Don’t Expect Us to Come Back the Same

***A note to all parents, siblings, relatives, friends, acquaintances, supporters, church members, etc. of AIM Passport participants***

"No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river, and he's not the same man." -Heraclitus

At the beginning of this trip, you parents were most likely ensured by us or AIM staff that we would be returned to you safely. It was the little comfort that we could give you as you sent us off to different, dangerous parts of the world with much more unknown than the known. I'm sorry to tell you this, but we will not be returning home. None of us will be. At least not in the way that you might expect.

There is something crucial that you must understand. We have been on a journey. The same "kids" that left home four to nine months ago will not be returning to you because those people do not exist anymore. They are now memories. At the start of our journey, we said goodbye to everything we knew and everything that was comfortable. We embraced the somewhat scary, very exciting unknown. We had no idea we were also saying goodbye to ourselves.

Experiences shape and change us. We've walked for miles doing door-to-door evangelism in the bush of Kenya.  We've entered bars and sought out friendships with prostitutes in Thailand. We've visited AIDS victims in the hospitals of Uganda. We've watched our friends die of kidney failure in a village in Nicaragua. We've taught English in a school in the slums of India. We've had amazing days of celebration, worshipping, singing praises to God! We've had days full of tears, just trying to process the difficult experience we went through. We've loved, served, had greatness called out in us, been challenged, and healed of past wounds. We've had to rely on our teams and God even more! It was never easy, but it was good. And we are changed.

Don't expect us to come back the same. Our hair will be longer, our skin tanned and dirty. However, the true changes are not of physical appearance but of the heart. The changes in each of us may be subtle and take time to notice, but they're there. If we walk into a shopping mall and just stand there silently for a minute, it is because we've seen children naked in the streets. If we feel reluctant to call our houses in the U.S. "home," it is because we've fallen in love with another place in the world and realized that our true home is in heaven. If our plans for the future have changed, it is because we've learned that there is far more fulfillment in living a radical life than having the "American Dream."

We will not be simply stepping back into our old lives, adjusting back to "normal." Our views of ourselves and the world have been shaken, broken down, and reformed. There is no going back; we are not who we once were, but that's ok. God has made us into the disciples He wants for His Church and His world. You may just find that the young men and women that return are a little more mature, unselfish, confident, and compassionate. You may just find that you like the new us even better than the old.

As participants, we ask for your continued love, patience, and support. The transition into the new seasons of our lives may come with difficulty, but we are ready to embrace them. We have many stories to tell if you have ears to listen. Not every story will be easy to share. Some may take time for us to fully explain or may be kept in our hearts as our own. You may never fully understand the journey we've been on, but we do not expect you to. Please just allow us the grace to find our places in our new lives without placing upon us the barriers of who we once were. Call us into the greatness of who we now are!

Finally, we participants would like to sincerely thank you for the prayers, love, and support that you've given us as we've been on this journey. The kingdom of God was spread and grown in many different ways by God through us and through you! As we begin our new seasons, we will continue to grow and step into God’s calling for us, always remembering this journey of faith and love!