On mission from Birdseye to the rest of the world
Shelby Klem stood in the doorway to her bedroom.
The location of so much of her childhood, she couldn’t stand to step foot into its comfort after returning from an African mission trip last summer.
It made her sick to her stomach.
The posters, the clothes, the mementos. For Shelby, the pillows and mattress hit her the hardest.
“I sleep with a lot of pillows,” she explained.
The first night in Africa was a shock for her. “We walked into what was obviously a hand-built cabin with this plastic mattress and a single flat pillow,” She said.
She wanted to leave.
Then the next day, she visited with the children in the orphanage. “They were so proud of their beds,” she explained.
The thin plastic mattresses covered in tattered sheets and torn blankets pulled proudly tight at each corner.
Perfect.
And the children proudly pointed out the meager pictures and crafts displayed on the wall of their rooms.
Nothing like all the posters that wallpaper her own room.
After that, Shelby’s meager bed was perfect.
“They had so little but they were the happiest people I have ever met,” Shelby said.
Africa was her second mission trip. After the tornadoes ripped through Oklahoma in 2013, she had traveled there over spring break to help. But Africa cemented the passion to become a missionary in her heart.
The Birdseye-native graduated from Forest Park in 2014 and completed her associate’s degree in general studies through VUJC this year.
The local college was a great option for the 20-year-old to work to pay her own way to a degree and remain debt-free. The plan had been for her to complete the associate degree and then to transfer to another college to complete a 4-year degree.
But as graduation approached, Shelby didn’t feel that continuing college was the right thing to do. She wasn’t sure what the next step should be.
“I did know I wanted to continue to do missions,” she explained.
It was during a lunch date with some friends from church that she was introduced to the World Race.
The World Race is an 11-month mission trip through 11 countries organized by Adventures in Missions. During the race, teams of about 40 people will spend a month in each country partnering with churches to provide needed services.
According to the organization, that could be anything from door-to-door evangelism to running vacation bible schools to providing manual labor.
The missionaries are stripped down to bare necessities. They only take what can fit in a backpack and can expect to sleep in tents for much of their journey.
For the gregarious and outgoing 20-year-old who had felt sick to her stomach returning to the relative opulence of her Ferdinand bedroom, the trip called to her.
She applied and was chosen to join a group leaving in January.
Each group goes on different routes. Shelby’s group will work in Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Columbia, Cambodia, Panama, Peru, Equador, Malaysia, India, Thailand and Nepal.
Shelby doesn’t really know what she is getting into over the 11-month journey but she does know she will be with a team of missionaries loving on people around the world. It is enough.
“We go and serve the least of these,” Shelby said referencing the scripture Matthew 25:40. “I just want to love these people like God has loved me.”
Shelby has to raise about $17,000 for the 11-month trip. The money will cover her meals, lodging, air, land, and sea travel, administrative costs, set-up costs, coaching costs, debriefing costs and training camp costs. Interested donors can support Shelby at this link.
