Meet Ivey Horton: she said yes to an adventure, flew across the world, and found her heart forever changed.
Your first experience on an airplane was a flight to China to serve for six weeks. What led to take such a big leap?
My mom has told me my whole life that I march to the beat of my own drum, and I have always been a “go big or go home” type of person. This occasion was no different. I was participating in a yearlong internship with a mission sending organization called Global Youth Ministry who focuses on reaching the youth around the world, when the opportunity to “go” was presented to me. I was in the process of getting a degree in intercultural studies aka a fancy way to say missions, but I had never been on an international mission trip. I began asking the Lord to give me an opportunity as well as clarity on where I was supposed to go.
Quickly, I began to gain a passion for Asia (which was cool for me because I have always wanted to adopt from Asia). Not too long after that a friend of mine approached me about going on the trip to serve in China. I immediately said yes! No questions, no hesitations, just a big fat YES! I knew this was it. I raised all of my funds, and in June of 2016, I got on a plane for the first time to endure the 14-hour flight! So, while it was a leap it was the best leap I ever took.
During your time serving in China, there was a pretty big language barrier. How did you communicate?
So, there was for sure a huge language barrier in China. Not only did few people speak English, but the ones who did couldn’t keep up with the speed of us Southerners! Every week we had translators to try and help close the gap between the two languages. Our translators were high-school aged students who attended an international school where they had been learning English for years. Since most of the people we taught didn’t speak much English and no one on our team spoke Mandarin, our ministry was mostly with our translators. We lived with our translators, traveled with our translators, and basically did everything with them during camp weeks. This gave us a really cool chance to share the gospel through our actions which lead to questions and getting to share the gospel of Jesus Christ through our words.
What are three cultural differences you observed while serving internationally?
- It being a mission trip the first obvious cultural difference I noticed was a religious one. In china the main religion is Buddhism, and people who aren’t Buddhist are most likely atheist. China is a communist nation, and it is against the law to practice Christianity. It really put things in perspective for me and made me so thankful that I live in a nation where I can freely practice my faith. It also really challenged me. After attending a secret church and seeing firsthand how the Chinese believers hold their faith in such high regard, it challenged me to do the same. I think because following Jesus is the “norm” in America, especially in the South, it is easy to become so comfortable in your walk with Christ and lose sight of how precious of a gift salvation is.
- The second cultural difference I observed happened gathered around the dinner table. Being from the South, table manners are a big deal. However, in China there are no such thing as table manners. If you eat something and don’t like it or there is a bone in your food, you just spit it out onto the table. In China you also never order a meal for yourself. Everything you order is family size, and everyone shares, cause ya know…sharing is caring! Oh and... Chinese food in America is the biggest lie of your life.
- Since we were teaching English a few of the weeks we were there I got a glimpse into what the education system looked like. The students were held to a very high standard and did things like stand every time they spoke and clean the floors and boards in between classes. If the students misbehaved, they received much harsher discipline then students in America.
What’s one thing you wish you’d known before serving overseas?
Before going to China, I wish I would have known even a sliver of how that country and those people who change my life FOREVER! I feel like if I would have had just a glimpse at how those six weeks would impact my life, I would have cherished every single moment even more then I already did. I would have said yes to every opportunity and never looked back. I’ve been to china twice, but I know that I will go again!
What advice would you give to someone who wants to serve but doesn’t have an obvious opportunity to do so?
I would tell anyone who wanted to go on a mission trip that just because opportunity is not obvious doesn’t mean that opportunity is not out there. There are organizations and churches all over the country who are looking for people to go, and there is such a need for willing people who have a desire to serve. Get online, talk to friends and family that have been on mission trips before and SEEK THE LORD!
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