She had quite a long journey to get here by herself, but she looked fresh as she got off the plane! I've never had a just off the plane picture that looked good.
Carmen found lots of ways to make herself at home around the house. She enjoyed hanging up her hammock and relaxing with her Ipod and journal. Other times she was sitting at the dining room table working. She was even willing to watch Get Smart with us. Of course her mental age is 43 so she had no problems fitting in around here.
Even though Carmen didn't know any Thai or Karen, she was able to find ways to interact with lots of people. I think everyone really liked her young face, curly hair, and easy-going attitude. The people here are very good at reading people, and they really liked Carmen's attitude. The children flocked to her!
She loved holding the babies. They seemed to like her too. She went to the village with us a couple of times, and she seemed to enjoy being with the people and the children.
We had an excellent summer with Carmen and really miss her easy-going attitude, hard work ethic, and ice cream breaks. :) She was a great encouragement to us and brought some short-term work experience to the team that is helping us in planning for those who may come to work in the future.
Carmen also has really special parents. Her parents took the time to let us know that they believed in and supported Carmen's calling in life, and they really supported her spending the summer working here. To know that they were praying for us and sent notes of encouragement to us was an unexpected blessing. I couldn't be more excited or pleased with how everything went. :)
In most of the books about short-term mission trips, people talk about the impact they have on the person who makes the trip, but I haven't read much if any about the impact on the missionary personally. God used Carmen and her parents to encourage us. Her attitude about the work and the people were refreshing to us. Let's face it--sometimes mission work is hard and tiring. Sometimes there is discouragement that comes from just about every area imaginable, but then God...God sends someone with a fresh look and a fresh excitement that breathes new life into what may have become mundane or difficult.
We will continue to pray for Carmen and the plans God has for her life. She's already making a difference!
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