sure your heart is in the right place when you're first feeling as if you're being called! Then, I would definitely suggest to start fundraising! Fund the Nations helped me SO much on my journey, but t-shirts aren't the only way to fundraise! You can make bracelets to sell, start a GoFundMe, or even plan a fundraiser at a local restaurant! Have fun and get creative with it.
You will learn that your mission doesn't just start when you leave this country, but that you can make an impact on your local community just by sharing why you're going on this mission! Serving internationally is one of the coolest (in my opinion, at least) ways to learn more about the world God created and grow closer with Jesus!
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