A Front Row Seat
A Front Row Seat
Missionary Kid to Missionary Mom
During my childhood, my dad, Scott Bourland, planted several churches in the State of Indiana.
Columbus, IN (1992 -1999)
My fondest memories were born here. I grew up in this mission church, met some of my best friends, and learned so much about life and God there. I saw a church building raised from the ground up in 2 days by the Macedonian builders, lives drastically changed, and people make big decisions for God. I often stood in awe of our great God and his hand on people’s lives. Many tears and sorrow happened here as well. Losing a childhood friend to cancer, families losing babies, and long nights watching my parents minister to others in some of their darkest times. This is where I really learned what ministry and serving God was all about. It is not just doing church together but walking through life together. There is not enough ink and paper in the world for me to tell you how I loved this church.
Nineveh, IN (2000-2005)
This move was not an easy transition for me. Life is hard when you’re 12 years old and trying to figure out who you are in this big world. This move meant leaving my school and all the friends I had made for the last 7 years. It was a nice enough place, and I learned to love it; but I put up a good fight for attention and made some poor life decisions during this time. As any 12–15-year-old girl is, I was self-centered, confused, and scared to death. Don’t get me wrong, there were some great times here as well. I eventually quit kicking and screaming, came to my senses, and enjoyed it as well. It was here that I learned how to truly worship, it’s where I surrendered my life to the ministry of God no matter what that looked like, and eventually where I got married.
I know that every experience is different for every child, even children within the same home can have a different perspective of how life as a MK is. For me, it was mostly wonderful. I loved the traveling of deputation when we were going to a new area. I loved the fun my parents always made sure we had at every place. The sites we saw: Niagara Falls, Grand Canyon, Redwood Forest, Yellowstone, and everything in between, were breath-taking and a true testimony of our great God and Creator. I loved meeting so many new people as a child (which is funny because now I am quite the opposite
and a room full of strangers seems like a nightmare). As a child, I don’t remember having a care in the world and always enjoyed being along for the ride. It was like having a front row seat to ministry; the good, the bad, and everything in between.
Some of the best memories are rooted in missions’ conferences and in the rooms of houses all over the US and abroad. I remember the missions conference where I got my first Walkman Disc Player (some of you have no idea what that even is), the little country church in Arkansas where I first learned God had gifted me with singing and, staying in homes of generous people all over the world. I got to experience several mission trips. Jamaica is where I drove my first car and was affectionately nick-named ‘buttercup’ by a village teen who was an albino.
He was thrilled to see an American with white skin and hair like him. Africa was where I fell in love with native worship; the sound of pure joy in their worship still brings me to tears in an instant. So many of you - pastors, families, and churches - have had a huge impact on the woman I am today. I would love to list you all, but it would be impossible.
Now, as a missionary mother I can only hope that I learned from the tough times and replicate the best times for my kids as they get to experience the journey of growing up in the ministry. I’m going to be honest with you here. It is LONG hours. I worry way more about the traveling and logistics of moving a crew our size across the nation in a minivan than I did as a child. I’m convinced that God has a special crown in heaven for Missionary Moms who have done deputation with multiple small children in tow! Some of you have heard my “Circus Side Show” stories. As a child it was all fun and giggles. As a mom it’s...never enough snacks, too many bathroom breaks, and at least one carsick child along the way (true horror stories have taken place in our minivan). It’s your hangry toddler who lets out a groan and tells the pastor of the church you’re visiting that he “hates prayer because he is hungry, and he just wants to eat.” It’s blow out diapers, lost shoes, the potty-training toddler who accidentally pees in your heel at the truck stop bathroom because you BARELY made it in time, and LOTS of McDonald’s French Fries. It is how God sanctifies and humbles missionary moms. Most importantly, it is all the memories I will cherish for the rest of my life.
As we count the cost of ministry, in our humanity, we often wonder if we aren’t giving enough to our kids. As a mom especially, our first mission field is our children, but our hearts want to be laboring every minute we can beside our husbands. We often try to juggle too much and buy into the lies of the enemy that we still aren’t doing enough. Then churches, like New Home MBC in Wetumpka, Alabama, and Hillcrest Baptist in Acworth, Georgia, invite us to a mission conference and shower our kiddos in love
and fun for a whole week. They send birthday cards, cards of encouragement, small gifts, and messages at just the right times. They say “thank you” to our kids when no one else even knows it matters. And when the kids seemed surprised, I realize that it’s because this is the only life they have ever known. This is normal for them. It’s those moments that make my heart smile. When you bless missionary children, you bless the heart of their mother too. It means more to us than you will ever know! You be-
come a vessel through which God calms our hearts and assures us that he loves those kids way more than we do, and he’s got this!
My heart’s prayer is that the Lord speaks loudly to our children through each experience; that he shows himself strong in their times of need, and whispers peace to
their heart when it needs comfort; that they will never see ministry as a burden, but as the blessing of a lifetime; that they know that this is more than a “job” this is living life with an eternal prospective, as all Christian families are called to do; that they experience the mighty power of the God of the universe, who knows everything about us, yet still loves us, and longs to use us to bring others to him. They just happen to get a front row seat.
Kelli Pruitt
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