Sunday, 31st of January- it’s been exactly one month since my arrival in Heswall. I got to know the youth work, my host family and the area. Furthermore, I am getting more and more involved in planning and leading the sessions. For the upcoming week I basically planned all the main sessions with support from the other volunteer. I am quite excited about it and hope the young people will enjoy it and will take something away with them. At the beginning of this year we asked the young people for questions they have about their faith. These are the topics for our group meetings. So far we've talked about: "Has Christianity been a negative influence in the world?" and "To what extent do we have free will? How much of our thoughts are original/divinely inspired?". Next week is going to be about: "What’s the best way to continue following God when you’re struggling with mental health? How do you strengthen your faith in God when you’re going through a really tough time?" Since the current situation is a tough time for everyone, I think this is quite an important question to talk about. My voluntary service is not unaffected by it either.
It’s been exactly one month since my arrival in Heswall but sometimes I still feel like an outsider. I knew getting into an existing group would be hard. But the fact that I don’t get to know the group(s) on the whole makes it even more difficult. Maybe my expectations were too high but I had hoped for deeper relationships at this point of time. I’ve met so many people online by now and they all seem wonderful. But I can’t really tell what they are like due to the fact that I only see them via zoom.
So some days I do miss home. The Internet describes homesickness as “a lack of motivation to go out and meet new people which can lead to increased isolation and further feelings of missing home.” But isn’t it the other way around at the moment? Due to the lockdown I don’t really get to know new people and this isolation plus the unfamiliarity of my new environment, the absence of social networks and the discontinuity in my routine sometimes all lead to my feelings of homesickness. But I'm not even sure the word homesickness describes my feelings. I think, like many others, I just miss being around other people.
Please don’t get me wrong: There are still so many things I am grateful for and most of the time I enjoy being here. And having a lot of time for myself isn’t too bad at all. I have more time to think, to read books (or listen to audiobooks) and mostly to follow up with my faith. Never ever in my life have I prayed and read the bible that often. And it’s true: you definitely get better while praying with perseverance.
I’m not alone on this journey. There are so many wonderful people supporting me and: God loves me and He has put me into this place for a reason. So I continue looking forward to everything ahead of me, knowing I can trust God’s plan for me.
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