What If...

What if you could spend a year living anywhere in the world, experiencing that culture, language and environment? Where would you choose to live and why? And perhaps the better question is what is holding you back from pursuing that?

This is something I've thought about often. I love to travel and experience other cities and countries in more than just a tourist capacity. Yet I have never been outside the country for more than ten days. In fact, I haven't done much travelling at all, compared to most people I know. One trip to England, several to Louisiana, two California adventures, Chicago, St. Louis, Tennessee, Oklahoma and the little-known fact that I lived in Alaska for a short time as a child.

So if I could spend a year in another place, I would probably choose somewhere in Eastern Europe. There are several reasons for this. Eastern Europe provides the Old World feel that I love: art, architecture, history, tradition. But the mentality is different from Western Europe. It's less commercialized, more rooted in custom. There's more sense of family and background, a greater emphasis on community.

Furthermore (and this is really the primary reason), Eastern Europeans desperately need to hear the gospel. The region is vastly atheist in belief, although many profess the Catholic faith. There are opportunities in places like Poland (which is struggling to jumpstart a democratic government and economy) to minister to youth and help plant churches, as well as to teach English.

So what is holding me back from going? Comfort, primarily. It's easier to stay here where everything is simple and organized, where I don't have to take any risks. Spending time in another country means selling my car, giving up my job (and hoping I can find another one when I return), leaving my family, friends and church. In other words, leaving everything that is secure, safe and comfortable to embark on the unknown.

But who knows, maybe one day I'll be posting on here to tell you I'm packing up and heading out (and have a car for sell if you're interested)!