Kim was in college and had never been on a mission trip in her life when she came home for break and told her family that she was going to be a missionary. While it may have surprised her parents, Kim knew in heart she was going to serve. For many women, this may have seemed a zero-sum decision: motherhood wouldn’t be an option. But Kim, an active missionary today who splits her time between service in the Dominican Republic and teaching in Georgia, is also a loving mom.
The pressure of needing to create a life of routine can be overwhelming for so many mothers. Articles and websites tell us what is “right.” But motherhood and parenting take so many forms. Kim answered her calling to God first, and everything else has followed.
“I have a heart to give to others,” Kim shares. “I love traveling and learning about cultures. This is the will of God, and a love for God makes it all worth it. It doesn’t make it easy, but it makes it worth it.”
Kim oversees missions in various parts of the Dominican Republic that involve work at the Haitian border and building homes in other parts of the country. Her work is diverse and she hosts, through the United Methodist Volunteers in Mission organization, many groups from around the United States that want to come help. Her home church, Pittman Park, has been supporting her and Kim’s work continues to be an immense source of joy.
But her son, Alex, is also a source of her joy. Kim and her husband had been living in Arroyo Santiago at the time but when they learned of their pregnancy, they returned home. Kim couldn’t stay away for too long, however. Alex’s first trip to the Dominican Republic was at 11 months old.
“As a parent, it doesn’t change that I am a child of God first,” Kim explains. “I do my best to be a good parent, of course, but I know what’s first in my life.”
As Alex grew, Kim and her husband realized that Alex is autistic. That meant less travel for their son, who needs adequate and reliable access to resources. Yet Kim still manages to find a balance between serving and being home with Alex. The number of trips she takes each year depends on how many teams want to help and the funding available for the work. But she continues to pursue her dream of changing the world with passion.
Charting an unconventional course has required sacrifices, some of them grave. Kim and her husband are in the process of separating. Additionally, being stretched between two cultures can be lonely and isolating.
“I am never fully accepted. I bridge two cultures, and people don’t fully understand. It can push people away. Because of who I am, and what I do, people tend to put me on a pedestal.”
With family support and Alex’s dad being involved, Kim can continue her mission work. But that doesn’t mean the conflict to be in two places at once isn’t prevalent.
“I am missing out. I am missing the kids at the ballfields, for example. I talk to Alex every day and it’s not easy. But I am also trying to model for him what it means to be a Christ follower. I am trying to bring him the good from both countries I serve.”
It takes courage to do what Kim does, to chart an unconventional path as a mother, especially in a society where words like “calling” are intangibles, tough to prove. But for this missionary mom, it is the only way she can do life the way she feels she was meant to.
She is fiercely in love with both her son and her faith. And she rejects that she has to choose one or the other.
“We are so afraid of judgment as mothers. But we have choices. I choose to love God and my son. That is what I choose.”
For more on her mission work, visit Kim’s website at www.dominicanrepublicmissions.com.
Know parents who deserve to be featured and their stories shared? Email us at info@thefamilytriponline.com.
Last Updated on July 25, 2018 by Mrs. Family Trip