A Life like No Other

by Bethany Seavey

Have you ever wondered what your life would be like differently? Living in a different place? I have thought about this question many times. You are probably wondering why I would think about this question? Well, Iʼm an MK (missionary kid). My parents are missionaries for Wycliffe Bible Translators. All my life weʼve (me, my sister and two brothers) lived in another country. I was born in Charlotte , North Carolina . When I was 4 months old, we went to Costa Rica for language school. I turned 1 there and then right after that we moved to Peru , South America . I was there for 16 years and then 2 years in Ecuador . For the first 7 years of my life, I lived in the Amazon jungle called Yarinacocha. No, I did not swing from vines, I am not friends with Tarzan and I did not live in a grass hut. Where I lived it was on a compound where other missionaries lived as well. After living in the Jungle for 7 years, my family moved to a small town in the Andes Mountains of Huaraz (wa-ras). We were here for 7 or so more years.

When I was 14 years old, a lot changed for me. I was the only one in my grade, my school was made up of my sister, 2 brothers, this one other boy and me. All my friends had left or in another part. This was the time of spiritual change as well. On the outside it would seem that everything was OK, but on the inside everything was not ok. I was struggling spiritually. All my life I knew that I was a child of God. I knew that He had saved me when I was 5, but as I got older, I couldn't even remember. I would ask myself , "If I were to die today, would I go to Heaven?" I did not know the answer to that. This would bother me. I knew that I had asked God into my heart, but then how would I forget? When I would hear other people give their testimonies, to be honest I envied them because they could remember the exact time, and what was said, everything. But I couldn't. I had talked to my teacher about this and she told me that it is OK to forget. She told me that she knew people who had forgotten. She encouraged me to rededicate my life. She went on to explain what that meant but she told me, “Bethany, I don’t want you to do it because I told you or just because, I want you to think and pray about it and really mean it.”

My sister and I grew closer as I got older, but I felt that everyone liked her more than me. I know this was not true but that's what I felt. I would get these thoughts about running away "because no one really cares, they wouldn't know I was gone", I would think. I know it was Satan giving me these lies and thoughts. At that time, my class was studying the Armor of God in our Bible class and whenever I got these thoughts and lies I would start to quote the armor. I would say, "Where would I go? Everyone would find me and I would know how to get home. I knew that I needed a change in my life. I started to think about the conversation I had with my teacher. On October 4, 1998, I rededicated my life to Christ. That was when I wanted to serve him where ever I go. After I had done that, I started to feel free, different.

To be continued...