WGM Student Involvement Cabinet Member:  Erin
Member since: 2009

Hometown: Madisonville, KY

Major: English Literature

Countries visited: I spent four years in Kenya, one night in the Netherlands, and 14 hours in England. :)

Position(s) held on cabinet: MK Coordinator -- it's a great thing to be coordinated.

Favorite Verse: Deuteronomy 33:12 - "Let the Beloved of the Lord rest secure in Him, for He shields him all day long, and the one the Lord loves rests between His shoulders."

What did you want to be when you grew up?: I mostly wanted to live in Narnia and be a dryad... not sure how I thought that one was going to happen. :) There was a marine biology phase for a while, too. 

Why did you choose to be involved with WGM?: My family's time in Kenya awoke me to the necessity of missions in a time when my whole life revolved around myself. In some ways, I never quite got over that shock - and I don't want to. While I have not experienced a personal call to full time missions, I have a heart for the world, and I'm passionate about people being aware of the need for them to reach out -- however they are able. WGM SI is a way for me to put a practical role behind that passion.

What "luxury item" would you take with you on any mission trip?: Since I've been in the United States for over four years now, all of my luxury item are FROM places you'd go on mission trips. Still, I am inordinately fond of my own pillow - so if I could find a way to take it, I would.

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? Part of me would really like to go back to Kenya and have a chance to relive some of the wonder of that country, but I also REALLY want to see new places. Right now, I think I'd be headed to China -- although Ireland would be a close second.

What's the strangest thing you've ever eaten?: I'm an absolute failure in the adventurous eating department. While I had the opportunity to eat various organs, flying ants, and really strange drinks (fermented milk and charcoal, anyone?) I was never more daring than trying crocodile. Which, by the way, is very unappealing -- tough and bitter. I don't recommend it. Camel, on the other hand, is quite sweet. Cool, huh?

What words of advice would you give someone who is about to depart on
their first missions experience?: I would say that the hardest thing about missions is that it's incredibly easy to make a trip about you without realizing. It takes a lot of humility to go into another culture not caring how you help them, whether you are appreciated, or that it even seems to be very important. The missionary superhero mentality can be really alienating to the people you serve -- so my number one piece of advice is to go into a place eager to learn the Truth -- about the people who are there, about the conditions they live in, and about what they need and are looking for. Listen to them, think outside of your cultural values (this is much harder than it sounds), and be willing to learn something - lots of things - very new. And pray a LOT - God teaches so much through this kind of encounter.